Learnings from a Tech Leadership Quest - 6 ways to advocate for yourself and others. WIT Women in Tech

1. Learnings from a Tech Leadership Quest
Stefana Muller
Sr. Director, Product Management
January 29, 2016

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@StefanaMuller
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1. We Need More Women in Tech Leadership
2. We All Can Impact the Statistics
3. Six Ways to Advocate for Yourself and Others

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“The worst kind of group for an organization that
wants to be innovative and creative is one in which
everyone is alike and gets along too well.”
―Maggie Neale, Professor, Stanford Business School

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More Innovative
More Productive
FACT: Diverse Teams Add Measurable Business Value
46%
The diverse group almost always
outperforms the group by the best
substantial margin
Diverse groups make more
innovative business decisions than
non-diverse groups
Higher
Profits
Source: http://anitaborg.org/

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FACT: Women Are Underrepresented in Tech Leadership
85%
15%
Executive
Officers
91%
9%
IT Management
Positions
95%
5%
Fortune 500
CEOs
MenWomen
Source: http://americanprogress.org/

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1. Quantify Results in Business Terms
2. Build Your Personal Brand
3. Build Your Own “Board of Directors”
4. Build and Nurture Your Network
5. Create Your Own Opportunities
6. Be a Sponsor, Mentor & Advocate
6 Ways to Advocate for Yourself and Others

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1. Quantify Results in Business Terms
 Business Acumen
 Financial Understanding
 Strategic Forward Thinking
Sandy Carter
General Manager, IBM
“I’m a good employee. I help everyone and get my job done.”
“Drove $300M in new product sales in the first fisca
l year.”
“Delivered exponential growth of a customer
community from under 50 participants to 1000+,
increasing engagement through forum
communications that facilitated over 250 new
product enhancements.”
“Delivered 16 new features with zero defects to
production. Received 5 customer letters
acknowledging success.”

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2. Build Your Personal Brand
 Be Your Authentic Self
– What do you believe? What do you stand for? What are your Strengths,
Weaknesses? What do you care about?
 Create a Differentiated Point of View
– Write a blog, article, though provoking statement that not only shows
your ’smarts’ but exhibits your brand
 Build your online presence
 Do. It. Now.

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3. Build Your Personal Board of Directors
A Career Advisory Team from various disciplines that can
provide different perspectives
Connector
Source: http://www.fastcompany.com/62556/create-personal-board-directors

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4. Build and Nurture Your Network
 Target your network
– Find people who have skills, experiences and ideas you do not
have
– Target a few high-quality connections
 Participate and Share
– Attend local meetups, startup competitions, hackathons, demo
days and open investor pitch meetings to widen your network
– Grow Your Social Presence and ENGAGE
 Nurture Relationships
– Lifelong relationships make the difference
– Give without expecting to receive; Show Compassion

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5. Create Your Own Opportunities
 Volunteer
 Keep Current; Learn New Skills
 Set Stretch Goals
 Speak Up
 Don’t Wait For Permission

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6. Be a Sponsor, Mentor and Advocate
 Lift Someone Else Up
 Get Involved
 Influence The
Younger Generation
Long Island
Women in Tech
110+ Members

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Host Events
Meet Ups
Panel Discussions
Lunch and Learns
Mentor Groups

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#WorkLoveLead
http://bit.ly/worklovelead

16. Sr. Director, Product Management
Stefana.Muller@ca.com
Stefana Muller
@stefanamuller
Slideshare.net/stefanamuller
Linkedin.com/in/stefanamuller