MY CAREER IN SIX SPOTLIGHT
DREA DONKOR
SVP, Global Chief Compliance Officer
PayPal
Sharing her career journey by answering the six questions below.
Who or what has been your biggest source of inspiration throughout your career?
This is challenging to answer because the individuals who are my sources of inspiration throughout my career have continued to accumulate, and I am personally grateful that I have had this fortune. I have been blessed to have had several mentors and visionary leaders that I have both admired from afar and/or with whom I have worked up close. The trait that these people have had in common is their ability to operate with an authenticity and motivation that inspires others around them to want to be and do more. They each had an uncanny ability to identify others’ superpowers and activate them individually and en masse.
Would you say your success is primarily due to luck or hard work?
I once read a quote from Oprah Winfrey that said, “I believe luck is preparation meeting opportunity. If you hadn’t been prepared when the opportunity came along, you wouldn’t have been lucky.” In my career, both luck and hard work have been critical in my success. I have maintained the intellectual curiosity throughout my career to say “yes” to opportunities that only came my way as result of others’ recognition of my work ethic, and my willingness to take on challenges. I am greatly indebted to the combination of circumstance and performance track record that have led to amazing career opportunities.
What is the driving force behind your career aspirations?
My driving force has evolved over time. Early on, like many starting out in their career, I was focused on my own individual goals and growth. After nearly 20 years, my aspirations have evolved. I have been buoyed by the role that I have been able to play in helping mission-driven organizations like PayPal unlock their potential to provide innovative ways to positively transform the access that people have to the financial system. This means those people can manage their financial needs and grow their businesses with agency and dignity. I look forward to contributing in this way for many years to come.
If given the chance to do one thing differently in your career, what would it be and why?
I have had a career that I could not ever have foreseen, and that has been because of the chances taken, mistakes made, and victories won. I would not swap any aspect of my journey for another, from a current position of hindsight. I am sure that if I did, I likely would not have the fortune of being in the position that I am in today.
What was your most favourite job/role and why?
My current role is my favorite because I recognize that my ability to execute in this role stands on the proverbial shoulders of each role that I have had before it. In fact, I can think of a matter that has come before me on the day I wrote these answers that I was equipped to solve based on lessons learned from a prior role and experience.
Do you have a favourite motto or quote that guides your professional life?
I am an avid listener of Stevie Wonder, and there is a lyric in his song “You Will Know” that has guided me as a motto both personally and professionally for many years due to its simplicity and profoundness: “Problems have solutions.” Bringing this perspective to any situation creates incredible certitude in my ability to believe that whatever challenge or complexity before me has an answer or resolution, and that the journey is only in finding it. It positions me always, regardless of the magnitude of the issue, from a starting point of hope.
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