Men need to support their spouses’ career ambitions

Spousal support is an important part of the working woman climbing the ladder of success.
So said leadership expert and author, Janice Sutherland, admitted that her rise to success was made easier with the support of her husband and her family.
“This journey is not just you alone, if you have a partner or family then it is actually the partner that [has] to be your support network. Shout-out to Derrick, a very supportive husband; he has always been my champion, he is my biggest cheerleader, there are days I felt like I couldn’t do it,” she told OBSERVER media.
Sutherland, who is also an executive coach, keynote speaker, podcast host and author of This Woman Can, the No B.S. Guide for Women who Lead, said she has had her mental battles about where she should be, and her husband was often her voice of reason.
In June 2016, Sutherland became the
first female Chief Executive Officer for one of the Caribbean’s leading telecommunications organisations, Digicel. She left the company earlier this year to pursue other personal goals and has been doing so with her husband by her side.
“I don’t want to say I would not have done it without him, but life was a bit easier with him,” she said. “We live in a very patriarchal society, I’d be CEO of Digicel and when I got home, I would be the wife and home keeper; I still had to do all of that and then you still had to navigate if you have children in your career.”
Through leadership training and elite-level
mentorship, Sutherland coaches women around the world to take their rightful seat at the table where the important decisions are being made.
She credits her unique background for her ability to create programs that equip and inspire women to advance their careers and develop the confidence, presence and influence they need to drive through leadership barriers and confidently navigate the boardroom.
Using her 25-year experience, the leadership expert penned an almost 200-page book that she recently launched.
Sutherland agrees that women have not been able to do so well in the area of management because of the lack of support.