It’s not her first time in the top 10. The jury voted into second place in 2022 and 2020 and fifth place in 2016, the year she was named CEO of the state savings bank Spuerkeess. It struck many as an unusual move at the time, since she trained as a lawyer and originally joined the bank’s legal department. But Thoma likes to embrace change.

So what has changed since the last Top 100 ranking? “I’d say the environment, which was already quite challenging two years ago, has become even more challenging,” Thoma said in an interview. “We have two wars going on right now close to Europe and, of course, the economic circumstances have been very challenging for a lot of people,” a reference to “high interest rates” and Luxembourg’s housing market. “Also, regulatory pressure has not really diminished. It’s rather still increasing. That puts a lot of pressure on the teams, not only in small and medium-sized banks, but in the economy generally.”

Indeed, the geopolitical and economic situation has influenced Thoma’s leadership style. These days, “teams really want you to be close to them. They want you to give them direction. To have an open ear and to be empathetic.” It also requires “flexible resilience” or the ability to reset priorities “in quite a quick manner.”

In her 2016 Top 100 profile, Thoma said that becoming CEO of a bank is not an end in itself, but it’s a new start every day. Does she still agree with that? “Yes, absolutely. Maybe it’s even more true than it was before.... When you become CEO, you have not reached the end of your trajectory. You start the journey, and you have to evolve almost every day and adapt to new situations. So back in 2016, we believed that the environment was challenging. No doubt it was. But if we had known at that time what was [waiting for] us eight years later, we probably would have said, ‘oh, that’s incredible!’”

Career advice for younger people

For anyone at the outset of their career, regardless of the sector, “the first thing you should ask yourself is, ‘what kind of life do I want to live? Do I want to sit in an office? Do I want to be out in nature? Do I feel better in a team or do I prefer to work individually? What should my day look like?’ These are the framework questions I think you have to ask yourself, because some jobs fit into this framework and some others don’t.”

“The most important of all is do something that you like and that you think you will be able to like at least over the medium term,” Thoma advised. “Today, I think no one does the same job for their whole life, but you should at least like it over the medium term.”

“Then try things. Do internships. Because there’s so many possibilities today, and in order to really see what the job looks like, I think you have to try it. Companies are much more open today to taking on young people for short-term traineeships. So go out there and have a look at what might interest you, and then take decisions.”

Finally, “don’t think you made a mistake when something doesn’t please you and you have to change what you wanted to do,” said Thoma (pictured in the bank’s executive board room, where she has a meeting “almost every day”). “I think the greatest success you can have is when in the morning you feel good about going to start your job. And when at night, when you come home, you have the impression that you accomplished something positive. And if you have that double impression, most of the time, then you are in the right place, and you have a great career.”

Strategic review

What’s next for Thoma? The bank is launching a “rethink of our strategic orientations for the next years.” The refresh “will not be anything revolutionary” but “will be an evolution” and aims to keep Spuerkeess “at the centre of the Luxembourgish economy and society.”

Brief bio

Françoise Thoma has been Spuerkeess CEO since 2016, after serving as secretary general for five years. She joined the bank’s legal department in 1999.

Previous experience

She was a member of the Council of State, Luxembourg’s quasi-upper legislative chamber; law clerk at the European Court of Justice; and attorney at Bonn & Schmitt. She earned law degrees from Harvard Law School and Paris II Panthéon-Assas University.

Board mandates

Thoma currently serves on the boards of Cargolux, Enovos, Luxair, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and SES.

This article was originally published in the  print edition of , published on 11 December 2024. 

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