Jen Maclennan on Scale Her Up: leadership, cultural nuance and going far together.
Our Group Managing Director Jen Maclennan joined Dr Brenda Hector on the Scale Her Up podcast, a show for female business owners and leaders. The conversation covered Fifth Ring's international reach, what cultural nuance really looks like in B2B campaigns, and the leadership lessons that have shaped her last decade at the agency. It closed on a line worth keeping.
Here's a round up of some of the key insights from the podcast.
The leadership lesson she has carried for a decade.
When Jen first stepped into a leadership role at Fifth Ring, she asked a learning-and-development colleague what she should be reading. The answer was a single piece of advice she has held onto since.
"You need to know yourself better than you have ever known yourself before. The higher up you go, the less of a network you have around you, and the more you need to be aware of where you have gaps and where you are adding value."
In the conversation, she explains why that single piece of advice has only become more useful at each step from regional director to group MD.
What cultural nuance actually looks like in global B2B.
Two stories make the case. White studio backgrounds, the standard for Western corporate headshots, can read as mourning in parts of China. And Janteloven, the Norwegian cultural reluctance to make outsized claims, is a real strategic problem for a Norwegian brand entering a US market where competitors are loudly outdoing each other. Jen talks through how Fifth Ring think about the parts of a brand that travel and the parts that need to be carried differently.
Why data is not the whole answer.
Fifth Ring is, in Jen's words, outcome obsessed. Every piece of work has KPIs attached. The risk, she is quick to point out, is becoming so data-led that the message loses its ability to actually be heard. Her radio analogy makes the point: turning up static will not get you anywhere; you have to find the channel first.
The collaborative version of leadership.
Behind any leader doing the role well, there is rarely just one supporter. Coaches, teams, partnerships, peer networks. Jen makes the case for building deliberate networks around the gaps you know you have, rather than trying to do it alone. Her closing line is the one to take away.
"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
Watch the full conversation above, and follow Dr Brenda Hector for more interviews with female leaders.
