TECH TRENDS intimate so they would be able to really build those bonds and dialogue . It was a technical conference . It ’ s funny when I was doing my keynote , I get asked all the time , what do women who go to a tech conference do ? We talk about tech ! But I think all these women looked around the room and went , ‘ Wow , look at all the powerful positions ’.
Are women CXOs taking a completely different approach ?
I ’ m a trained engineer . There were nine girls out of 300 + boys in the first year of university . When I graduated and when I went to my first job , I was always the only one in the room . I think there is a generational shift that has occurred . You don ’ t want to be singled out – you want to fit in . At the end of the day , it ’ s your core competency and how you do work . We all have our individual ways of doing things – men and women . Is there a gender specific trait that makes us different ? Perhaps . But I think these women in leadership have come to a place where they have travelled the road , they have embraced it and leaned into it and said this is my unique way of manging , leading and trailblazing .
There are things that I do that are uniquely different because I am a woman CXO . Other than that , there are things that I do because I am a CXO . The common thread there [ at the January CXO conference ] was also that there is a call for action to advocate and make sure that we are creating opportunities for mid-career women in all organisations in the industry . If we do not do it , it is irresponsible of us .
Would you hear a group of men say I am going to pull a chair out for the other up and coming men within the organisation ? Perhaps not . These women were already running initiatives . As an IT leader , is that really their job ? Is it a HR thing ? Many of us have taken that mantle on as an organic crusade – we have just done it because it needs to get done and we can and we should . x
Kavitha Mariappan , Executive VP , Customer Experience and Transformation , Zscaler www . intelligentcxo . com
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