Brilliant, great. So well, thank you all for joining. In my case. It's more good afternoon from Germany. Uh My name is Kosi Maon, please.And well, I'm really happy today to present you a little bit my journey and show you a little bit what, what I did and actually why I also think the future is female and why actually women in tech leadership are really, really important and actually why there are not so many of us, but just to give you a little bit of a background information, I'm a director of the solution engineering team for em, which is basically Europe, Middle East and Africa.

I am 20 years old, 28 years old. But when I got into my leadership position, I was 27. So I have actually have a couple of factors which is basically women, young and tech leader. And that's basically, you know, I want to take a little bit of my journey and I hope you can also take a lot out of this session as well. Well, I do not have so many slides, but basically, I really, really love that picture and I was seeing that one just a question. Did you ever felt like that through your career path? Ever seen that one? Or just like, I can't do that? It's, is it really the right way? Is it really where I would love to be? Can I really do that one? Well, and basically that's also how it was for me, I really felt in the beginning, like I always wanted to become into leadership, but actually the way to get there for me personally was really not an easy one. And this type of face I had for a couple of years and all the time again. And I also had the back steps, but basically, I stood up all the time again. And now I made it finally where I am now.

And this is really, really great to have here. And I told you like, ok, my journey wasn't as expected and was just not going through and was not really the right way. Like I started in a company, then I got promoted and I got promoted even more. And in the end, I ended up in this leadership position. So actually that wasn't the case. So in my part, I, well, basically, I was really lucky because I got a job directly after university. So that is the part where a lot of people struggle with. But I didn't and I became a junior it consultant. And with that one, I was like, hey, that was cool. I have a great start. I'm in the it space. I'm in a consulting company so I can actually learn a lot. Well, actually after already two months it turned out that this isn't the case. So the only thing I've heard in that type of role was like, hey, you are a woman. Um, actually it's kind of frustrating to put you in front of the customers because the customers don't want to see you. You can work in the background, but you can never go in front of the customer. That was actually for me, this didn't feel right. And that was where I said, well, is that really the journey? Is that really how it works? And in the end I got a job offer in London. So I started actually in Germany. That's maybe what I should mention before. So I got a job offer in London.

And after all this experience, you know, really treated, it was the first six months of my career. Ok? The first six months just hearing woman tech, you're not allowed to go in front of the customers. Woman is just so they don't want to see it, they won't trust you. Um Well, was not really brilliant after university. And then I decided, well, let's take the job offer in London just maybe leaving the country to starting somewhere fresh in an international environment where the people may be a little bit more open than my own country. Let's do it well, it doesn't, it's not always like that in my country, by the way, but for me, it felt like that at the moment. So I left and I moved over to London and I have to say this was for me personally, the best decision I ever did. So I went completely on my own. So I really had to fight on my own and get my life done. But I was really, really happy that I got a brilliant manager.

So my manager I had in the company when, where I still work now, by the way, he always pushed me, he really helped me to get from this down phase into an upper one and said like, well, you can do that one. I will support you in your career. I will let you grow. That is what you do and look one day you will become the person you would like to be, which was great. And I started to grow. I went into public speaking, by the way, just giving this type of presentations in front of people. I was totally afraid. So I could not even present in front of two people. So he helped me get in the presentation. He worked with me on getting this ability. Um Yeah, and then he left because the company went into transformation. And he was actually also the person who said, like, look, I help you to get into your management career if you want to now he was gone. Now, there was no one else actually who support me anymore. And I felt kind of a little bit lost because I was still quite young. And in the end, I was like, ok, now, even if he's gone, I can do it on my own. He gave me all the stuff I need to know. And I changed a little bit of department just because I was like, ok, let's see. I also need to learn something else. I worked in solution engineering. So I went into customer success and made myself grow even more.

In that part. I also said, like I was set on a career plan which I was offered a job into management and I had to fulfill everything for development, which is quite normal and it's great. But the only issue was I got two times offered the leadership position, but actually the final decision maker did not 100% trust me just to a couple of factors like, well, I'm pretty young. Um I fulfilled honestly, the plan was really long. I had to complete like mentor student certificates. Honestly. No, no other of my men colleague ever got this type of development plan which was frustrating, but I was like, no worries. I will definitely continue that way. In the end, I got twice an opportunity offered in the last minute canceled. So I decided, well, ok, in that case, I will leave the company and started somewhere else. And I went over to Microsoft to an enterprise company to get on that journey. And this was actually the best decision. In that case I could also do because sometimes if you really feel like you're stuck and people don't see the value or don't have the 100% of the trust in you. And it's sometimes really good if you go and let them recognize what's happening and that's what I did.

