From Newnham to John Lewis’ Deputy Chair: Rita Clifton’s Dance to the Top
Written by Nadejda Petrova
‘Brand guru’. ‘The doyenne of branding.’ ‘A fabulous ambassador for business.’ These are just a few of the terms used to describe Rita Clifton by The Financial Times. This is understandable. Rita, Deputy Chair of John Lewis and the latest speaker to sit down with the King’s E-Lab, has undoubtedly had an illustrious career. Having held senior roles at corporate heavyweights like Saatchi & Saatchi, as well as co-founding one of the most successful UK startups ever, BrandCap, Rita has proven she is an extraordinary businesswoman. I got to experience firsthand that she is also an extraordinary person.
The talk, or rather the ‘fireside chat’, was an intimate occasion which enabled a comfortable atmosphere and a real sense of ‘closeness’ to the speakers on stage. The Newnham alumnus was interviewed by the EMBA programme’s own Jennifer Swimley, and the discussion title, 95 Years Young and Uk’s Most Successful Employee-Owned Company, alluded to Rita role in steering Britain’s flagship retailer, John Lewis. As one of the biggest and oldest employee-owned businesses in the UK, John Lewis has become a retail staple when many of its competitors have faltered. Rita spoke extensively about how much she values her current role because she gets to showcase an ethical ownership structure which excels in the world of capitalism.
Rita explained how the John Lewis Partnership (JLP) is an organisation born with purpose, being created over 100 years ago and being a front-runner and leader in the fight for sustainability and corporate responsibility. Whilst we have seen a large number of firms turn towards ESG concerns in recent years and an increasing interest in employee-led firms, such as from RicherSounds and more recently Patagonia, John Lewis pioneered this 95 years ago. This inherent purpose is what drove Rita to accept the position as Deputy Chair, despite a number of other executive-position offers and demands on her time.
The challenges that retailers, including the JLP, currently face was well highlighted, with challenges on a number of fronts. Surprisingly, even retailers such as Waitrose – a supermarket with a premium reputation – have low margins which are being continually squeezed by global events and increased competition. This makes reputation and corporate responsibility even more important as unique selling points for a brand and can help them maintain a loyal customer base. The sense of ownership that employees feel through the JLP model is another aspect that was highlighted as leading the retailer to stand out among the crowd, as well as boost productivity among the workforce.
It can be difficult to sound genuine when you talk about relatability and humility as a senior corporate executive. I have no doubt, however, that the partnership ethos is as essential to Rita as it is to the company that she steers; it resonates through her approach to business, to challenges and to life. It is clear that she values the obstacles she has overcome and is steadfast and grounded as she conquers new career heights. This desire to shape the world around her is what led Rita to the top of InterBrand, giving her the power to prioritise goals that were important to her ethos, such as empowering women, alongside the recurrent focus on environmental and sustainability concerns. Rita explained how it was this CEO position which opened up the avenue for her to pursue non-executive director roles that she enjoys.
Rita shared many personal stories with us and graciously granted the audience an intimate view of the difficulties she encountered in earlier years, from her father’s passing when she was just twelve years old, to her family’s financial hardships that followed. After studying Classics at Newnham, Rita wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted to do post-Cambridge. However, she did know that she enjoyed watching TV and wanted to pursue this passion as a career, opting to work in advertising. In fact, her first job was at an advertising company responsible for a “loo cleaner” product! From here, she climbed the ranks at Saatchi and Saatchi where she found the atmosphere amazing and took away a sense of family-ship from the job.
With wit and openness, Rita seamlessly bridged the gap between personal and professional. She showed us the need for a clear professional purpose relating to circumstances by recalling different moments in her life where she has had to reevaluate her career priorities. Her general rule is that one needs to clarify their agenda to themselves first. Sometimes, the goal will be long-term, like career prosperity. Sometimes, it might be more short-term, like ensuring that your family is financially stable in the coming year. For Rita, whatever the goal may be, being honest about why we are doing something is crucial to success.
