Talent Spotlight: Emmanuelle Sainté
International Women's Day 2024
Name: Emmanuelle Sainté
Role: Senior Proposals Specialist
Studio: Toronto
From your perspective, how has the idea of leadership transformed, and in what ways do you believe women can play a role in reshaping and redefining leadership within the workplace?
I feel that conversations around leadership are increasingly prioritizing values like collaboration, emotional intelligence, and empathy. This feels like a change from the leadership traits that I used to see foregrounded most often – traits like extroversion, single-minded determination, and the projection of authority. There was this idea of a leader that, to me, felt individualistic.
Nowadays, I see more emphasis on leaders who are great at fostering collaboration within their team or who have the mindset of “leading from behind.” It’s possible this cultural shift is happening in part because women are holding more leadership positions in many different industries, and can shape the culture of organizations meaningfully. I think we’re getting better at recognizing the unique value of having different leadership styles and the people-oriented, relationship-building skills that are traditionally seen as feminine. I hope we will continue to see this shift as we build a more balanced society and move towards an equitable future for all.
How would you define success in your role?
My role is all about winning proposals – and it takes the whole team to make that happen. I think delivering a great proposal really hinges on great communication. To formulate a response, I need to work effectively with many people in several different roles – from Principals and project leads, other Specialists, operational and administrative staff, and external subconsultants. If I do my job well as a Specialist, everyone’s clear on what they need to do, when they need to do it, and how to get started. If I’ve done my job well as a teammate, other Specialists know they can rely on my support, when needed. I’ve been successful when a final submission is clear, on message, and aligned to the specific opportunity – when we’ve enabled the firm to put its best foot forward, I know we have our best chance of winning.
“I think we’re getting better at recognizing the unique value in having different leadership styles, and in the people-oriented, relationship-building skills that are traditionally seen as feminine. I hope we will continue to see this shift as we build a more balanced society and move towards an equitable future for all”
What is your favourite part of working at B+H?
I love that working at B+H allows me to continue having a part in shaping the built environment, even though I’m no longer doing project-specific work. As a Proposal Specialist, I get to have a global view of the different projects the firm is working on – throughout different sectors and around the world. I’ve learned so much here and am continually excited to get to learn more.
Beyond the work itself, I’ve gotten to work with some pretty incredible people who are highly talented, and passionate about what they do. The culture of an organization matters a lot when you spend so many of your waking hours there, and being surrounded by people who are excited to be somewhere is definitely contagious.