Hello. Hello. Thank you so much. Good to be here. Um Hello everyone, although I cannot see you, but I hope you can hear me.Um I can

hear you very well. Say hi in the chat and I will leave the stage to you aye, you are to start.

Thank you so much. Hello, everyone. Once again. Um So my name is AA, I am a director of engineering. Win it. And today I'd like to talk about uh women in leadership. Why is it a bit more complicated to be a tech leader when you don't have a beard, do about it? And I don't mean how to grow a beard. So I have been working in it my entire grown up life. Um I started as a software engineer, um project management, program, portfolio management and the strategy management, uh business development. And here I am today, but throughout my career had one female manager and most of the time I was the only uh female amongst my peers.

So I wanted to go and look for reasons why it is. So and should we do anything about it? So I started at the statistics. Um and this is the European Union statistics um from uh April 2020. Um and it says that women 5% of the uh labor market in the European Union, which sounds about fear, right? But when we look at the leadership level, uh publicly listed companies in the European Union, women make up less than 29% of the board members. They account for only 8.2% of the ceos and 7.8% of the board chair. So you can see, I think lower as we go uh deeper into the, into the leadership. But uh these are the numbers from all the uh all the, we look at um technology alone. Um There was a study done on 175 technology start ups in the European Union, out of those 175 technology start ups um that are not small anymore. So have raised series A and series B only pass a woman CTO. Um So you can see that this crossover between technology and leadership is an area especially scarce, but why should we care? So uh to start with, uh there are sort of in having a female leader. So in terms of intangible benefits, um when you have a female leader, um she brings more diversity, usually quite male, heavy.

And with that, you have increased creativity in the team just because there are more diverse ideas floating around as you get, people start being more open and collaborate with each other more easily that leads to a better decision making. Ok. Women are usually a bit more caring and nurturing as managers. So the team gets more mentoring and higher focus on their growth and development. It gives a better engagement and safer climate for the team. But these are all the intangible benefits um or tangible ones. Uh There was a study done by uh uh for, for in 2015 and companies that are led primarily by uh female, by not primarily but by the female CEO S and their performance was measured uh index and the S and P 500 index is the stock market index that measures the stock performance of 500 large um publicly listed companies in.

So as you can see, women CEO S drove three times the returns of equity compared to the uh male Ls and P 500 companies be an important factor to consider, especially if you are a business owner. So while there are a lot of uh positives uh tangible of having female leaders um in the in your team, why are we still so far away from having a healthy uh gender balance at uh the history? Um So in the nineties, uh in, in the seventies and eighties, women started uh more actively entering workplace and naturally slowly getting into managerial roles. Leaders at that time were seen as tough guys making tough decisions, the profits at all costs, working day and night, um and doing whatever it takes to reach the goals. So literature for aspiring career, suggested for women to leave their values at home, it was assumed that any woman who aspired to a high position would need to adopt behaviors and styles and it's quite understandable. Uh leadership environment at that time was designed by and for men to become a manager meant that you needed to act like men and not only to act like men, you needed to be the best of men.

Um Also corporate training in the 19 nineties uh would focus on topics uh for women with focus on topics like how to talk male um sports metaphors. It was also advisable for women to act like one of the guys while bar hopping um or even wear a male suit. Hi. Um So of course, we've come a long way from, from that. But uh but those who grew up in the eighties and nineties meet, we have been exposed to that outlook towards leadership and the expectations that women should act like men if they want to get there. And that's not something that seems very thing for women. Uh Another aspect is stereotypes. If we would look at traditional features and behaviors, uh we would come across adjectives like bold, tough, decisive, and it's not something that has been taken in my experience if I would think about the best compliment that I have ever given to my manager, it would be usually around able to make quick means that he's in power.

