Nicola Sturgeon has described herself as a bit of a “control freak” in an exclusive interview with Scottish newspaper The National.
Ms Sturgeon also admitted that she got her self-belief from her parents and she has “a high tolerance to stress.”
Speaking to the newspaper, Ms Sturgeon also looks back on the influences that have shaped her life – and what it took to become First Minister.
Parental advice
She said: “Since I have been First Minister, I have had to learn how to delegate more. I have had to learn how to lead a team as I am a bit of a control freak.
“It can be hard for me to let things go and trust people to get on with things. That is something, to be candid, that I have had to work at.”
Ms Sturgeon also highlighted the support of her husband, SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, described their Glasgow home as her “refuge” and admitted the job comes with a “sense of loneliness”.
She said: “There are things you can’t share, that you can’t always make someone understand.
“But Peter will be able to tell the times when there is stuff on my mind that I can’t really talk to him about.
“He understands enough to know how to support me without necessarily being explicit about it all.
“He has an intuitive sense of what I need.”
‘Sense of loneliness’
Looking back on her life she recalls her love of reading and attending a demo to mark Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday. She also highlighted the importance of reading as a child.
Ms Sturgeon also singled out the influence of her Modern Studies teacher, her family and her time as a law student at Glasgow University.
She even touched upon fashion and her choice of footwear in her late teens.
Ms Sturgeon said: “My niece said to me not long ago, ‘I want a pair of Doc Martens’. I said: ‘That’s my girl.'”