“You will never be perfect – this is the precondition of a work-life-balance. Second, you have to be very well organized and have a talent for improvisation. And third, women need to take themselves seriously and invest in their education.”

This is how Ute Schaeffer, DW’s Editor-in-Chief for Regionalized Content summarizes her success formula for managing her private and her professional life.

Schaeffer, born in 1968 and a mother of three, does not care for stereotypes about women or men. She laughs when she remembers how, after being appointed DW Editor-in- Chief in November 2011, male colleagues confronted her with their expectations about her style of leadership and management as a woman.

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