He has everything in his own hands. Um But if we would look at the stereotypical behaviors that have been expected from growing up, uh we were brought to be gentle, supportive and caring. So there is this gap of expectations towards a good leader and a good woman. And as a woman, you don't want to betray the values that you grew up with. In order to be a leader, you have to change who you are. And of course, there is this middle ground. You know, there is this combination of those two and then it is not so easy to uh navigate. And in my own experience, I remember when I was uh already in leadership position and traditional male leader, assertive, tough, bold, he was very focused of um on growing me into what he thought a good world. He used to tell me that women are too soft and focus too much on keeping good relationships. Whereas in his mind, we should only care about results to achieve those results. You needed to make people feel guilty. And that's, that's what uh that's what he tried to, to teach me my nature. However, constantly hearing that message made me question.

If leadership means making people feel guilty, maybe I will never be a good leader because I'm too soft and, and focus too much on relationship and people and of course, during those years, I on it and, and, and uh cleared uh to myself, what kind of leader I want and don't want to be.

But it was just one more moment of me thinking that being caring and supportive, maybe you cannot be a good leader and those moments of doubt uh for women than they do for men. So last year, there was a study published by Harvard Business Review focusing on competence and skill level and women and in major managerial positions. And it demonstrated that women's confidence almost always align with their skills or falls below. However, men's confidence, especially at leadership levels usually is higher than their skill level and confidence, assertiveness, self belief of charisma, mastery and drive in some the qualities of a good leader. However, women are less likely to, so they are more likely to be assessed as less fit for the role. However, overconfidence, when you think about it could be a warning sign that someone leader immune to feedback, resistant to change and likely to consult others when making key decisions.

So in order to open more doors for women organizations should place greater value on competence than confidence. And also in my own experience, I through a rough patch in my career, I started a new job as a project manager in a big international organization with the complexity level that I have never seen. And I was struggling and while I was struggling. It came out directly in the way I talked, how I approached the problems and even my body language. I remember review with my manager. Um He said you're doing fine, just sound more confident. And he advised me to write it down on a post and stick it to my monitor so that I would see it and remember it and would sound more confident. But that didn't work for me. Um In order confident, I needed to feel more confident. And in order to feel more confident, I needed to actually know what I'm doing. So my first project got a lot of lessons learned, bumped my head into the wall multiple times. But when I started my second project, I already knew what I was and I noticed how my tone of voice has changed and my body language has changed. I suddenly knew what I'm talking about. I knew how and that's where I feel. I started feeling confident again.

So for me, I cannot fake it till I make it. I cannot radiate self-confidence about. And it seems that it's the same for many women. So overall, it's not a surprise that we are progressing through career, slowly, ship rolls uh slower. Another aspect being a female leader is uh loneliness industry. Um When I was studying software engineering, I was the only female in my class. And when I started my first job, I was the only female office. So naturally there is this slight feeling of loneliness but don't get me wrong. I really enjoy those social interaction, uh interactions at work with my, even if I get into conversations about cars and the best protein powder, I, I still feel like I'm part of the team and I really enjoy it. Um Sense of loneliness mostly comes from the fact that there are no female role models around. There is no one to look up and say, I know it's possible because she has done it. Os is an inevitable part of leadership no matter if you are a man or a woman. But in female case, it just brought one step further wellness. Um that is wait and when females are thinking about their future career.

Um So a research done by women tech network, by the way, uh says that over male students in Europe said that they have been put off from a career in technology because it's too male dominated, which means being in a male head, it's not too comfortable. Another aspect that might be sort of invisible if you are a man but becomes a bit awkward when you are a woman network and gather knowledge in a workplace. So as a manager, the more context and knowledge you have about the company, what's going on, where what be made, the more successful and better aligned your decisions are if you already know that there are discussions happening at the executive level that we are then you can already start preparing for it in advance and be ready for a smooth transition.

However, usually these discussions are not publicly known colleagues are doing and I really admire them for, for that. They work heavily on networking with key decision makers. They play tennis together, they grabbed a beer after work, but it's not the same for me. It's not so easy.