And in the end, what happened for the or actually nine months later, I exactly got the call from the company and they were like, look, you did so much and we're basically sorry that we did not recognize a lot of people recognized it but not the final decision makers. It's actually exactly what you said and we, we were just not reacting the right way. Would you like to come back into the director level and finally go the way you would like to be? Well, that's basically what happened. So last year I got this job offer and that's basically where I am working now, where I'm totally happy and which is definitely going. So just that you have a little bit of my journey and my little bit of ups and downs. But what did I learn out of that one? And this is something where I just want to show you a little bit of my mother during all the downtime. And honestly, I have to say, if you get this downtime to get yourself up again. It's really not that easy. And specifically, you know, for us being woman and actually being that confident and getting that one. Well, that's basically not how we are, but my mom, she, by the way, had her own company for a lot of years. So I grew up with, with that one.

She looked at me all the time and there was one quote which I always remember when I get in this type of situation and she said to me, look the hardest part for you going into leadership and going into this type of career and fighting for it and definitely survive in the role.

As soon as you get there is if I can accept that I can't be everyone darling anymore. And she said, if I can accept that point with confidence and always remind myself that I have the confidence that I have to accept exactly that one, then I would get into my, let's say full power. Basically. What, what did you mean with that one? And why is that one? Really the hardest part? Well, that's exactly what happened to me, you know, all the time. And when I also left the company and I got all this type of stuff offered. Well, everybody's darling. Every we want to be liked. Honestly, I want to be liked, everyone wants to be liked in, in my opinion and accepting this point that in a certain role or in a certain level or a certain journey you would like to take. Firstly, you have kind of let's say competitors. So of course you have other colleagues who maybe would like to go to journey. And in the end, if you grow into this type of position, they will try to fight with you because they want it as well. If you are in this position, honestly, who loves his boss or her boss, not really not everyone. And there are also other people, like, for example, myself, I am the only female leader in em and specifically for the tech uh departments.

Here, there are other people who see like, ok, you do something very well but they, instead of being happy for you, they are like a little bit jealous and they will also try to maybe kick you out of the role or even, well, just starting to let not you shine, let them shine, but try to go around you.

And that's the part where it, I really have to say, I, in the beginning, I was like, ok, having these conversations with team members or telling them that there's something going wrong. Um could actually be the hardest part but my mom was right and at the moment I accept that that it's really that way. So I am not everyone standing anymore. I don't have to be and basically I can be confident with what I'm doing and be like Yes. OK. If you don't like it, then you don't. Um and not this feeling of like, I must be liked by everyone. This was actually the part where I really became into this part. Like, yes, yes. That is what leadership is. And if you're over that point, you can really, really handle kind of everything. Well, definitely everything I would say. And out of that one, this is basically where I came up always like, OK, telling me like, OK, the future is female and why. And that's also, you know, why I decided and I would like to share a little bit about myself, how I went through and how I always put myself up again is less than 20% of all the leadership positions in technology. Um It put by woman and I was like, OK, well, of course, we will never have a 5050 obviously having a tech role and stuff is not for every woman.

So I'm not saying like every woman should now go into technology, but for the ones who are and we are quite a lot having a look at this conference. Oh my God, so many resistance. So there must be, there are brilliant ones of us but doing the final step into leadership, this is the hardest part because then you have a lot of conversations, you have to go the extra mile. I would love to say it's not like that, but it is still but you can go and at the moment you do, you're even much stronger than ever before. And in that case also the opportunities are there. You know, it's not like you don't have the opportunity you don't do, but please stop reading the job description and start ticking boxes like, ok, I can do that. I can do that. No, that's not what I can. No, that's also not. Ok. Well, I'm only fulfilling, There's one thing or two things I can't fulfill. So I'm not made for this. Please stop. That's not true. In, in the end you can and you will. Well, honestly, if you have a look on this type of job description, sometimes they are that long, you will never ever fulfill everything but you have all the potential.

You have everything, you have the skill set, you have the background, if you know that one and most important, what we have. Well, you know how to manage a family. For example, if you, if you get a child, basically, I don't have a child, but actually I have a little guy. It's a little puppy currently sleeping next to me. I never thought about can I do it? I was just like, yes, I get this puppy and I can handle it and I can take care of him. I can let him grow and I can make a proper dog out of him. Well, I can just take the dog example, but basically it's the same with Children. So why, why you not taking the same way with, with the opportunity to be in a leadership, you can do that. You can take care of people if it's a child, if it's a puppy or if it's just a team and let the team grow, it's basically the same and we have the natural instinct to definitely do that one other than that knowledge, of course, is needed. There is a lot of leadership training, there is a lot of stuff out there. And usually, you know, you're not just going into leadership position, not knowing what you're doing.

