Resilience in Leadership: Paula MacKenzie on steering PizzaExpress and enduring top management’s challenges
Resilience is the magic word, at least for Paula MacKenzie. She took over as CEO of PizzaExpress in 2022, a company with over 400 units primarily in the UK. During the European Foodservice Summit in Amsterdam, she spoke candidly about the challenges of a top management role.
What does it mean to lead a company both locally and internationally in such a prominent position? Before joining PizzaExpress, Paula was the Managing Director of KFC UK & Ireland from 2017 to 2022, where she led the company through a comprehensive transformation. Her career also includes strategic roles at global brands like Diageo and Ernst & Young.
A Grueling Job
What does such a high-profile job entail? “A lot of sacrifice,” is Paula’s first response. With more than 20 years of experience in transforming food and beverage companies, she knows what she is talking about: “A lot of stress, little sleep, little family time – these are the coordinates of a top manager,” she says. Paula is not afraid to speak openly about the negative sides of her career. In conversation with Marta Pogroszewska, also a top manager and COO of the successful bakery chain Gail’s Bakery, Paula offers tips on “how to survive a 20-22 hour day in top management over the long term.”
As a woman in top positions, one must still prove themselves even more – even today. “There’s a lot of talk about equality, but in reality, as a woman, you still have to go the extra mile for recognition to work,” Paula acknowledges.
“During my previous job, there was a time when I didn’t see my family for 16 days and my bed was in a hotel or the office,” MacKenzie shares, noting she now views this as wrong, although at the time, she was in such a workaholic mood that she didn’t notice the negative effects.
Real Workaholic
At that time, she was in such a workaholic mode that she did not notice the negative effects. “Good leaders always feel like they are working in a startup – with both positive and negative consequences. Everything must be rethought, everything must be constantly reviewed, and everything must run a bit according to one’s own inclinations,” says Paula with a small smile.
Paula’s Tips to Avoid Mistakes (both in business and personally):
– Pay attention to the small things that go wrong
– Don’t just sit in the office, go into production
– Look at errors where they occur
– The biggest operational mistake is not recognizing the true reasons for a deficiency
– Don’t be afraid – many things look worse than they are
– Have patience
– Progress must be fought for inch by inch to solve a problem
– Take your time – sometimes the solution takes a year or even longer
The Most Important Thing
And the most important thing from Paula’s perspective, said at the end: “You can only gain experience personally. It cannot be transferred, even if others claim to have experienced the same thing a hundred times. Experience it again yourself. That alone makes a good and successful leader and also increases personal satisfaction.”
