Sue McLean | A change-maker in law

Sue McLean started in a man’s world. Some of those men wanted her to have more ‘gravitas’. She wondered if they wanted her to be more like them. Furthermore, there weren’t many female role models that she could look up to as junior lawyer. Most of them worked crazy hours, just like the men and had kids in boarding school, something she didn’t want to do. She could have accepted that and hung around the lower levels of her firms but she saw that her companies lost great women. Things needed to change. Sue still works hard but she has broken the mould. She’s now a Partner at large, corporate law firm, Baker McKenzie working in senior roles 4 days a week while her husband took the larger parenting role of their three children. He was a stay-at-home Dad for many years. Now, Sue is keen to give both men and women flexibility, for example, encouraging senior role job shares and more shared paternity leave. Sue says that leaders need to delegate and give younger, more junior leaders meaty opportunities so that they grow which brings team success. Less focus on overwork, more on overall growth.