Bird On a Wire

Inside the high pressure, brutalising CEO world with New Zealand's highest profile businesswoman.

No woman has ever risen as far in the corporate world as former Telecom CEO Theresa Gattung. Her appointment, at a young age and from the marking ranks, astounded the country, and her leadership of the big telco that Kiwis love to hate was never far from the headlines.

This no-holds-barred memoir tells of her ambition, her determination, and her rise to business power. It tells of the highs of running a vitally important company such as Telecom and also the lows, as the company struggled with an Australian telco acquisition, shareholder pressure, antagonism from the government, battles with its telco competitors and changing technology. After seven years she felt she'd given her all.

The personal toll of those tough years at the top had been significant and Gattung is frank about how she had to rebuild her life with a clear focus.


Bird on a Wire is a candid, engaging and inspirational story that points the way to new ways of leadership and running businesses.