But ultimately it was committing the cardinal sin of breaching the confidence of a client, former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, thatNatWest lifer Rose climbed up the ranks over more than three decades from graduate trainee to boardroom, becoming the first woman to run one of Britain's major banks.
"Character reputations are pretty volatile," said Rupert Younger, founder of Oxford University's Centre for Corporate Reputation. "You can be a hero one day, a zero the next, as Alison Rose has found out." Questions abound whether the sudden shake-up to leadership at Britain's biggest lender to small businesses - around 40% owned by the taxpayer - might distract from its objective of keeping credit flowing into a UK economy and mortgage market already reeling from 13 consecutive base rate hikes.
She picked up where McEwan, and his predecessor Stephen Hester, had left off, stabilising the bank's balance sheet, eliminating risks and revamping strategy to focus on supporting small UK businesses and households, in stark contrast to the sprawling institution cultivated by ex-investment banker Fred Goodwin on the eve of the global financial crisis.