Women's Thrive London · 2026
Self-Leadership &
The Life-First CEO
Your companion guide to today's talk — three practical exercises to take home and start using today.
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CEO Planning Ritual
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Your Speaker Today
Suzanne Acteson
Suzanne Acteson is a leadership mentor, strategist, and speaker with over 25 years of experience — as a senior executive inside global organisations, a strategic advisor to high-performing leaders, and founder of multiple businesses.
Having operated at the highest levels of performance, Suzanne reached a moment many high-achieving leaders quietly recognise: outward success paired with inner misalignment. Rather than pushing harder, she chose a different path — one rooted in self-leadership, values alignment, and a more sustainable definition of success. That choice became the foundation for her philosophy: Life-First Leadership.
Known for her calm authority on stage and her ability to create moments of insight that stay with people long after the room has emptied. She works three days a week, lives in the South of France, and her business runs. She is the proof of concept.
Today's Talk
Stop being the
People-Pleasing Producer.
Start being the
Life-First CEO.
Blending neuroscience, values-based leadership, and 25 years of hard-won experience.
Practice 01 of 03 — Look Up
My 20-Year Plan
Insert your key milestones, big birthdays, kids' school starts and finishes — then start to place your 'someday' goals in the best time slots. When you see it on one page, someday becomes a real number of Fridays away.
| Year | You | Family / Key Person | Family / Key Person | Your 'Someday' Goal |
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All three exercises in one printable PDF — yours to keep.
Practice 02 of 03 — Look Down
Rooting into Your Values
Your values are the roots that keep you completely stable. Use them as your GPS — they become the foundation of every yes and every no.
To Help You Choose — Questions to Reflect on First
1. When do you feel most like yourself — energised, aligned, fully alive?
2. What do you consistently choose, even when it's inconvenient or costly?
3. When you feel deeply uncomfortable or resentful, which value is being violated?
4. What would you refuse to compromise, even for more money or more approval?
5. If no one was watching and you could design your ideal week — what would it be built around?
Scan the list below. Circle or note the values that resonate most. Aim for your top 3–5. These become your filters for every decision.
My top 3–5 values:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
All three exercises in one printable PDF — yours to keep.
Practice 03 of 03 — Look In
My Priority People
List the people who are your top 5 priorities. Then ask yourself: is your name on this list? If you are not at the very top, you are not being the CEO of your life.
My Top 5 Priority-people
“If you are not on the very top of that list, you are not being the CEO of your life. You are being the employee of somebody else’s expectation.”
SUZANNE ACTESON
All three exercises in one printable PDF — yours to keep.
Change the carrot.
Plant one small intention today.
"When the woman at the helm is grounded and whole — the business doesn't just survive. It actually starts to thrive."
Questions? Come say hello — [email protected] ·