Today the 8th of March 2022 is International Women’s Day. We are excited to celebrate the day by sharing the women in tech leadership series with three mentors! They are Chesca Marie Figuero, the Chief of Staff at Gigacover in the Phillipines 🇵🇭, Anuja Singhal, the Visual Storyteller/Art Director at Microsoft based in the USA 🇺🇸, and Anggit Verdaningrum, a Senior UX Researcher at PasarPolis in Indonesia 🇮🇩.
Before reading these uplifitng personal stories shared by our mentors, let us highlight the meaning of Leadership. Leadership has many definitions depending on the context, perspectives, and companies. Some understand it as someone who must have many many years of experience, someone who takes control of the front seat, and so on.
Let's shift our mindset on the meaning of leadership in this article😉. Mentors who are currently working in the tech industry are viewed as leaders, role models, and sources of inspiration to the eyes of the younger generation who are just beginning to understand the landscape of the industry. This article aims to inspire young women (and men too!) in the tech industry. Leadership, same as learning, is a form of progress: a lifelong journey.
Ready to feel inspired? Let’s go! 🚀
"I was an accounting major back in Uni and had some various electives touching on different industries. Right then and there, I already knew I wanted to be exposed to multiple industries and different facets of the business in whatever career I would be pursuing. After looking into the job market then, I realized accounting would limit me in what wanted to accomplish, and moving into the tech scene would allow me to have that flexibility.”
"There was a sudden surge in not only UX design roles but also storytelling roles that helped distill complex technical information into simple, digestible visual forms telling the story of innovation to the world at large. This presents a unique opportunity for designers and storytellers like me to be an active part of the narrative of innovation. We live in an increasingly digital world and no matter how intimidating, tech is the way forward. Because tech is no longer about the digitization of services, but the humanization of the digital world and that is what makes it so exciting, challenging, and forever evolving.”
"As a user and also a customer, we know that products or services are not only for men but also for women. So, every product needs a woman's perspective.”
“On days where I do speak up, I was called "hormonal" - it was a joke but it never sat well with me”.
Note: These challenges were when tech startups were quite early and women leaders weren't as exposed to the media as they are now.
“While team bonding exercises are meant to make your 'bond' with the team, these conversations can be alienating at times. Lack of diversity in the workplace can often cause these scenarios.”
“As women, we need to bravely converse our perspectives to peers that majority are men. Sometimes any opinion about gender perception like women can’t work in the tech industry, sometimes that things effected and make us not confident in our abilities.”
Learn: As we know, in the digital era, everything changes very quickly. We need to always be updated about topics related to our jobs.
Ask: Do not use your ego to be proud of yourself, because in this era everything changes quickly. and sometimes we need to ask someone stranger or someone younger than us. Be a kind person and don't be arrogant.
Adjust: We need to have the skill to adjust as not all tips and tricks can be duplicated in every single task.
Repeat: the process
“Learn to be disciplined. Burnout happens and passion wavers but at the end of the day, you have a show to run and a team to take care of. Learning how to step back and take a break can also be challenging when you feel that you have a lot to prove so you must build a discipline to keep yourself from overworking.”
“The tech industry is so much more accepting and open to young women who are just entering than it used to be. But it's far from a leveled field yet. Being true to yourself, knowing your strengths, and owning your superpower, will give you the courage and conviction to navigate this terrain and outshine your male counterparts. As women, I believe, we are already blessed with a better sense of intuition and empathy. Human-centered tech innovations need that lens now more than ever. Working in tech is a great place to have a big impact, and this couldn't be a better time to jump right in!”
“We are equal as men. Don’t limit yourself because we are women. We have the same opportunity to reach the same position and give a positive impact in the tech area.”
You can find more articles from our women mentors at ADPList blog site too!
We at ADPList strongly believe that these gems shared by our mentors will lift the spirit of many women designers out there to keep their focus and hope hold high. Challenges, obstacles, hardships are always there to test us when striving for our goals. It shall take a lot of courage, high determination, and self-belief to succeed.
Together, we got this!🙌🏻 *Cue music: 🎶 💃🏻 Independent Women by Destiny's Child 💃🏻 🎶
Contributors:
Chesca Marie Figueroa (ADPList Mentor)
Chief of Staff at Gigacover
ADPList account:https://adplist.org/mentors/chesca-marie-figueroa
LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chescafigueroa/
Anuja Singhal (ADPList Mentor)
Visual Storyteller/Art Director at Microsoft
ADPList account: https://adplist.org/mentors/anuja-singhal
LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anujasinghal/
Anggit Verdaningrum(ADPList Mentor)
Senior UX Researcher at PasarPolis
ADPList account:https://adplist.org/mentors/anggit-verdaningrum
LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anggitverdan/
Editor and Writer:
Farah Radzi
Content Marketer and Writer at ADPList
LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/famr/
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