Coming back from maternity leave to a new senior role was a major challenge for this Bank of America exec. She says these questions helped her prioritize.

• Bank of America's EMEA head of D&I told Insider about the most challenging moment of her career.
• Katy Ingle said coming back from maternity leave to a new senior role left her overwhelmed.

It's easy to look at high achievers and think that they've had it easy. But as most will attest, it's the end point of what has usually been a long and challenging ascent up the corporate ladder.

Katy Ingle, head of diversity and inclusion EMEA at Bank of America is no different. She told Insider that there have been numerous challenges during her 20 year-plus career, but there is one that stands out.

In September 2018 when she returned from maternity leave following the birth of her son to step into a senior role for the first time.

"At the time my daughter wasn't long in school, my son was just one when I came back to work," said Ingle. "I was coming back into the head of diversity and inclusion role, having not done it before."

There hadn't been anyone in the role for a long time, which made building a team challenging, she added.

"There were so many different priorities in the D&I space, and it was really easy to just become overwhelmed, and to be really thinking about what am I going to do? What do I do first? And how do I learn?"

Ingle said she also felt guilty for leaving her young child at home for a role that also involved lots of travelling. Many working parents often talk of feeling similar guilt.

Ingle said that although she had a very supportive manager at the time, she didn't feel like she could ask them for help as she worried they would see her in a different light - so she turned to a person she had considered a mentor.

"This person was truly independent, and they asked questions, they asked how I was feeling and they asked why I was feeling that way," said Ingle. "They really got to the crux of 'You're just being really hard on yourself.'"

Ingle said that they gave her tools that she still uses today to help her prioritize her time. She listed some of the questions she asked herself.

"What am I driving towards? What do I need to prioritize? What's urgent versus immediate versus long term? And, how do I get focused on what I need to deliver now versus in a year's time?" she said.

Ingle has previously told Insider that finding mentors is crucial for climbing the corporate ladder. She also said that ensuring you ask questions has been one of the biggest lessons of her career so far.

"Show interest and ask questions, the worst thing you're going to get is a no or a move on," Ingle said.

Continue to engage with people throughout your career, added Ingle. "Not only will you develop the knowledge and develop your stakeholder group and your network - you never know where that may lead you."