Kate Robertson is the Co-Founder of One Young World, the global forum for young leaders, which she set up in 2009 with David Jones. Dubbed by CNN ‘the junior Davos’, the first annual summit was held in London in February 2010 and the next will be held in The Hague in October 2018. The Summit is attended by over 2,000 delegates from 190+ countries – more than any youth event other than the Olympics – and luminaries such as Kofi Annan, Professor Muhammad Yunus, Sir Bob Geldof, Paul Polman, and Arianna Huffington among others.
Kate has Honorary Masters degrees from the University of Creative Arts and from the European Communications School. In 2012 she was named Advertising Woman of the Year by Women In Marketing and in 2014 was similarly honoured by Advertising Week Europe. In 2014 she also awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Lausanne Business School. In 2017, Kate was awarded the Corporate Citizenship Award from British American Business.
Kate has worked pro-bono as a judge for the British Sports Industry Awards as well as for the Barclays Global Citizenship Awards with the CEOs of the Gates Foundation, of the Prince’s Trust and of the Clinton Global Initiative.
In 2009 Kate led Kofi Annan’s communications campaign, with former Havas CEO David Jones, to raise awareness before the COP15 (Climate Change) talks. The Tck Tck Tck campaign outperformed all the others with 18m online supporters by the time of the talks. She was also a non-executive director of YouGovStone from 2008 through to its sale in 2012.
Kate was formerly the Global President and UK Group Chairman of Havas Worldwide, where she was the most senior woman in the advertising industry worldwide.
Kate is also the co-author of How to Make a Difference: The Definitive Guide from the World’s Most Effective Activists – a unique and practical guide to modern day activism which includes advice and experience from some of the world’s leading campaigners. Kate studied law at the University of Cape Town.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
The earlier I can get into our office on Leicester Square the better. The more and better sleep I’ve had the night before, the more productive I am. Proven over 44 years of work!
How do you bring ideas to life?
Show and tell – good picture, good chart, or dramatic example.
What’s one trend that excites you?
I’m not sure if this is a trend (yet?) but skepticism about the ‘truth’ or value of social media posts/opinions is rising and hopefully awareness rises and this will become a trend too.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Talking to and with other people. Being stuck in my head is just that – stuck.
What advice would you give your younger self?
You are really creative – you may be in ‘suit’ jobs but you are creative.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
With any conflict you have to understand the OTHER side’s history and motivation thoroughly; remember they’re human too.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Try to see the good in your current situation and be glad of it.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Speak to my daughter or my husband. They always help.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Having an eye on the future of my work and I am always trying to ‘get’ the zeitgeist. To do that I’ve tried to be curious, read copiously, and constantly engaged when in serious conversations and discussions.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
I will always regret that I couldn’t make more success of the advertising agency I founded, on behalf of a brilliant German company, and ran for four years. I learned that I was better in the corporate world than being an entrepreneur – the first two years were great, but then I completely ran out of steam.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Pay attention to your young staff – they will keep you ahead of any curve.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Salesforce – always knowing how we’re doing on our targets – because then you can sleep!
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
I bought an iPhone for my 95-year-old aunt. Now, when I call her in Cape Town, she can hear me.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
It’s a toss-up between House at Pooh Corner and The Little Prince. The depth of insight and wisdom in both is profound and helpful every day. They are also funny and sad, but always philosophical.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
I liked Bad Sisters – dark but funny, and the acting is great.
Key learnings
- The simplest solutions are essential and often the best.
- Putting effort into understanding both sides of an issue is the best, if not the only, way to resolve any level or scale of conflict.
- Keeping up in a fast world and staying ahead is crucial to sustained success and the best weapon is learning from young employees.