On the subject of her new book, Love Your Imposter, Rita turned to address ‘imposter syndrome’ and explained how we can use it to our advantage. Ever so relatable, she provided examples of the times that she has felt out of place and how, for a period in her career, she often behaved how she thought a CEO was supposed to behave, rather than how she may naturally have acted. Imposter syndrome, she says, should be turned into a little voice in our head which we happily disagree with.
“You will never be as good at being someone else, as you would be at being yourself.” Rita discussed the power of authenticity at length and how her decision to showcase her inner ‘Nurturer’ instilled her with the belief that her performance warranted her to be at the top. She emphasised that many different types of people make it to the top, but only if they figure out how to be unapologetically authentic and to showcase their strengths rather than to fit themselves into what they may think makes them belong.
Throughout the evening of insights, we gained a ton of fantastic trivia. For example, did you know that Hillary Clinton endorsed Rita’s book, because she, too, has felt like an imposter at points in her career? Apparently, Adele reached out, too, no biggy.
Rita also confirmed a lifelong suspicion of mine that everyone, no matter how senior or successful, is also just trying to figure it out. She spoke at length about how, in earlier years, her goal when she needed to balance motherhood and her new appointment as CEO was simple; just make it through each day. And finally, there were two revelations which touched my soul: The first is that Queen Elizabeth II was indeed as lovely as many have claimed. Rita knows, because she was awarded a CBE title from the monarch. The second is Rita’s own revelation that she has once again taken up dancing after starting a hall-of-fame career as a dance teacher during her teenage years.
Thank you, Rita. Even when the audience already knew of your accolades, you managed to surprise, impress and inspire us. We hope you’ll be back at your alma mater soon to guide and humble us again.
Rita Clifton has been called ‘Brand guru’ by the Financial Times and ‘The doyenne of branding’ by Campaign magazine. Retail Week commented that she is 'A fabulous ambassador for business'. Alongside her board chairing and non-executive roles, Rita is a writer, keynote speaker, conference chair & practitioner on all aspects of brands, branding and business leadership.
Her career has included being a Vice Chair and Strategy Director at Saatchi & Saatchi, as London CEO and Chair at the global brand consultancy Interbrand and as co-founder of BrandCap. She is now a portfolio chair and non-executive director on the board of businesses including John Lewis Partnership, Nationwide Building Society and Ascential plc. Previous boards have included ASOS, Dixons Retail plc, Emap, Bupa and Populus Group. Her non-profit boards have included WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature), the UK Sustainable Development Commission and Green Alliance. She was recently appointed Chair at Forum for the Future, the leading international sustainability organisation.
Rita is a regular columnist and media commentator, as well as author of the bestselling book ‘The Future of Brands’ and two editions of The Economist book 'Brands and Branding’. Her latest book 'Love Your Imposter' is about new types of leadership and personal branding, and has had great reviews.
Jennifer Swimley is a global technology executive with experience leading revenue teams in the US, Asia Pac, and Europe. Jennifer specialises in growing international businesses from tech start up unicorns to established enterprises — namely at Dropbox, Lyft, Hootsuite, Dell, and most recently Smartsheet. Jennifer has partnered with business leaders from all industries and driven their digital transformation strategy. She is currently an Executive MBA candidate at Cambridge Judge Business School.
Nadejda Petrova
Nadejda is part of Judge Business School’s Executive MBA ‘24 cohort and a member of Pembroke College. She received a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Statistics from The University of Glasgow, earning an Adam Smith Award of Excellence for outstanding academic achievement upon graduating. She has worked at several leading financial institutions including Morgan Stanley, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland. Since 2022, Nadejda has been working as Head of Partnerships and Business Development at Scios.ai, a scale-up focused on enabling enterprises to leverage AI and decision intelligence for their business decisions.