Career tips from Silvia Monteiro, Director and working parent

The most crucial qualities are being able to adapt to change, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, resilience, leadership and communication. Leadership and communication are two qualities I’d like to emphasise. 

Leadership to me is all about balancing individual performance (less of this!) with building a collaborative network around you (more of this!). In our entrepreneurial family, the saying “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, bring others along” is used often. It helps us stay focused, because having an impact and being successful comes down to your ability to influence others and create a shared purpose, vision, and a collaborative and supportive culture around you. 

Communication to me is the ability to deliver a message efficiently and adapt to your audience’s needs. It’s a trainable skill which is crucial to create value, be persuasive and collaborative, and reach your potential. 

The support I received from both colleagues and PwC has been invaluable. My mentors provided guidance and challenged me to embrace discomfort for growth. Also, the leadership programmes I attended helped me prepare for more senior roles. 

Most importantly, my clients and my team’s regular open feedback rounds allowed me to remain focused on what matters. And of course, family, which is a key pillar of support for me, laying the foundation of what I do daily.

One of the main challenges as I progressed to Senior Manager was balancing the demands of increasingly complex projects with the need to develop and demonstrate my leadership and strategic thinking skills. By becoming more efficient in project and time management and focusing on empowering and growing my team so I could delegate sustainably, I was able to overcome this challenge.

Another challenge was dealing with a promotion rejection, which taught me resilience, self-reflection, and the importance of clear communication in career development. This experience improved my leadership and mentoring skills, making me more attuned to my team members career aspirations and better at coaching them through setbacks. 

For me, being a parent is a commitment to nurture, guide, and inspire the next generation. Each day, we are given this incredible opportunity to shape young minds, to instil values, and to show our children what it means to work hard and pursue our passions. 

Both my parents were entrepreneurs, which has made me the person and parent I am today. I’m convinced that great parents make great leaders – there are so many transferable skills on both sides, such as adaptability, resilience, time management and communication. The balancing journey however is not easy. There are days when the chaos of family life collides with the pressures of work. Or there are sleepless nights, missed deadlines, and moments of doubt – but that’s all part of this growth journey. 

Embracing this long-term mindset has helped me to navigate the challenges of balancing my career and family responsibilities with greater patience, self-compassion, more wisdom and overall satisfaction. There are two very important lessons I’ve learnt so far:

• Put your own mask on first: By taking care of yourself, you’ll be in a much better position to nurture your family and effectively supporting your clients and teams. 

• Cultivate a trusted support network, both at work and at home: Leverage mentors, peers, your team, family, friends, neighbours, paid help, perks from your employer, etc. Don’t hesitate to lean on this support system. No one makes it alone.