speech leadership in times of crisis speech by christine lagarde, president of the ecb, at manager magazin ’ s top100 women in german business hamburg, 27 april 2022 russia ’ s brutal war against ukraine marks a dark moment for europe. events that we thought were consigned to history have once again become a deeply troubling reality on our continent. the invasion of ukraine is first and foremost a human tragedy. lives and livelihoods have been lost. cities have been levelled. and millions of ukrainians are now seeking refuge from the violence that has engulfed their nation. our world has changed dramatically in just two short months. indeed, the war has heightened the sense that our world is in constant flux. some say that we live in an age of “ permacrisis ”, where we move seamlessly from one emergency to the next. [ 1 ] in just over a decade, we have faced the largest financial crisis since the 1930s, the worst pandemic since 1919, and now the most serious geopolitical crisis in europe since the end of the cold war. as business leaders, all of you here are grappling with the effects of these multiple crises in one form or another – be it the burden of supply chain disruptions, high energy prices, or general uncertainty about the economic outlook. so how can we navigate through these uncertain times? how can we lead others when the path ahead is so obscured? there are no easy answers. but i would like to highlight two courses of action that can help us – as leaders, and as women – to shine a light through this murky landscape. first, we need to accurately diagnose the nature of today ’ s challenges, since this is the precondition for taking effective action. as marie curie is said to have once remarked : “ nothing in life is to be feared ; it is only to be understood. now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less. ” second, once we have that understanding, we need to identify the type of leadership required to master those challenges. it is my deeply held belief that many of the qualities the world needs today are those that women in particular can bring to the table, which speaks to the benefits of governments and companies alike embracing more female leadership. the nature of today ’ s challenges so, what defines today ’ s challenges? many of them are not new. environmental threats such as smog and acid rain plagued the

accountability with the european parliament and how grateful i was for it. many more would follow and you effectively ensured that the ecb would be accountable and therefore could legitimately be independent in carrying out its monetary policy. but i am also grateful for the support that this committee always expressed for the actions of the ecb, a sincere support because it built on the voice of european citizens and an important support that helped the ecb through the many difficult times of the past years. as co - legislators your role was also essential in delivering reforms that further strengthened our union. this committee, and the european parliament more generally, has been in my experience an attentive interpreter of the demands of european citizens. it is only by doing so that the trust in the legitimacy of the eu ’ s institutions and policies is built, making it possible to achieve a more effective and inclusive union. as i have argued elsewhere, citizens demand, and parliament may help in achieving, a “ more perfect union ”. a union that will continue providing its citizens with physical and economic security, while also promoting the values of an open, democratic and peaceful society. thank you for your attention. i am now at your disposal for questions. 1 see speech by mario draghi, president of the european central bank, at the plenary debate of the european parliament on the ecb ’ s annual report 2017, strasbourg, 15 january 2019. 2 committee for the study of economic and monetary union presided over by delors, jacques, “ report on economic and monetary union in the european community ”, 17 april, 1989. 3 see the international role of the euro – interim report, european central bank, june 2018. 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches