Interview with Exec Sarah Walker-Smith, CEO of Shakespeare Martineau

Leader Insider Secrets

Listeners, you are in for a treat. I struggled to pick one soundbite from Sarah Walker-Smith's interview - there were so many. Sarah is the CEO of Shakespeare Martineau and the only female, non-lawyer CEO in the legal top 55. She was recently named as the UK’s most influential legal CEO on social media. A trained accountant having worked for PWC and Deloitte, so commercial know-how is second nature but Sarah firmly puts people at the core of everything she does, as well as the marketing and branding experience she gained during her eight years at Boots. In Sarah's interview she talked about: Her values/principles which included: fairness, freedom, abundance mentality, creating a level playing field and the ability to challenge things and see the world differently. The childhood experiences that influenced Sarah’s values. The mindset she's adopted which has resulted in 'happy [career] accidents' and believing I can have a go at that. Sarah uses a why not mentality and has gone with the next opportunity. She has pushed herself and discloses the events growing up, which created this attitude. How she feels blessed by her adversity because it has been those experiences that have equipped her to deal with this pandemic and channel it into something positive. This has enabled Sarah to run into a fight not away from it. How she thinks she is 'so normal' and has just as many hang-ups as everyone else. She talks about the limiting beliefs she's overcome, including, 'I am not worthy or entitled to things'. Throughout the interview, it was easy to see why Sarah is as successful as she is, (although I know she may disapprove of me saying this - as she is so humble and authentic). I can highly recommend you following Sarah. She's a thought leader and has been a definite guiding light during this crisis. You can connect with Sarah on LinkedIn here: linkedin.com/in/sarah-walker-smith-4708a5b or on Twitter here: @pgwalkersmith.