The Road to CEO of Ivanhoé Cambridge

Currently president of Ivanhoé Cambridge, Nathalie Palladitcheff has assumed the helm of the company, becoming its CEO.

Palladitcheff has risen through the ranks of Ivanhoé Cambridge in short order. She joined the firm in August 2015 as executive vice president and chief financial officer, and was appointed president in 2018. In early 2019, she took over management of the emerging markets and Europe business units.

Prior to joining Ivanhoé Cambridge, Palladitcheff worked for various commercial real estate companies in Europe and the Indian Ocean region. A French native, Palladitcheff moved to Montreal with her family to join Ivanhoé Cambridge.

Palladitcheff was a speaker at the the CREW Network Convention held last month in Orlando, FL. There, she celebrated with the audience about her new role and gave the attendees a sense of how she has been able to accomplish so much. Some excerpts from her speech:

On how to attract the next generation

Young people especially believe what they see and what they can touch. If we are not somewhere in their pictures and then they don’t believe it is happening. We should be more present on TV, on social media. It is structural. If they think about finance and it is only a man talking about it, they will think it is a male territory. If only women on TV talk about beauty and fashion, they will think it is a woman’s things. We have to promote ourselves to be visible to the next generation.

About the path to success.

“There are different ways to succeed, and it is interesting to see the path every woman takes.”

Her secret weapon?

I am always the same. I am the same person in business as I am in life. I am very genuine and I think that what you see is what you get. Sometimes you get my flaws and that is ok with me. I am very emotional and intense. It has helped me connect with different types of cultures and companies. They know exactly who I am. I am always trying to adjust but I will always be me.

What she’s learned from her failures.

You learn more from failures than from your successes. It shouldn’t be in a negative way. We as woman as resilient. It should be our main strength in the long term. You should be able to look in the mirror and say ‘that’s unpleasant, but not dangerous.’”

What frustrates her the most.

The most difficult thing for me is when you are not able to extract the value and resources from your team.

On being the only woman around the table.

Most of the time, it wasn’t a problem for me. I have always thought I was at the right place at the right time. I never questioned my place as a woman. I don’t define myself in this industry as “being a woman.” I know it isn’t easy to be a woman in real estate but I just tell myself that I am not a woman.