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5 Minutes with an MD: Gerry Wisniewski - on International Women's Day

Gerry Wisniewski with brunette hair headshot with a quote from article on left

What is the best thing about your role as MD of the Technology practice at Edelman UK? 

Technology is a really vibrant industry to work in -  we live in the future, and think about the potential for innovations to solve problems. I love that tech is constantly evolving and it keeps me curious and wondering about ‘what next?’. I’m a very curious person and it really suits my natural inclination to want to explore and understand things, and how they work, and solve real world problems for people.  

But beyond the subject matter. I love the part of my role which is about building thriving teams, seeing people succeed, and grow and getting to be part of their journey. I get enormous meaning from seeing people be the best version of themselves, when they have the space, encouragement and environment to excel. 

What has been a challenge you’ve faced being a female business leader? 

Pre-pandemic I still continued to struggle talking about being a parent and working mother. For a long time, I felt that I didn’t want to have to explain myself if I had to log off because one of my children is sick or I want to be at their school play, or even because, heck, I have kids that just need my love and attention each day. It was easier to just not have to get into those discussions with people – in my head I didn’t want to be thought of as somehow vulnerable, weak or less capable to manage it all. I also didn’t think it would be helpful for me or my career for people to see that it is challenging being a working parent in a full-on job. There have been moments – as I’m sure many people in our industry have – when I’ve been so stressed/busy combining the two that you feel you can’t push on through and you want to call quits on everything. But I’ve had to leave that at the door, put a smile on my face and soldier on – and most of the time that works because when you leave your house you can literally shut the door on one part of life.  

The pandemic made continuing doing that extraordinarily hard. I can’t now ‘leave it at the door’ as my kids are in the house when I log on to work in the morning, I’m on calls when they’re back from school and come in to say hello, they need my love and attention even more given what a weird year it’s been and it’s important that I prioritise my family. It’s the life that’s always been there but before I could shut the door on it and create a physical boundary.  

Now so much more is visible for others to see (your home, your family, you personal lives) - that blurring of boundaries has made it even more essential to embrace and bring your whole self to work. 

We are still seeing that the intersectionality of gender, race and culture poses challenges for women as they progress to leadership roles. Have you ever experienced this? 

For many years, especially in my early career, when I didn’t see many role models that looked like me, I felt to “fit-in” I had to present a certain polished (and what I thought would be a more accepted) version of myself that could more easily blend in with the majority. That’s a hard act to maintain day in and day out for years. In the early days I found really simple things would worry me, like not knowing how to behave in a posh restaurant when we’d take journalists/clients out for meetings and which cutlery to use or drinks to order, or not having gone on holiday to France or Skiing. These seems like such innocuous things but when those in positions of authority around you signal through the things they do, the places they frequent, or how they speak that they are of the same tribe and no one ask or seems interested in the things you do, you really feel like an outsider. And while most of the time it’s not intentional, you can’t shake the feeling that you don’t fit in and that the best course of action is to keep your profile low key. For many years in my early career I think I came across as very quiet/introverted simply because I wasn’t sure how I could possibly add to some of the typical conversations I would hear.  

That’s why I’m such an advocate for representation. We have an Edelman REPRESENT mentoring programme which is specific for our employees of minority ethnic backgrounds – of which I am a mentor. We partnered with an organisation called Resurgo, who have over 16 years of experience in coaching and mentoring disadvantaged young people from underrepresented ethnicities, to develop this programme that will also equip our senior leaders with the right tools and techniques to grow and coach these employees. I am also a senior sponsor of our UK&I Global Women Executive Network (GWEN) which is focused on closing the gender pay gap. We have also recently developed and implemented fertility, miscarriage and menopause policies to better support all our employees who might experience these major health concerns. 

I think it’s incredibly important that people feel they can bring their real and authentic selves to work – that you’re not somehow having to hide who you really are and what you really think. It brings enormous freedom – to be your best self, your most creative, productive, happy self. I also believe and have seen that people who bring more of their real selves have a greater impact and have more influence in those around them.  

How did you overcome some of that self-doubt and how do you ensure you’re building a culture that is different? 

I think this came with experience and building confidence in my own abilities. I’d say it was probably 10 years into my career, which I know seems like an extraordinarily long time now. There was very little interest in diversity and inclusion back then, so it wasn’t a priority for me, in how I showed up, or for my employers. But once I had built up significant skill in my field, made good networks and built friendships - over time - I was able to reveal more of my true self, my background, my interests and feel happier doing so. I’m just now much more comfortable in my own skin and that’s down to life experience and the positive response I started to get from others. I noticed that people listened to me more, that I have more influence because often I was saying something different to other people or had seen it from an alternative perspective always having been slightly on the outside. I also enjoyed the fact that I could bring something different to the table – I started to see it as more of a superpower. It’s a powerful mind shift.  

From a culture perspective, a lot starts with leadership. Our teams need to see a diverse range of leaders bring a diverse set of selves to the workplace. It also requires leaders to open themselves up and be vulnerable, to talk about their work but also their lives beyond work – their ambitions, their struggles – not just a polished version of who they are. I want them to feel that it’s okay to bring their whole selves because “I’ve seen my boss and my co-workers do it”. 

Best career advice you’ve ever received? 

You don’t always have to go at everything 150%. Sometimes 80% will do.  I’m an overachiever, and a perfectionist by nature and early on in my career that was at odds with the need to move at a speed to get stuff done, with impact.

Sometimes your 80% is another person’s 200% so cut yourself some slack.  

Favourite podcast and/or book you’ve listened to / read recently? 

Bernadine Evaristo. Girl, Woman, Other which won the Booker prize a few years ago jointly with Margaret Atwood’s sequel to the Handmaid’s tale (also a great read).