So you have the knowledge and actually the strengths as well to, well, even if it's sometimes really stressy and honestly, leadership is not always that easy. Um You, you have it so you have the strength to survive that one. And the last part is the resources. Honestly, if you look on the market and I can tell you a little bit um about the stuff and I have what I'm doing, I'm recruiting or currently a lot. And I also recruit managers, you know, now from, from the role, I can also have others in the team lead position. There is not so much out there. So actually, as we have a lack of the resources, you have definitely all the stuff to be presented and that's why, well, you don't have to take all the boxes of this one. You can definitely do it, which is definitely my tips or actually what I would like to share in this, for this actually confident, successful career. Well, you have the opportunities you have the strength, skill set, resources are missing everything there. But the hardest part is the confident one.

Well, the, the first thing you really have to do is believe in yourself and your knowledge. That is, that is definitely the most important at the moment. You start believing in yourself and be like, yes, I can do that. And I had, I told that for myself every moment again, you can do that. Basically, you know, I'm telling me currently right now, look at the world we have war, we had COVID, we have inflation. Honestly. In September, I was like, yes, I made it now. I'm like, cool the world, I got my leadership position and I think is the worst ever before. So there's so much going on and of course, this is affecting my team. Of course, this is affecting me and my leadership style, my motivational speeches I have to do for the team. Will we have inflation as an example? So the prices are going high. But honestly, I cannot hire all the salary of every individual on my team, which is unfortunately for, for me, but this is not the right reaction. How do you talk to them? And I'm always, I'm still believing in myself, even this hard time out of work. Right now, I can be a leader. And that's the same for you if you believe in yourself. First thing done, the other one was actually, personally I did the same. Don't sell yourself under your value.

And that's the part even if, you know, sometimes also, um, what, what I had, for example, I had a salary revue now with my team members as well. And I recognize that the salary of my female team members is lower than one of my male ones. And I also thought about, ok, when they had a career conversations, it was not with me. It was before, but I could already listen and learn. We try to sell under value. And if we get like, ok, we want this type of salary and then they offer us something we're not really going and try to negotiate. That's not our style, which is brilliant. It's not like they underpay us, but it's definitely like, ok, if you're not, I'm fine happy for you. And my t is just like go on linkedin salary or any other salary value. So there's a lot of benchmarking out there, check yourself, check your value, you know, your skills that you believe in yourself, you know what you can do, then also get the payment for it and just be with the confidence there and say like, ok, that's, that's what I deserve, but definitely do your research, what I learned.

That's what the point when I told you when I came to London, the first thing my manager said to me was like, make yourself visible. And I said, yes, true. I have to make myself visible because if no one knows me and no one sees me. I was that shy, you know, I was this little girl. I told you presentation people. Oh no, wait, no, hell no. But this doesn't help and this doesn't help for me to grow. And this also doesn't help if you would like to be a leader. A leader is present a leader. Is there a leader? Obviously talks to people motivates people, let them grow. And that's what I do. But therefore you have to be visible inside the company. Of course, you need a good network and that's what I bring you to the next point, build a strong network in the company outside of the company because these are the people who help you in the end and definitely will help you to grow. But other than that, for, if you are a leader, sometimes you have to work with others. You could never be alone or you can never do everything good alone for every individual to grow. So it's always good to have a strong network but not only for that one, also for the part that you and yourself maybe sometimes need someone to talk me personally, I have with the leaders in the US. So we are a global company.

So I just had a look in the US with our product management and engineering team just for others. And we just made a little resource group, a networking group just to exchange even on if it's harder for us to get our leadership done and get a little bit of insight from various different roles. So definitely the network and the visibility is something I can really recommend to you just to be successful on your leadership career. Well, and the other one is allow yourself to fail, but failing is not bad and failing is definitely nothing you should see as bad, grow through failure and lead by example and trust and follow your female intuition. Now, a lot of times I followed what I felt and sometimes I could not recommend but we have this intuition and feeling trusted. It would definitely guide you. Well, this brings me definitely to the end of my session and I just want to leave you with a little bit of my, the statement I always say growing doesn't mean fighting for it. So it's not, don't fight, just believe in yourself.

It is doing something where you feel. I I'm not sure if I can do that one, but if you, if you go above this point, then you will definitely have your breakthrough. That one said I have a look at the questions and definitely you can contact me on linkedin and stuff and we can discuss about it. But have a great conference. Thank you so much for listening and I hope I see you all again.