Exploring the professional and personal faces of leadership.
Welcome back to another instalment of our "Leadership Stories" blog series “inside out at the top” where we explore the professional and personal faces of leadership and embrace the inspirational power of storytelling.
This time Louise Cheeseman, Director of Bus at Transport for London, shares her journey with us, and speaks about the importance of women role models in the transport industry.
I left school with an O level in cookery. My parents had always said I didn’t need to do well, because I’d get married and have children, and sure enough at twenty I did just that. But my marriage sadly ended, and I was left on my own with my two girls and no income. That really drove me onwards because I didn’t want that for my girls, I wanted them to have an education and be financially independent.
It all started at an open night at school and the teachers told me my girls were very bright and should go to university. I had no experience of university, so I got home and googled the process, and my heart sank when I saw how expensive it was. I got a job as a train guard so I could pay for it. Since then, I have worked my way up and eventually became the managing director of a train operating company, before joining TFL to lead their bus business. I have had the best career I could have ever hoped for and travelled all over the world.
More than anything, I want to show my girls that nothing can stand in their way as a woman. I am sure there are lots of women out there right now in tricky situations like I was. I see women who have potential, and it just needs someone to believe in them, and give them the confidence to make the next step. If I could be a role model for one other women in this industry I would be delighted.
Professional
What have been the greatest challenges as a leader for you?
My biggest challenge has been the lack of role models within the transport industry. I’ve had to be one of the first to take the leap into the cold swimming pool, and now I want to be the one to say to other women ‘come on! jump in! the water’s quite warm’.
I have been at a lot of conferences and board meetings where there are very few women. There is often quite a lot of egos in the room, at first I didn’t always get taken seriously and felt I had to prove myself. That has been hard for me. A few years ago, they would all look at me when it came to taking the minutes, or they’d say ‘white with two sugars please’ and I’d have to subtly show them my name badge.
Women have a lot to offer the industry, and there is mass of untapped talent out there. Our workforce should match our customer demographic.
What do you believe will be the most effective leadership style in coming years and why?
What is the key to encouraging diversity of thought when building teams?
Private
Is there a moment that you feel changed the course of your career?
I’ll never forget, it was a Sunday night, it was pouring with rain, I was standing on York station on my way to London for the first time to start a new role leading the DLR train operations for the 2012 Olympic Games.
That night I was so homesick, I rang my girls and said, ‘what the heck am I doing?’ and they said, ‘come on mum, you can do this!’ It was the best thing I ever did, and I loved every minute of it. I didn’t have any confidence in myself before then, but that role changed everything for me. Everyone has a turning point in their career, and that was mine.
Can you tell us about something that happened at work that made you feel included or excluded? How did this affect your path to leadership?
The proudest moment for me was without doubt when I was offered the managing director role of Hull Trains. Hull is my hometown, and it was a business that ran out of the same railway station as the company that I worked for as a guard. I used to look across at Hull Trains and I used to think ‘they are real trains' - they were big and went into the capital, mine were local stopper services. If you had told me then that I would one day be the managing director of that business, I wouldn’t have believed you. I wish my parents had been there to see it, because I was that 16-year-old girl who was never going to do anything with her life.
What advice would you give your younger self?
A message to women in transport: