As part of our Expert Exchange podcast series, we spoke to four inspirational women who have each played leading roles in businesses excelling in innovation.
At Leyton UK, we’re committed to driving gender equality. As such, we wanted to learn about the experiences of female leaders who have been successful in male-dominated industries and hear their advice for the next generation wanting to aspire to senior roles.
Their advice couldn’t come at a better time. A recent report from AND Digital, which aims to close the digital skills gap, found that, while women make up half of the UK’s workforce, just 24% of tech roles are filled by women. In tech leadership the figure is just 5%. It’s a shockingly low statistic, reminding us all of our responsibility to do more to inspire and develop women in innovative organisations.
Why representation is essential
It was clear from our conversations that representation is essential for inspiring the next generation.
“Representation really matters,” says Nadine Bloxsome, CEO of the Aluminium Federation (ALFED). “When I first started out, I’d go to a conference, and it would be primarily men sitting on the panels… now, to be able to go to an event, to hear different viewpoints and just see the representation of women across the industry, already makes it feel like a completely different world.”
“Diversity isn’t just a nice thing to have. I think it should be positioned as a business advantage. Worryingly, there’s now a bit of a shift in the US, which is trying to move away from DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion]. I’m hoping that won’t filter down into what’s happening in the UK.”
Beena Sharma, CEO and co-founder of CCU International and co-founder of Women in New Energy agrees. “People need to see faces like mine in order to inspire them,” she says. “Imagine growing up in an industry and not seeing somebody that looks like you. You’d think that you won’t be able to achieve anything because you don’t fit in.”
The importance of communication and relationship-building skills
Kathryn Lynch, founder and CEO of Chronos Consulting, feels that relationship building and being able to communicate with colleagues is vital for success, emphasising the importance of training the interpersonal skills for those in technical roles. “I would advocate for organisations to really help the generations coming through with communication, presentation and influencing skills,” she says.
“I think what will differentiate people as leaders in the next ten to fifteen years is going to be their ability to take ambiguity, make sense of it, and communicate it to their organisation and get people behind a plan, a project, an idea, or a concept, and bring people along,” she adds. Emma Swann, Managing Director at BOAL Extrusion UK spoke along the same lines. “I think leadership is all about people and relationships,” she says. “As a finance director, I build relationships, and I work with people. Whether that’s in manufacturing, finance or engineering, it’s all about relationships.”
Believe in yourself, but keep learning from others
Each of the four inspirational leaders we spoke to talked about the importance of believing in yourself, while also emphasising the need to proactively learn from the people around you.
“It really is about self-belief and perseverance,” says Emma. “I think for me, I had good mentors as well and started to build a strong network around me.”
“Don’t be afraid to put yourself in front of leaders,” she adds. “It can be as simple as having lunch, having a coffee, going for a walk, and just starting conversations. People who want to develop talent in organisations will be more than welcoming… as a leader, it can be quite hard to spot talent. So, if someone’s looking for you, great!”
Nadine agrees. “Believe in what your skills can bring to the table. Try to use your voice but also, just don’t ever stop asking questions either,” she says.
“Build a strong network and ask other women, or ask anyone else that’s in a leadership position, if there’s anything else you could be doing or any kind of training,” she adds. “Just try and keep learning.”
Kathryn stressed the importance of self-belief when it comes to innovation. “You have to back yourself. But you have to back yourself with facts and allies to bring your ideas forward. It won’t be simple, it won’t be straightforward, there will be bumps in the road, but that’s life.”
Beena also spoke about the importance of trying to seek out new people and new experiences to learn from. “What I’ve found is that as I’ve been on panels, spoken at conferences and travelled and spoken to different people – it’s expanded my knowledge base,” she says.
“I would never, ever have been able to know what I know if I’d stayed in my lane reading books… put yourself out there. Don’t fear the consequences because actually, the consequences are what will teach you.”
You can listen to the full conversations on our Leyton UK podcast:
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