Dr. Jana Werner – Finding the Space to Flourish

For Jana Werner, there was never a single plan behind her career. Instead, each move opened the door to something different, taking her from research and academia into financial services and, eventually, technology. Looking back, she sees how each experience has shaped the next.

“It’s a retrospective thing. It ended up like this. It’s connecting dots that don’t connect at the start.”

Jana’s early career began in research, including time at the Fraunhofer Institute in Munich and the Centre for Mathematics and Informatics in Amsterdam, where she was surrounded by people whose thinking challenged her own.

“That was the most wonderful place where I’ve learned something that I carried through my whole career. It was eternal curiosity and being happy and comfortable to switch and drop old mental models and look at things in new ways.”

Her time in academia, including completing a PhD in uncertainty dynamics, taught Jana how to absorb large amounts of information, structure her thinking and communicate complex ideas to others.

Learning to Navigate Change

Banking was a world away from research and academia, and the learning curve was steep from the outset. Jana found herself having to learn a new industry, but also a new culture and way of working.

“I was in Scotland. My first day, I came home in tears, and I said to my Scottish husband, I can never go back.”

However, what initially felt overwhelming became a 12-year chapter in which Jana went on to lead significant transformation and work closely with senior leadership.

A key part of that progression was the support of people who recognised her potential and were willing to put her forward for new opportunities.

For Jana, there was an important distinction between having someone mentor you and having someone actively invest in your potential.

“People taking a leap on you and speaking to you and saying, I see something in you and I will invest in you. That made a big difference.”

Those opportunities did, however, bring increasing responsibility and significant pressure. At one point, while working on a major transformation, Jana found herself operating at an intense pace alongside raising two young children.

Jana recalls sitting on the floor at 4am, reviewing every word for a board update, knowing her toddler would be awake within a few hours. It was a moment that made her reflect on the demands of balancing leadership, ambition and family life.

“I had this despair of a mother that never has enough time, and everything isn’t good enough.”

Eventually, Jana began to recognise that the pace she wanted to work at and the pace of the organisation had begun to diverge. She describes having “eternal hunger” and impatience to create change, while also acknowledging that she had her own learning to do.

“I think I outgrew the place. And I don’t mean this arrogantly. I think it was just really difficult.”

A Different Way of Seeing What’s Possible

At the time, Jana was questioning whether the difficulties she was experiencing were down to her, wondering whether she was doing something wrong, or whether she simply wasn’t good enough.

It was during this period of transition that Jana joined the Executive Women in Leadership (EWIL) programme.

The programme gave her the opportunity to step outside the environment she had become immersed in and meet women who were facing their own challenges while continuing to push themselves forward.

“It was a real lifesaver, helping keep me sane.”

More importantly, EWIL helped Jana challenge some of the assumptions she had placed around her own potential and the beliefs of what she could achieve in her career.

One particular session with a senior female leader had a lasting impact. Hearing the speaker discuss her own career prompted Jana to consider possibilities she had not previously allowed herself to imagine.

“I do not have to stop here. I can think much bigger for my career.”

What struck her was not just the speaker’s achievements, but the realisation that she had never asked herself the obvious question.

“I could do what she does. Why am I not even considering that I could get there?”

That thought ultimately prompted Jana to reconsider what she wanted from her next role. Rather than focusing on the industry she should move into, Jana took a step back and considered the qualities that mattered most to her: a growing organisation, an international environment, intellectually curious people, and the freedom to experiment.

That exercise helped Jana look beyond the assumption that her experience in banking limited her options. She applied to Amazon, and here she found a culture that allowed her to work in a way that felt more natural to her.

The Value of a Network

Jana is candid that networking does not come naturally to her. She describes herself as an extreme introvert and says networking can feel deeply uncomfortable.

“Networking makes me hugely uncomfortable; I seriously struggle with small talk.”

For Jana, that makes the value of the EWIL network even more significant. It created a space where she could connect with others without feeling she had to present a different version of herself.

“It’s a no-judgement place where you can learn and ask questions. It’s okay if we haven’t got it all figured out. And that’s what brings the value.”

The network has given Jana a trusted space to step outside the demands of her own organisation, gain perspective and learn from women facing different challenges.

“I think it’s incredibly important to get this positive motivation from seeing others and from opening your view, because companies swallow you up.”

Finding the Right Environment

Nearly a decade on from joining EWIL, Jana’s own career has continued to flourish. Today she is an Executive in Residence at Amazon Web Services, advising the boards of Fortune 500 companies, and co-author of The Octopus Organization published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2025.

Her experience has reinforced a belief that career progression is not simply about working harder or becoming better at navigating the wrong environment. Sometimes, the environment itself needs to change.

Jana’s advice to other women is not to leave at the first sign of difficulty, but to take an active role in shaping the environment around them. Equally, she recognises that there can come a point when change is the right decision.

“I’ve learned that there comes a point where you’ve tried and tried and tried and this doesn’t work. And you’re in an uncomfortable space. And then it’s time to go and find a place where you can blossom, where you can grow.”

For Jana, that is perhaps the most important lesson of a career that has never followed a straight line. The right environment can unlock potential that may otherwise remain hidden, while curiosity and a willingness to challenge your own assumptions can open doors you had not previously considered.

“Find a place where you can be you and bring your best self to work.”

Executive Women in Leadership Alumni Spotlight Series

This article forms part of our Executive Women in Leadership Alumni Spotlight Series, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Executive Women in Leadership Programme (EWLP) in September 2026, and has been developed collaboratively with the support of Judy Wagner, Director of FWB Ltd, and Prof Susan Murphy of The University of Edinburgh Business School, co-founders of the EWLP, the EWIL Advisory Board, programme contributors, and interview participants.

The EWLP has since evolved into the Executive Leadership Programme (ELP), delivered in partnership with the University of Edinburgh Business School, and is open to leaders of all genders across the private, public and third sectors.

For more information about joining the 2026 cohort, please contact elp@fwbltd.com.