Ruxandra Dariescu is a Sustainable Performance Business Coach. She helps individuals and teams to reframe their narratives to change their attitudes and adopt the behavior for success.
Ruxandra invented the project Deliverability™ index, part of the ACCORD Pulse™ model, the first sustainable performance coaching tool centered around people working together towards a common project delivery purpose. Her coaching programs help business leaders understand the ABCs of the play patterns between people which can transform performance. It frees up space for exploration, passions, well-being, and, ultimately, sustainable growth.
Especially for the WomenTech Network, Ruxandra agreed to give an interview, share her story and experience.
Watch Ruxandra's talk "It's All About the People: Resolving Agile Delivery Uncertainties Through People Interactions", and other inspiring sessions on our YouTube channel.
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⚡️ Save the date: Women in Tech Global Conference 2023 will take place on May 9-12!
Tell us about your experience as a Women in Tech Global Conference 2022 speaker.
2022 is my second year speaking at the WomenTech conference, and it remains a fascinating place to be. The best thing about WomenTech conferences is the wide range of topics, which I consider topics without borders. Tech talks, AI, ML, or IoT blended with people's challenges, cultural variety, values, or leadership make the conference very interesting. The speakers offered a variety of perspectives on the current state of business, project insights, and the importance of transparency, trust, and well-being at work, regardless of the physical location.
And again, I loved connecting via the "speed business dating" facility - I met people who otherwise would have taken a long time to discover!
What is your favorite thing about working in tech?
Having transformed or created hundreds of products over the past 26 years, working in tech is an absolute joy because every day is the beginning of something new. Flexibility is my top pick for favorite things working in tech.
The speed of tech change makes it imperative to keep an open mind, continuously learn and find parallels between tech and other worlds, so the things created make an actual valuable difference in the world, close by or far away. Without flexibility, one ends up creating the value of yesterday. The concept of roadmap management differs from the concept of having a project plan with milestones to meet. Tech's flexibility of thinking, planning, and delivering is now adopted by other industries as business agility and has grown to become one of the top themes on global strategic agendas. It sounds simple, but it is not easy. We must be continuously flexible and embrace change. Otherwise, the tech we create reaches the end of its life very fast.
What advice (and tips) would you give to women who want to start a tech career?
One can start a career in tech at any age and from any background. I am a Life Sciences scientist with a specialization in Biochemistry. I started in tech by finding an "understanding hook" that linked for me the workings of a nervous system with how the Internet works. Over the years, I created products for start-ups and transformed platforms for global technology companies - leaders in their respective domains. Life is full of new beginnings. I moved from a creator of tech to a professional performance and growth coach, and if you are just about beginning your tech career, here are the helpers I found working for myself:
1. Learning is a continuous, daily activity: relentlessly dedicate a minimum of 15 minutes to your evolution. Choose wisely the sources of your learning and re-visit the things learned through new lenses. Learning doesn't have to be formal to get a certification or degree. As you feel you have reached a point of completion, reflect on the knowledge accumulated and ask yourself, "what else?"
I decided that I don't need holidays from learning. Last week I learned about the link between determination, grit, and cognitive function, DNA quantum entanglement in quantum biology, the entropy of quantum information and how data is both critical and a problem on business agendas. All these aspects help sharpen my understanding of people interactions for sustainable delivery, a topic on which I coach.
2. There is at least one solution for every problem you face. Working in tech doesn't mean that daily problems are only technical. Keep an open mind to allow for the solutions to reach you. Having multiple solutions in front of you is only an invitation to discern the starting point. I say, "close your eyes to see the right one for you", – which is counterintuitive as most people keep an eye out and search through too much information, getting confused. Research. Think. Ask. Choose. Think again. Choose again. Be patient. Repeat.
3. It doesn't matter where you come from. What you do and how you show up are the premise of who you are! As fancy as it may sound to have a glorious job title, remember it represents only a temporary identity! We develop who we are by accumulating experiences and applying them to create the results of our work.
Finally, I want to point out the most valuable thing: reach out.
Reaching out to mentors and coaches accelerates the potential of people, fast-tracks personal development, and builds self-awareness, courage, self-trust, and self-leadership. A good coach helps you develop the ability to prioritize and decide, and you will find yourself easily navigating your career.
For over a year, I have been a mentor of the WomenTech network working with several members who are becoming great in every way. Outside the network, I coach people and work with companies that decide to stand out in the world. Remember this: when we decide to reach out, we are ready to be vulnerable, to transform and better ourselves.
Who would you recommend to join the WomenTech Network?
While WomenTech Network started with a focus on "working in tech", I think it is also a place for women "working with tech". Every role requires the use of technology. If we want technology to be a support for conscious progress and inclusion or to free up space for creativity, this network can be a direct contributor.
To recognise the achievements of our community and beyond we are hosting the annual Women in Tech Global Awards 2022. Nominate yourself or someone else:
