2023 Horatio Alger Award Winner — Corporate Director, Chair of the Board and CEO (Retired), Desjardins Group

“At the end of the day, some things will be very easy. That’s not where you will be able to learn. When you face failures, that’s when you will learn the most.”

Monique Leroux was born in Montréal in 1954. Raised by hard-working parents who made a humble living owning and operating a small, local shoe store, Monique learned the value of hard work and community at an early age.

“I came from a modest family, with parents who had very, very strong values in terms of work ethic and making sure our family had every educational opportunity at our disposal.”

At the age of 10, Monique began working at the store when her father became ill. It was a valuable lesson in basic accounting and in the nuances of running a small business, and she certainly has fond memories of the experience, yet it was a difficult time for the family. Her mother had to work an extra job in the evenings just to earn enough to get by.

It was music, however, that was the true passion of the family. Her father was not highly educated, yet dreamed of a higher education for Monique, specifically in music. Monique loved school and describes her public-school education as “excellent”. She feels particularly fortunate to have received bursaries from the Québec government which allowed her to study music at the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique du Québec.

While she was excelling as a student of music, she was also an avid reader of the news. She realized early the importance of the financial sector and effective financial systems, as well as the impact of financial services on the economy.

“I had it in my mind that if you want to achieve something, you need to master finance,” she recalls. “I knew that, but the way forward was a little unclear.”

One fateful night, during a music concert featuring students of the Conservatoire, Monique recalls observing a fellow student perform on stage and having a moment of clarity.

“He will make it,” she thought. “I will not be able to make it. I’m good. I’m very disciplined. I can work hard, I can do good things, but not at that level – not at the level of the artist I would like to be.”

With a keen interest in finance and a passion for people, Monique began pursuing an education in accounting. “Finance and accounting was, for me, an opening to a new journey in my life.”

Career

While the pursuit of a career in finance may seem like a marked departure from her artistic beginnings, Monique notes there are plenty of parallels between the two disciplines. For that reason, she was able to bring much of what she had learned in her musical studies to the world of finance.

“First, when you study music, you need to be very disciplined and organized in your mind,” Monique says. “You need to have a lot of rigour and to understand the rules.”

“Second,” she says, “you start to become a master at handling stress. When you have to perform in front of thousands of people, you learn to find ways to effectively control your nerves.”

The third parallel Monique notes is, “you have to be intentional about the ambience or momentum you are creating with the music in order to stimulate positive energy.” She compares a large organization’s mandate or transformation to a symphony, in that way. “Bringing people together to build a certain momentum or movement can make a big difference.”

Monique began her career in finance in the 1980s at a time when, she estimates, less than 5% of the students in accounting and finance programs were women. When she landed her first job at Ernst and Young, she noticed a similar percentage of females comprised the large accounting firms. It was challenging, she recalls. However, in heeding the advice of a senior mentor at her firm, she decided to get engaged, to get involved at the CPA at both the national and provincial levels, and to find a way to really make a difference.

In 1988, she became partner – one of the first female partners at Ernst and Young in Canada. She also became the first female President of CPA Québec. For Monique, what is of particular importance is, “I was the first, but I was not the last.” She is proud to have played a part in opening doors for other women to be able to take the lead and achieve success in finance.

Monique’s impressive career in the financial sector spans decades and includes some of the most senior roles one can have in the field, including serving as Chief Financial Officer at Desjardins Group, as Senior Vice-President at RBC Royal Bank, and as Chief Operating Officer of Québecor Inc. Her commitment to public service included time as Chair of Investissement Quebec and Chair of the Canada Industry Council.

From 2008 to 2016, Monique served as Chair of the Board and CEO of the Desjardins Group, the leading cooperative financial group in Canada. She was the first woman in that role in Canada for a large financial institution. Under her presidency, Desjardins Group significantly grew its Canadian activities while ranking among the five strongest financial institutions in the world, according to Bloomberg. During her tenure, Monique managed and led Desjardins through the 2008 financial crisis.

From 2008 to 2016, Monique served as Chair of the Board and CEO of the Desjardins Group, the leading cooperative financial group in Canada. She was the first woman in that role in Canada for a large financial institution. Under her presidency, Desjardins Group significantly grew its Canadian activities while ranking among the five strongest financial institutions in the world, according to Bloomberg. During her tenure, Monique managed and led Desjardins through the 2008 financial crisis.

What I’ve Learned

For Monique, success is about learning from your failures and trusting that the next time, you’ll succeed. She cautions against the easy road, and stresses the importance of hard work, rigor, resilience, and perseverance.

“At the end of the day, some things will be very easy,” Monique notes. “That’s not where you will be able to learn. When you face failures – and I have had to face failures in my own life – that’s when you will learn the most.”

When Monique was first elected President of Desjardins Group, it was at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. While tasked with making major decisions in unpredictable times, she quickly learned to hone her leadership skills; specifically, to develop a strategy to simplify her complex vision and communicate that vision to her team.

“We were able to develop a collection of one-pagers, which explains your vision on a single page. It outlines the goal, the destination, the roadmap, ways to measure success, and the values supporting your work.”

Through these economic struggles, Monique has also learned how important it is for leaders to cultivate a sense of positivity in their organizations and to maintain calmness under pressure, even in the most difficult of circumstances.

“If we work together,” she says, “if we are able to build trust in what we are doing together, we’ll succeed. After the big storm, there will be a blue sky, and we’ll be able to continue to grow and develop our organization, and be more pertinent, more resilient, and more robust.”

Monique feels a deeply personal connection to the Horatio Alger Association of Canada. She, too, was the recipient of scholarships and it made a profound difference in her life. “Not simply for financial reasons,” she notes, “but much more because it signified trust in my capability. It instilled a sense of hope that with that scholarship I was able to achieve something in the world. It is my hope that these scholars will be filled with the same sense of hope as they pursue their dreams.”