Neil Rossiter

Managing Director, Standard Chartered Bank

Singapore

I followed a conventional path: straight from school to university to work in banking. I was promoted steadily, reaching Managing Director three years ago.

I never took a serious break until my children came along. I took extended paternity leave for my second and third (just the government 2 weeks for the first).

"Extended" paternity leave is not some special company offering, I made it up: I used up all my other types of leave for the year in one go and also took some unpaid leave. I was fortunate that I had support from my managers, but I would have pushed for it anyway. Some things are too important to miss, to give up on.

A bit about me: I love my wife, our kids, feeling awe, experiencing big nature, diving, cycling, reading dystopian fiction and political history and eating mangoes. Not necessarily in that order - eating mangoes would be much higher up the list.