VOICES OF AUTHORITY
The ‘Today’ programme editor Sarah Sands; the permanent secretary of the Department for International Trade Antonia Romeo; the former CEO of Lloyd’s of London Inga Beale; and Clare Smyth, the chef patron of Core, share their insights on leadership
sarah sands: ‘When my marriage broke up and I was left with a small child, I changed. That’s when the steel entered my soul. By the time I was sacked by The Sunday Telegraph I was so immersed in news that I was quite excited – I was the one in the firing line, but at least I was the first to hear the news.’ antonia romeo: ‘I had just been promoted into my first leadership job when one of my colleagues gave me some feedback. “When you come in and you say ‘hello’ it makes us feel great, but when you come in looking stressed, we all feel it,” he said. That was the moment I realised that to these people I was a plot device called “boss”, and what I was doing was having an impact on them.’ inga beale: ‘In the Nineties I was offered a promotion and I said “no – I’m not good enough”. A female manager told me, “We have confidence in you, so you should believe that we are making the right assessment.” I attended a course on assertiveness that completely transformed me. I took the job, grew in confidence and since then I’ve been unrecognisable from when I was younger.’ clare smyth: ‘This year I was named Best Female Chef. Of course I just wanted to be Best Chef, but by accepting the role I was able to make a speech about gender in my industry. If I hadn’t accepted it, I wouldn’t have had a voice.’