Flair | Getting to know NCB’s first woman in charge

If there’s an elephant in the room, it won’t stay hidden once Sheree Martin walks in. She never tiptoes around a problem. If something isn’t working, she says so – directly, even when the conversation is uncomfortable. But Martin sees pointing out what’s wrong as just the first step. “It’s not enough to complain,” she shared. “Anybody can identify a problem. Leadership begins when you’re prepared to do something about it.”

Earlier this year, she became interim CEO of National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCB), the first woman to lead the country’s largest indigenous bank. But rather than dwell on the milestone, Martin prefers to highlight the people who helped her reach it. If there is one thread running through her story, it is mentorship.

Martin grew up in Passage Fort, Portmore, the only girl among two brothers. Life in that household taught her to stand her ground from an early age, while also giving her the comfort of always having two people looking out for her. Her father often reminded them: “Life is what you make it”.

“That stayed with me,” Martin added. “It meant that no matter what situation you found yourself in, you still had a role to play in shaping the outcome.”

One of the earliest moments that shaped Martin’s view of leadership came when she was still a teller at NCB’s Half Way Tree branch.

“I noticed something that kept happening in the banking hall,” she recalled. “Customers would join the line and wait a while before getting to the teller only to be told they were in the wrong line. The signage just wasn’t clear enough.”

It was frustrating for customers, so she raised the issue with her operations manager at the time, Betty Handy. Handy’s next move was unexpected, challenging her to create and implement a solution.

Martin introduced a workstation at the entrance of the banking hall where a greeter could direct customers to the correct line. The station was also equipped to accept cheque deposits, allowing customers with simple transactions to bypass the teller line entirely.

“At that stage of my career, I never imagined I would be given the authority to actually implement a change like that,” she said. “But she trusted me to do it.”

Looking back, Martin says the moment was bigger than it seemed at the time:“It showed me how powerful it is when leaders give people the agency to act. That kind of trust builds confidence very quickly.”

Throughout her career, she has worked alongside leaders who opened doors and challenged her to grow. At NCB, she learned from Alison Martin, Audrey Basanta Henry, Courtney Campbell, Patrick Hylton, and Septimus ‘Bob’ Blake.

During her time at the Jamaica Public Service Company, she was guided by Kelly Tomblin, and more recently, by Rob Almeida and Michael Lee-Chin.

“Each of them trusted me with something bigger than what I was doing at the time,” she explained. “When someone does that, you feel a responsibility to rise to the occasion.”

These days, when people ask what she is most proud of, Martin does not point to titles or milestones. Instead, she talks about the people –especially the women– she has mentored. “The women leaders that I have sponsored and mentored over the years,” she said. “Watching them move up in their careers or start successful businesses of their own. That is something I’m genuinely proud of.”

When work slows down, Martin resets by reading. She especially enjoys suspense novels, with the Alex Cross series by James Patterson among her favourites.

“They’re great when you want to completely disconnect your mind for a while,” she added.

The most recent book she finished was Reshuffle by Sangeet Paul Choudary, which explores how organisations are evolving in a rapidly changing world framed with technology such as AI.

“It makes you think about how leadership and organisations will need to adapt going forward,” she added.

PERSONAL STYLE

Martin’s personal style reflects the same practicality that shapes her leadership. She favours a well-cut power suit over a dress, usually in neutral tones, and when given the choice, she still opts for heels. “I feel more corporate than casual in them,” she said. “Casual is for the weekends.”

There is one side of Martin that even colleagues in the boardroom might not expect: she believes she is a great singer. Her husband, she admitted with a smile, has a slightly different opinion. “He politely stops me when I get carried away.”

And, these days, if she is driving with the radio up, there is a good chance she will be singing along to Lauren Daigle.