ON ALLYSHIP
Dave Grant, head of customer success, Zoom “None of us have got to the stage we have without someone in our corner. On our own, we are nothing, together we’re more powerful. If you get the opportunity, try and open doors for people who can’t open them themselves. Someone said to me once: be the leader you once needed. That stayed with me.”
Samantha Niblett, MP for South Derbyshire and founder of Labour: Women in Tech “I have a huge respect for when someone clocks the quiet or struggling person in a meeting and creates a space for them to speak and be heard. When I see a man do that, I think those are the sort of men that have helped me on my journey and that inspire me in my career.”
Helen Hawthorn, head of solution engineering, Zoom “Most women tend to be intensely loyal. I wasn’t loyal. I wanted to talk about money and knew I was good at my job. It wasn’t just about being treated well. A male colleague once gave me a heads up when I was being underpaid and I really appreciated that. We need to do that more. To me, male allyship includes someone telling you when you might be being paid less than you should be. I think that allyship becomes particularly important the more senior you get.”
ON BUILDING A CAREER IN TECH
Suki Fuller, The Council of Competitive Intelligence Fellows, Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates “I have never been afraid of saying something wrong. I’ve always been afraid of saying something right. Being an intelligence analyst taught me that. I’ve always questioned everything in front of me. In my
career, having the support of male allies and being given the room and confidence to ask and be fearless have been important. I really cannot stress the importance of questioning things. When you feel a niggle, ask why. If you feel it, it’s very likely someone else is thinking the exact same thing, but doesn’t have the courage to ask, ‘why is this the way it is?’”
Dave Grant, head of customer success, Zoom “Be ready and willing to get it wrong and put yourself forward. Be brave. It might not work the first time, in fact it probably won’t, but it doesn’t matter. It just means your next attempt will be better.”
ON NAVIGATING LEADERSHIP
Helen Hawthorn, head of solution engineering, Zoom “Going into leadership is something I didn’t initially think to do. I was in charge of eight guys in my early twenties. I had no idea what I was doing. But most people get put into management without any training. I thought, ‘they think I’m going to mess up, so I may as well give it a go’. The first year in management was probably the worst year of my life, although I liked telling people what to do. I made some mistakes early on. I made some great decisions. I didn’t mind making the mistakes, though. Once I figured the mistake out, I would move on to the next problem. “I remember having a great
manager early on. All my managers have always been male in tech and most of my colleagues. It’s shameful, but it’s really difficult to find technical female solution engineers. I never recognised it as male allyship at the time, but that was male allyship. He brought me into everything and sort of showed me the difference between just management and leadership. He invited me to meetings I wasn’t even invited to so I could come in and listen. He also knew I didn’t sit quietly and listen. I was always speaking out.”
Samantha Niblett, MP for South Derbyshire and founder of Labour: Women in Tech “There’s often a defining difference between men and women. I think Sheryl Sandberg wrote about this in ‘Lean In’. Women will often look at a job and not apply unless they meet every single job requirement, but if men don’t have all the requirements, then they’ll go for it regardless. The thing to remember is that most of us are winging it. As a 44-year-old woman, I love having the experience of ‘I don’t know it, yet. But I will.’ Or if I don’t know it, that’s OK, I’ll find out from someone who does.”
“ None of us have got to the stage we have without someone in our corner. On our own, we are nothing, together we’re more powerful.”
DAVE GRANT, HEAD OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS, ZOOM
NUMBER CRUNCH
48% 79%
of women feel appreciated at work.
of men feel appreciated at work.
LOOKING TO GET AHEAD?
Join our Think Women community to learn from and thrive in our talented network of professionals and get exclusive news on and invites to upcoming events.
57
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
E QUITY
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108
