share: digg facebook twitter The IMF insists the departure of former chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has not hurt its day-to-day operations, but it is clearly under pressure to find a successor fast to lead an organization that provides billions in loans to stabilize the world economy. Lagarde, 55, has a clean-cut image and has been praised for her acumen in helping steer Europe through the global financial crisis and its more recent debt woes. When she took over as finance minister, she urged compatriots to stop their endless ideological yammering and "roll up your sleeves." Sarkozy hasn't spoken publicly about Lagarde, possibly because that would feed domestic conspiracy theories that Strauss-Kahn's troubles are a plot by political rivals. Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist, had been seen as the potential winner of France's presidential election next year, while the conservative Sarkozy's poll ratings are dismal. Germany, Europe's biggest economy, appeared hard-pressed to offer any candidate who had major-league political clout backed up by economic experience. Among other names mentioned, former Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck is opposition party member and eurozone bailout fund chief Klaus Regling lacks a high political profile.