On 21st May we’ll be hosting an event ‘Breaking Through Glass Walls’. This event is based on the book ‘The Glass Wall’ co-authored by Sue Unerman and Kathryn Jacob.

Sue is the Chief Transformation Officer at MediaCom UK and has spent the last 28 years there, making significant waves in the advertising and media world.

 

                 

Sue is a Council Member of the Open University and is on the Corporate Development Board of Women’s Aid. Sue was also on the Advisory Board of the Government Digital Service and the University of Oxford Public Affairs Advisory Group.

Sue has been named by Campaign magazine as ‘Media Strategist of the Year’ on more occasions than any other individual.

We’re absolutely thrilled that Sue will be speaking at our event and we know our guests are just as excited as we are.

1. Sue, why did you decide to write The Glass Wall?

    

   Back in the 1980s there were a few women at the top of businesses. The UK even had a woman prime minister. Although most bosses were middle aged men in suits, it was clear that the future for women bosses was bright. A new dawn was on the way, a future where you would expect half of the management of every company would be women, and every other CEO would occasionally wear a skirt to work.

   Three decades later there really hasn’t been very much change. There may be one or two women around board tables in the developed world, but most companies still are predominantly managed by men.

   Does this matter? Statistics show that while tokenism doesn’t work (ie just employing one or two senior women), companies who have a few women in senior management improve profitability and overall performance. There isn’t a lack of talented women. There isn’t a paucity of women in the workforce, in many companies the only place they are in the minority is in the boardroom.

   I wrote this book to examine why things are as they are and to give strategies for success for women to take their place at the top table, and for businesses to ensure that they get the benefit (to the bottom line in terms of better decisions and profit) from the talented women that they employ.

2. What is your best piece of advice for women in business?

    

   Resilience is absolutely key, if you fall down, get back up again, but on a very pragmatic level – don’t ever pour the tea. It will immediately pigeon hole you in any meeting.

3. Full of strategies for women, is the book relevant for men at all?

    

   This book is relevant for any manager who wants to help their team members whether they are men or women. And its full of ideas for anyone who finds the current patriarchal toxic system a barrier to their progression.

4. The Glass Wall is in fact your second book. The first book being ‘Tell The Truth: Honesty Is Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool.’ Will there be a third book and can you give us a clue as to what it will be about?

    

   Watch this space… I need to discuss with my co-author!

5. You’re incredibly hardworking and obviously very good at what you do. What is it that motivates you?

    

   Thanks very much, you’re very kind. The thing that motivates me is to be better tomorrow than I have been today.

6. Who is your role model and why?

    

   My awesome daughters are my role models. I constantly learn from them.

   But I have many others too, actually throughout history from Mary Wollestencraft, Boudicca, Bette Davis, Sylvia Pankhurst, to many women I work with. Basically all those women who have stood up for what is right and acted on it.

7. What three people, past or present, would you love to have dinner with?
   

    

   Bob Dylan, Maya Angelou, Marian Woodman

8. Tea or coffee? Sweet or savoury? Sun or snow?

    

   Coffee, Savoury, Sun

9. What do you do for fun?

    

   Swim. Read. Shop. Walk. Visit the amazing museums and galleries in London. I do love an ancient monument too!

Thanks Sue for taking part in our 60 Second Interview. We’re looking forward to having you speak at our event soon.