Each week, we dig into the memory bank of the City’s great and good. Today, Susan Langley, the City’s first titled Lady Mayor, takes us through her career in Square Mile and Me
CV
Name: Dame Susan Langley, DBE
Job title: The Lady Mayor of the City of London
Previous roles: Director at Lloyds of London, lead non executive director at Home Office, senior independent director UK at Asset Resolution, trustee at Macmillan Cancer, CEO of financial and professional services at the Department of Business and Trade and chair of Gallagher UK.
Born: Whitechapel
Lives: Hertfordshire
Studied: Southampton University
Talents: The resilience to try
Motto: Forgiveness not permission
Biggest perk of the job? Being offered the platform to try and make a difference and to travel as an international Ambassador.
Coffee order: Black Americano
Cocktail order: A classic margarita
Favourite book: I could say something worthy and highbrow but I have to admit… Lord of the Rings
What was your first job?
I was a waitress in a pub, but I was so bad they moved me to the bar. I wasn’t very good at that either – I kept dropping the glasses. After A-Levels, I had a job counting traffic cones – the less said about my early jobs the better!
What was your first role in the City?
I joined PricewaterhouseCoopers as a management consultant. It was a great way to learn about different sectors.
When did you know you wanted to build a career in the City?
I didn’t plan my career, it’s always been accidental, every job I’ve worked in has found me – from consulting, into insurance, into government and now as Lady Mayor of the City of London. But I’ve loved working in the City as I’ve always found it so welcoming.
What’s one thing you love about the City of London?
The mix of history and innovation. You can wander through the back streets that time doesn’t seem to have touched and imagine what life was like, then emerge and look up at the towers. We’re lucky to have years of tradition that gives us such a sense of identity, but as a City we’ve always looked forward not back.
And one thing you would change?
I’d love more green spaces, that’s why it’s great that the new City Plan takes an ambitious approach on biodiversity and looks for opportunities for more planting and improvements to our open spaces in the Square Mile.
Congratulations on becoming the City’s first Lady Mayor! Can you tell us more about your title?
I’m the third female to take on the role but yes, the first to take the title the Lady Mayor. To be honest it never occurred to me to do anything else. We have a Lady Chief Justice, we had a Lady Usher of the Black rod and now we have a Lady Mayor, it’s just who I am.
What are you most excited about for the role?
The ability to promote the City of London and our fantastic strengths. We also need to continually bring new talent into the City. We might be the Square Mile but we’re really open and definitely not stuffy! With my East End background, I’m living proof that the City is for everyone. I believe we need to unsquare the Square Mile to show the opportunity here is open to people from all backgrounds. During my time as Sheriff of the City of London (another fancy title), we hosted an event for young people from a school in Tower Hamlets. One girl told me, “We can see the City skyline from our school, but that’s not for us”. I want to change that perception and help every young person believe that the City is for them.
What’s been your most memorable job interview?
One where I couldn’t get a word in edgeways. The interviewer kept talking and every time I tried to say something, just shook his head. At the end he said “well I must say you do interview beautifully” and offered me the job. I decided it wasn’t for me.
And any business faux pas?
Too many to mention. Maybe dropping a chocolate crème egg upside down on my boss’s shoe. I don’t even like them…
What’s been your proudest moment?
When one of my mentorees writes to me and says I’ve made a real difference to them. I keep those cards, they’re all in a drawer and I love them. We all have a responsibility to help others.
And who do you look up to?
Anyone who tries to do the right thing.
What’s the best business advice you’ve ever been given?
Be yourself, everyone else is taken.
And the worse?
To do things in the same way. That’s not the way to innovate or grow.
Are you optimistic for the year ahead?
Yes, very. The City and the UK have huge strengths. We are very good at saying what we’re not good at, but not so good at saying what we are good at. I really want to change that by making Mansion House the embassy for financial services showcasing the significance of the City not only in driving the UK forward but in powering the global economy.
We’re going for lunch, and you’re picking – where are we going?
We’re going to get some sushi and sit in Paternoster square and watch the world go by.
And if we’re grabbing a drink after work?
A cocktail in Enoteca da Luca.
Where’s home?
The Mansion House/Hertfordshire.
You’ve got a well-deserved two weeks off. Where are you going and who with?
Langkawi in Malaysia with my husband Gary or, if it’s summer, maybe on our narrowboat on the quiet and very beautiful canals of the UK.