Kusam Leal

Kusam Leal is the Deputy School Secretary in the School of Physical Sciences, which includes being Secretary of the Graduate School. She has held a number of roles at the University since moving there from the NHS, where she worked in both operational management and planning.

I joined the NHS straight after university because I wanted to do the kind of job where I could get to the end of the day and feel that I’d done some good.

You know those aspirations that you have when you’re very young? I started out working in an old Victorian asylum – quite an eye-opener for a new graduate – and that was followed by a whole series of jobs in operational management, including a stint at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

By the end of my time there, the NHS felt as if it was in turmoil. There was constant change and I had to keep reapplying for my own job. Eventually, I saw a role advertised at the University and knew that the skills I had were transferable.

I often joke to my friends outside, ‘I don’t know why they let me in, because everybody here has got a PhD.’ When I first arrived I kept waiting for somebody to tap me on the shoulder and say, ‘What are you doing here?’ It was almost as though I was worried that twenty years of experience in the NHS didn’t really count for much. But actually what I’ve learnt is, don’t underestimate your own skills and abilities. It doesn’t matter where you start off and what you start with. It’s about being a rounded person with some emotional intelligence. Cambridge needs people who have been outside in the real world and can bring all that depth of experience and skills. That’s what I bring and I celebrate that now. I feel like I’ve earned my place here.

“When I first arrived I kept waiting for somebody to tap me on the shoulder and say, ‘What are you doing here?’”

Being a member of an ethnic minority and a woman can also give me an extra dimension in terms of seeing how difficult it can be for others. When I was first looking for jobs I sent off lots of applications and didn’t even get interviews. Then I stopped putting ‘Kusam Leal’ on my application forms and just put ‘K. Leal’. I also tried not to give an indication of my gender if I could help it. Suddenly I started getting a bit of interest. I remember thinking, ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’ Perhaps as a result, I’m very aware of making sure that I try to treat people equally. I make an effort to take people as I find them and not judge them because of their class or sexual orientation or anything like that.

Experience has taught me that there is no one model for the successful person. I definitely believe that you need lots of different types of people in a team. You need the loud people with lots of ideas who tend not to finish things. You also need the ones who can quietly get on with it and do all the background work. You need the ones who are questioning all the time and slightly cynical. I genuinely value difference in others. One of my closest friends is very conservative with a big ‘C’, whereas Tony Benn is one of my heroes, but she and
I get on really well because we respect each other’s views.

I believe that if you feel strongly about something, then be part of the change, don’t just sit there moaning about it. At Cambridge I go out of my way to volunteer to sit on committees related to HR or Equality and Diversity. When I look back on my career I take pride in having been part of teams that helped to create positive change, for example making the business case for the Phoenix Eating Disorder unit in Cambridge.

“I believe that if you feel strongly about something, then be part of the change.”

Over time, and with the help of some inspirational managers, I’ve come to realise that I don’t have to be the loudest person in the room to be successful. I had role models who took time to invest in me, saw my potential and helped me along the way. I wouldn’t say I started out being that ambitious but they encouraged me to set my sights higher and broaden my horizons. Do I see myself as a strong woman? I think so. When I’m really sitting thinking about it, I can acknowledge that I have achieved a lot and overcome some quite difficult situations.