Celebrating our inspiring female leaders on International Women's Day
To celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March, we spoke to four inspirational women about the key roles they hold at Royal Surrey and the drive and determination behind their success.
Chief Executive, Louise Stead
Starting out as a registered nurse, Louise is now a key figure in healthcare in our region and has a senior role in three major organisations.
She is Chief Executive at Royal Surrey, Chair of the Surrey and Sussex Cancer Alliance and represents Guildford and Waverley for Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care System.
In 2020, she was appointed as a visiting professor at the University of Surrey.
At home, Louise has been equally as busy, raising three daughters who are now grown up. She says that women should never feel bad for having more roles than the one you hold at work and that the key to being a leader is to, “Stay positive and focused, hold your nerve and to never compromise on what you know is right.”
Chief Nurse, Jo Mountjoy
Jo was inspired to become a nurse by her “very strong” mum who taught her to care for her younger sister who has cerebral palsy, autism, diabetes and is quadriplegic.
She is as dedicated to the profession today as when she first qualified, saying, “In 35 years of nursing, my passion and love of caring for others and making a difference to people’s lives has never gone away.
“For me, nursing is a vocation, a way of life and is with me 24 hours a day.”
Jo’s passion and work ethic have helped her reach the most senior nursing position at Royal Surrey, professionally leading the Trust’s workforce of around 2,300 nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, such as physiotherapists.
Always striving to develop professionally and academically, in 2009 Jo gained an MSc in healthcare management – an amazing effort while working full time as a Matron in the Emergency Department (ED).
She recognises the importance of having a work life balance and tries to achieve this by being organised and planning. She admits, “I don’t always strike this balance but I make sure I have time for myself, my family and friends and plan holiday time regularly throughout the year.”
When asked what advice she would give to other women she answered, “Have a vision or goal. It will give you drive, passion and purpose. Be compassionate, authentic and lead by example.”
Chair, Sue Sjuve
Royal Surrey’s Chair, Sue Sjuve leads the Trust board, which is there to support everyone at Royal Surrey in delivering first class services.
Sue started as an executive in financial services in the 1980s, when there were very few female leaders. She describes the experience as “lonely” and says that there was little enthusiasm from staff to work under a woman.
Despite the challenges, Sue thrived in her professional life, juggling her job and raising her three children.
She held high-profile roles in banking for many years before moving to various public sector organisations, including the NHS, where there are many more women leaders.
Sue is delighted to see that today’s women don’t have to tolerate the sorts of behaviors and assumptions that she had to and believes that, “collegiate leadership and a good balance of the sexes is more conducive to personal wellbeing and business success.”
What advice would Sue give to women who strive to lead? “Be clear about why you want to do this and how. Leadership is challenging, exposing and exhilarating. Do you want to be a leader because you can do it well and make a difference? Are you prepared to fail, learn and grow? Leaders are 'on' all the time – you have to be authentic, consistent and talented for people to follow you.”
Sue loves her role, saying, “It is so engaging and worthwhile that I spend far longer than I should on it. It gives back to me in spades, but I think the time is coming when in fairness to my spouse, children and grandchildren I should pass the baton to someone new and devote myself to tickling small people, building forts and making mud pies. But not quite yet!”
HR Director, Louise Hall
Louise’s love of helping people has led her to become responsible for staff recruitment and retention for one of the region’s biggest employers – Royal Surrey.
Having studied French, German and Russian at university, a career plan was not obvious unless it was to become a translator or to work in the Foreign Office. After realising her true calling lay in HR, she built her career from HR Administrator to HR Director.
Her linguistic skills finally came in useful when she was working as a consultant, helping European companies integrate after a merger.
She describes this as the “hardest stage” in her life, trying to manage home and family in a very demanding role. When her children were two and three years old, she put her family first and quit the job that had been taking over her life.
After finding roles that allowed for a more balanced life, she has thrived and worked her way up to a key role within the Trust.
She says, “Being the HR Director and managing a family with three children, now 22, 21 and 12 is always a balancing act. I always try to drop my son at the school bus stop and have a chat with him at 7.15 in the morning.”
As an HR Director and a mother, she recommends that staff never miss a Christmas play, a sports day or any events that are important for our children but says, “It’s also important not to feel guilty about working and being away from home. We should feel proud to be role models for our children.”
She says, “The guilt of not being a perfect mother, wife or employee is always there and we have to accept compromise. One day, however, our children will have moved on and opportunities in our careers do not always come at perfectly timed occasions. Go for it if you can when things come up and things will usually work out – somehow. There may be a time when you have to compromise in your career but be the person you can be and look after your own dreams too.”
Louise has seen many able women who chose to concentrate on family life instead of their career and says she absolutely respects that choice but adds, “If you do want to progress your career and don’t know where to start, be brave, speak up and get advice from other women. We have all been in that place at some point ourselves too.”