Professor Lynn Saunders OBE - Leadership lessons from the prison service

Nottingham Business School Business Leaders

Prison governor Lynn Saunders worked every Christmas Day for twenty years.

As the woman in charge of Europe’s biggest prison for sex offenders, she believed she had to lead from the front.

“My staff in the prison had to go to work on Christmas Day – so I always worked on Christmas Day,” she tells the Nottingham Business School’s Business Leaders’ Podcast.

“As a leader, you must be willing to get your hands dirty – to do the difficult and unpleasant jobs. I couldn’t tell other people to do them if I wasn’t prepared to do them myself. It was important for my credibility.”

For more than 12 years, as Governor of HMP Whatton, Professor Saunders OBE oversaw more than 800 men who had been convicted of sexual offences every day.

In Episode 21 of the NBS podcast she tells Honorary Visiting Professor Mike Sassi that being a successful leader is all about being authentic.

She says: “Prison is a theatre, and you are always on show. Many people choose to play roles, but – in terms of my interaction with staff or prisoners – I’ve consciously never done that.

“In prisons people have a lot of time to sit and watch. So, if you’re not a genuine and authentic leader, they’ll know pretty sharpish.

“I can’t emphasise this enough: leaders must be themselves. They need to be truthful to be credible.”

Professor Saunders started her 35-year career in the criminal justice system as a social worker and went on to be governor of three prisons: HMP Whatton, HMP Lincoln, and Morton Hall Women’s Prison.

Even at a young age, she was preparing for a leadership career.

“I was always the sort of kid who was put in charge of stuff,” she tells the Business Leaders’ Podcast.

“They say you’re only a leader if people follow you – and they always did [follow me]! So, my career was never a great surprise.”

Last year, Professor Saunders swapped her leadership role in the criminal justice system for another in academia, when she was appointed Head of the School of Law and Social Sciences at the University of Derby.

Her advice for aspiring young leaders, who are considering their options, is simple: “Do something you enjoy. Working life is hard if you don’t enjoy your job.

“If you’re lucky enough to find something you enjoy, then leadership will come naturally.”