Susan Glenholme talks to Simeon Hance about growing up in Kenya, becoming an equity partner at the age of 29, and the importance of trust in a law firm

Susan Glenholme was born and raised in Kenya, and came to the UK aged 18 to study law. Just 11 years later, she was made equity partner at Turner & Debenhams (now Debenhams Ottaway). Despite this rapid rise in what can be a ruthless industry, Susan is someone more interested in finding out about the person sat opposite her, rather than focusing on her own success.

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Growing up

Having grown up in Kenya, Susan notes the difference in mindset in developing countries compared to the UK. “Across Africa, you can have no electricity or running water for weeks, and people would just accept it … some people have nothing, but are still fundamentally happy.” This experience made her grateful for every opportunity she had and made her want to make the most of those opportunities.

Susan attended an international school in Kenya, which had an open culture and introduced her to a wide range of people from different backgrounds. It also offered opportunities that weren’t otherwise available. “My school prepared us for, and opened the door for, studying either in England or America, where there were more professional opportunities, and I knew I wanted to become a lawyer; to be part of a globally respected profession with the opportunity to actually make a difference.”

So, aged 18, Susan came to the UK to study law. “My parents flew over with me and dropped me off and then flew back to Kenya, knowing they would see me at Christmas. I didn’t know anyone and I had never been fully responsible for looking after myself. Looking back, I have no idea how I wasn’t completely terrified.”

She studied law at the University of Hertfordshire, before going to Chester College of Law for the Legal Practice Course. Then she applied for training contracts. “I made hundreds of applications for a training contract. Everyone told me I’d left it too late and I’d not be able to get one.” But she was offered a paralegal role, then a training contract the year after, at Turner & Debenhams (now Debenhams Ottaway), where she still works today.

Career development

Having qualified at 24, Susan was made a full equity partner at 29 and was elected as managing partner at 42. Looking at what facilitated her rapid career trajectory, she credits Debenhams Ottaway’s approach to developing staff. “There was a culture around giving [more junior staff] opportunities and trust.” Reflecting on the start of her career, she recalls: “The first estate I was trusted to look after was worth around £10m.” To guide her through this task, Susan’s supervising partner Nick Turner broke it down into smaller steps that she was able to do. “Nick said to me ‘you do the first letter, you do the first meeting, and I will guide you through it, checking what you do as we go along.’ The process was like being taught to cycle, with someone holding the back of the bike, knowing that you were not being left alone and always supported.”

While imposter syndrome is something commonly felt by junior legal staff, Susan notes how the firm’s partners at the time never made her feel like this. “I’d be in meetings with lawyers who had 20 or 30 years more experience than me and they would make sure to include me in such a way that I didn’t feel out of place, and I did feel able to contribute, which helped build confidence that I didn’t know that I had.”

Not only were newer members of staff given these opportunities, but they also had the safety net around them in case things went wrong. “I was told ‘if it goes well, you get the credit. If it goes wrong, it’s my fault for not training you well enough.’” This was in stark contrast to the more cut-throat reputation that other law firms had.

Crucially, taking accountability has always been part of the culture at Debenhams Ottaway, starting from the top of the firm. Susan explains that the partners were friends before establishing the firm, “so there’s always been that trust. They would also call each other out if someone was doing something that didn’t feel right.”

This has established trust across the firm, where employees feel able to raise anything that they are uncomfortable with. This faith in the firm’s leadership was recently recognised during an audit, when the auditor told Susan: “you know an organisation has a good culture when I ask your newest members of staff what they would do if they spotted fraud, and they all said that they’d report this directly to the managing partner to raise it as an issue.” Susan believes that: “If this [level of trust] was standard across the industry, we’d have a much better profession.”

Firm culture

Debenhams Ottaway is on the doorstep of London, and some candidates would rather pursue careers there, with salary offers that Debenhams Ottaway would be unable to match. Susan says: “As much as I don’t want our younger lawyers to leave, if the city career is what they want, then of course they have to go and pursue it.” But the move from Susan’s firm to City firms is something that goes both ways: “We’re finding more and more people leaving London, who’ve done that style of working for a few years but would now rather be part of a firm trying to make a difference, where they have more autonomy and a better work-life balance.”

“I think, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, more people are reflecting on what is important to them – and they are finding that they do want to have more time outside of work, see their family and friends, and be part of a firm where they can make a difference,” Susan says. “We can offer something different and have found that to be working well for the firm.” By prioritising trust, open communication, autonomy and more of a work-life balance, the firm is able to manage in a way that feels authentic and organic.

To help maintain an open and supportive culture, Debenhams Ottaway have a ‘buddy’ system, where each lawyer is grouped with colleagues from other departments within the firm. The primary aim is just getting to know each other, through a social lunch or going for coffee. This has helped ease in new starters and helped colleagues to understand exactly what the other does. But Susan also notes that it has helped lead to more cross-referrals, as the trust across departments developed. “We even made a bit of a competition out of it – lawyers do tend to be quite competitive, after all – where the buddy group that managed to do the most referrals won a small prize, which has built a team feeling across different parts of the firm.”

Outside of these groups, the core employee support comes from the wider organisational culture, rather than specific, and sometimes divided, initiatives or policies focusing on one issue. “When I joined the firm, there was a female managing partner – something that was particularly uncommon in law firms at the time – who balanced her role with things like the school run, which was inspiring to me. And now, over half of our partners are women; we don’t have an organisational gender pay gap. But I do find it sad that even in this day and age, when a firm like ours – which is not a huge firm – can do it, why can’t everyone?” Susan states.

Managing staff

As a leader in her firm, Susan wants to pass on the opportunities and support she had, to support the development of her staff, and offer flexibility where possible, to broaden the range of people able to join the firm. She explains that: “My mum brought me up to believe that the world is filled with nice people – if you can’t find one, be one … I have built my career on relationships, and fundamentally I find other people very interesting. Having these strong relationships can help in an industry and with work that can be difficult; if you can’t balance it with having fun, it’s going to be very hard!” Through her interest and investment in her people, Susan knows not just all of her staff, but their partners’, children’s and pets’ names, too – and she often finds people are surprised to hear she is a managing partner at a law firm, as her understated manner, and interest in other people, is not something always associated with that position.

Another piece of advice that Susan has applied to her management style is something she was told earlier on in her career, when her supervising partner emphasised that: “You’re not supposed to always have the answers.” She says: “It’s really important as you go up the ladder to still accept when you don’t know something. It shows your team your vulnerability, gives room for them to show their own expertise and knowledge, and you can learn something from them, too.”

“One thing my dad always taught me was, ‘it’s not what happens to you in life, but how you react to it that counts,’” Susan recalls. She keeps this sentiment close, still, and focusing on what she can control, rather than what she cannot, has been a big part of going into so many difficult situations – whether growing up in Kenya, moving to the UK by herself, or being a managing partner during the pandemic – with a positive attitude.