Critical Careers - Women Building Careers in Digital Infrastructure - Book - Page 41
What skills or capabilities have become more
important at this stage of your career?
I think adaptability has become one of the biggest ones, without question. Earlier in my
career, I was very focused on doing the work quickly and well and being dependable.
While that still matters, of course, adaptability is now so important because the
environment changes so quickly.
Leadership has also become much more important in terms of understanding what people
need from you. Not everybody needs the same type of leadership. Some people want
space and autonomy, and some people want you to lean in more and help them prioritise.
I’ve had to become much more aware of that.
I’d also say strategic thinking has become far more important. You have to look at the
wider market, what the business is trying to achieve, how customers are changing, what
narrative will resonate, and how all of that connects together. It’s much less linear.
And honestly, I think pragmatism has been a big learning for me too. I naturally have
very high standards, and I care deeply about doing things well, but I’ve had to learn that
perfect cannot always be the goal. Sometimes progress is what matters most. That has
also been a huge lesson for me.
Do you feel a sense of responsibility to help create
opportunities or visibility for other women coming
into the industry?
Yes, I really do. Earlier in my career I probably didn’t fully stop and think about it in those
terms, because I was so used to being one of the only women in the room - and very often
the only woman of colour - that it just felt normal. It was just the environment I was in. But
over time, and especially in the last couple of years, I’ve become much more aware of
what that means and how important visibility really is.
There are so many amazing women in this industry doing brilliant work, and a lot of that
is still not visible enough. Women can sometimes feel hesitant about stepping forward, or
worry they’ll be judged, or simply be so focused on doing the job well that they don’t stop
to talk about what they’ve achieved.
So yes, I do feel a responsibility to more actively support the next generation and show there
is space here for other women to grow and succeed. For me, it comes back to something
quite simple, really. I just want to be helpful and make a difference where I can. If being a bit
more visible helps someone else see what’s possible, then I think that really matters.
How has your thinking changed
around building your own pro昀椀le?
For a long time, I saw my role very much as promoting
the company, not promoting myself. As a marketer, that
felt quite natural to me. I was there to build the business,
support executives and help shape the company pro昀椀le.
I was not thinking about my own visibility externally.
And if I’m honest, I probably didn’t take my own advice.
I’ve spent years helping other people build their pro昀椀le
and tell their story, while being much more hesitant to do
that for myself. Part of that came from feeling that selfpromotion might somehow be the wrong thing, or that it
might be judged in a certain way.
I’ve started to realise that visibility is not just about
yourself. It can actually be about what you make possible
for other people. If someone sees you, relates to your
story, and it helps them believe they can do it too, then
that visibility has value beyond you.
That’s probably been the biggest mindset change for
me. I’m still naturally someone who is very happy in the
background, but I’m trying to reframe it. It’s not about
pushing yourself forward for the sake of it. It’s about
contributing to the wider picture and helping make
progression feel possible for others.
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