How would an executive react if I would invite him for a run before or a dinner after work? It wouldn't be the same, wouldn't it? So for me gathering that information that is accessible to my male colleagues more difficult and it might seem like a small thing. But while playing tennis, they build relationships, they get under the radar and naturally when it comes to the ones on the executive's mind. So again, something that does not come easy uh or as easy when you are a female or in a, in a male. So now what until until now I have been talking about the reasons why we don't see a lot of females in leadership, especially in topology. But uh and first of all, what to do for women who want to get into leadership positions. So my very simple suggestion is stick to your values, develop your strengths, not your weaknesses. Don't try to be the best of men. It might be counterintuitive because being environment, especially technology means that you are completely different and sort of the odd one out and, and you want to blend in, you want to adapt, but times are changed, files are changing. And now the companies are looking for leaders who would promote inclusion, mentorship, teamwork trust. And this is right in our ballpark. So men refuse our strength to provide the leadership that nowadays teams need find a mentor.

Uh Maybe not all of us can fake the self-confidence like you're strong yet, but having a mentor can help you to see that other women went through the same thing and are successful leaders. A mentor can help you to work and find your unique um way of leading others. So don't be afraid to reach out to someone you respect and can learn from. It can really help a group and be vocal about your ambitions. Um If you see yourself as the next CTO, even if it's within the next 10 years, tell your manager about it or her help to map out what skills and competences you will need to get there. Maybe next year, you will change your mind and will no longer want to be the next CTO. And that's perfect. We will send a signal to your manager about how ambitious you are and that will stick in his mind for when the time is right? And to have more females in your leadership team, there are also things that you can actively do to make it happen. So the obvious reason um why there are not so many uh industry is that there are simply few females entering the industry. So start at the source work with universities or even schools, educate females to try technology path, organize free learning uh and free training to test it out and, and try it.

And once they are on technology path to enable and encourage career progression, also be vocal about your goals to have more females in the leadership team and communicate it to the hiring man. T them about differences between self trust for men and women, ensure they know how to check the skills and not just the confidence level and last promote females if they seem a little bit less sure about the move. Comparing to their male colleagues, I understand that like the best potential candidates, if uh we would compare them to, let's say eight sprinters and one marathon runner and you, you have nine candidates, you have to choose most probably you would be inclined to select the best sprinter.

But marathon runner could actually bring a new perspective to the team and bring the team to the. So my wish and advice sometimes have the courage to select that marathon runner even if the sprinter is the obvious choice. Thank you.

Thank you so much as that was fantastic. Many useful tips. I see we have a question here because I want to highlight some something that you said that I think it's super important is to promote other females on your team and your company and someone else who wants to get into attack. Because it's important when we talk about female empowerment, it's important that we support each other and we support also with actions, right? So I think it's very critical. So we share experience and, and take actions to help each other grow professionally. And here is a question from Marina, she's asking, how did you go about finding mentor, mentors in each role?

To be honest, I actually didn't. It's, it's an advice that, you know, I, I wish every, every my, my, you know, female colleagues and everyone around me would have a mentor. I, I didn't. And that's, that's where my feeling of loneliness comes from. Uh I mainly had uh you know, male uh colleagues, male managers. But uh but now I, I have a co uh who's a female and I can really relate to her. So this is where, you know, my experience come from. I found that like a professional coach who is just helping me with my Yeah. And uh and I can see that it, it really makes a difference. So if you have that opportunity, if you have, you know, a colleague, a manager or someone you can workplace that you can respect and learn from, uh then definitely use the opportunity. I would love to use this opportunity when, when I was just starting my leadership.

Thank you. I see that I don't know, around 50 people are thanking you in the chat at the moment. And they're saying that they really like your presentation and they really appreciate your message with this presentation and that you were speaking to them. And I think you're making a real impact here. A and I love your slides. They were fantastic. And for everyone who is interested in the opportunities that we, that is offering, you can also go to the Expo area. Check out there is there, maybe you will pop up there also from time to time, say hi and stay for us for the networking. I'm sure many people would love to connect with you. This was fantastic. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank

you so much and

I love it.

Thank you. Thank you so much for hearing me. Thanks.