Sue Suckling: ‘I’ve always been someone to make things happen’

A career she never planned – that’s how Cantabrian Sue Suckling OBE, describes her trajectory as a director. Now, as she heads into her fourth decade on boards, she has received the Institute of Directors’ (IoD) highest honour of Distinguished Fellow (DistFInstD).  

Suckling’s portfolio is impressive and her title well deserved. She was appointed to her first board role at the age of 27, holding her own on what was then a newly established Crown entity, the Trade Development Board, where she was appointed by the Minister of Trade and Enterprise, Mike Moore. 

At the time, she was CEO of an innovative meat industry joint venture between a New Zealand and German company and was headhunted after being named ‘Businesswoman of the Year’. 

“The Minister put me in as the meat industry person because I think he wanted a different view other than the traditional leaders of the big commodity businesses, which were huge,” Suckling said.  

The board consisted of “key export earners and innovative leaders in the industry” – all of them, men. Suckling and Dame Patsy Reddy were among the very few women on New Zealand boards at that time.

Holding first class honours and a master’s in biotechnology, Suckling, who was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2015, was not intimidated by the men at the table. Had she been, she wouldn’t be here to tell her story.  

“Everyone could have been my grandfather in terms of age – they were highly networked businessmen, including the heads of the wool, dairy, kiwifruit and tourism boards,” said Suckling, who recalls how they almost had a language of their own.  

“I had to have the confidence to contribute and that came about because I believed in what we were doing. I thought about my contribution and how it could make a difference.” 

Suckling has made major contributions to many boards, including chairing NIWA, NZQA, Barker Fruit Processors, AssureQuality, Southpower (now Orion) and Callaghan Innovation. She is also one of the founders of the Oxford Clinic (now Forte Health), and the first independent female director on the New Zealand Dairy Board in its lead-up to the formation of Fonterra. 

Passionate about driving growth in SMEs, she chairs Jade Software, Jacobsen’s Group, Rubix Project Management and Boulcott Hospital. So, with a longstanding governance career, what is the secret to remaining engaged in this space, especially as a busy mother of four?  

“I’ve always been someone to make things happen. I get up every day and look at what we’re trying to do and what we want to achieve,” she said.  

For Suckling, it was never about sitting on boards per se. But rather, a pure desire to help companies or organisations achieve their goals and bring them to life.  

“I stepped into it, and that’s sort of how I lived my career really.”

Her get-up-and-go attitude is mostly innate and part of her dynamic personality. When she’s excited about an idea, she has a drive to manifest it. But she also cites her mother as a strong influence and, as a child, she was immersed in a world where “if you wanted to do something, you could make it happen”. 

Mentors have also been a big part of her success. Former Telecom chair Peter Shirtcliffe (the founding chair of the New Zealand Trade Development Board before it became New Zealand Trade and Enterprise) was one of them.  

“He really supported me and gave me the space to contribute,” recalls Suckling.  

Her inquisitive mind also made her a natural fit for governance and she is constantly looking at how things can be done better.  

“I’m always thinking, what are we trying to do? What would it take to make it happen? What are the things we can or cannot manage, and how do we manage the rest to make sure we get there?”  

Suckling sees governance as a magnification of all the above. She has had many successes and achievements, and one thing she is most proud of is pushing for the digitisation of NCEA exams.  

More than a decade ago as chair of the NZQA board, she saw an opportunity to bring the exams into the digital age to align with the way we work – through collaboration. Advocating for change, Suckling encountered her fair share of resistance, which meant having to ‘get others on the same page’ through drafting up a business case to support the idea. 

Covid-19 brought risks and opportunities, and it was then that she finally saw her vision come to life.  

“The biggest reward was hearing a leading educator being interviewed about exams through Covid, who said, ‘it's fine because we’ve digitised the exams, so they’re not going to be impacted’.” 

It is that kind of tangible outcome that even after years in the making, means so much to Suckling. “It’s the power of knowing you are doing the right thing and making it happen.”   

But there is no escaping the changes that have taken place in the governance landscape since Suckling’s first board role, including increased regulation and reporting. While she supports the need for greater accountability and transparency, she says boards can also feel the constraints that interfere with organisational purpose.  

“By all means, we must put in place the controls and processes, but don’t be led by those . . . [think about] what are we trying to do, what is it we need to have a procedure around, and what matters to our organisation?” 

As chair on several boards today, Suckling is often on the lookout for new talent. She says diversity and confidence play a key role in board appointments and successful applicants are directors who are confident to speak in their own voice and from their own experience, which has a far greater impact than speaking in governance theory. 

“Next is, how do we, as an organisation, make it work for them whatever their background.”