IF NOT YOU, THEN WHO?

If Not Now, Then When.

A morning at Mansion House with the Lady Mayor, Dame Susan Langley, and a room full of women who are quietly changing the shape of leadership.

The Women Who Lead breakfast brought together four extraordinary women, each at the top of their tree in very different worlds: insurance, justice, business and religion.

Dame Susan Langley, Lady Mayor of the City of London.
Dame Sarah Mullally, Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales.
Dame Antonia Romeo, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.

Four very different journeys. Four very powerful women. And, interestingly, four very humble women who were not pretending they had it all figured out.

There was talk of dyslexia, complicated childhoods, resilience, work ethic, failure, opportunity, equal pay, allyship, life partners, having the courage to call things out and, importantly, doing leadership your way.

A few things really stayed with me.

Own your space.

Know who you are.

Don’t make yourself smaller to make someone else comfortable.

And when the opportunity comes, take it. Then turn around and make sure the women coming behind you get theirs too.

That is where representation and allyship really matter.

Because I have always believed that change needs people prepared to be on the front line pushing for it. Not waiting for someone else to make it happen, but asking the difficult questions, challenging what has always been done and, sometimes, being prepared to be unpopular.

One of our big ambitions is to Unsquare the Square Mile, and this morning was a brilliant reminder of why it matters.

The power of representation is huge. When you see women at the very top of insurance, justice, business, religion and public life, you see what is possible.

And sometimes the power of the chair is simply giving someone else the space to speak.

There was also a brilliant reminder that “Lady” is every bit as powerful as “Lord.”

Which got me thinking about gravitas.

What does gravitas look like when you don’t compromise who you are to achieve it?

Perhaps it looks different for all of us.

A brilliant morning, a brilliant panel, so many amazing women in the room and plenty to think about as we continue to #UnsquareTheSquareMile.

Because ultimately, the question is simple:

If not you, then who?