Celebrating Women in Tech

I remember this day back in 2008 as if it was yesterday, parts of the moment I regret, and other parts were foundational in understanding and growing my project leadership strengths.

The meeting was held in a traditional boardroom with an oval table, 12 high back black leather chairs, 3 x glass jugs, 12 x glasses placed on top of deep red leather stitched square coasters. It was a head of departments meeting. There were nine of us sitting around the table, eight men and me.

The conversations were loud, random, and getting us nowhere.

It had been 75minutes of attempting to share my ideas, suggesting options, asking clarification questions yet was ignored, spoken over, dismissed…when I thumped the table!

They stopped, looked to me…silence…my mouth opened “can I have a voice at this table”.

In that instance I wanted to rewind and delete the last 5 seconds, that is not who I wanted to be or known for. I did not have to behave like others in the room.

Disappointingly a version of this bullying situation still occurs in some workplaces.

That moment of thumping the table kicked off my real project leadership journey to learn more about who I am, who I wanted to be and what project opportunities I was going to put my hand up for.

Fast forward 15 years, I no longer find myself the lone female voice in a room, as the number of women in technology has increased but we still have a way to go.

Figure 1 Women in ICT occupations in Australia, 2020 (Source: Statista)

Along the way I have been privileged to work with some inspiring female leaders who encouraged me, challenged me and celebrated with me.

I have also been supported by some incredible men who believed in diversity. To them I say thank you for providing the space for women to be curious and influence with impact.

“I learned to always take on things I’d never done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist” Ginni Rometty the first female CEO IBM 2012-2020

For this International Women’s Day – DigitALL: innovation and technology for gender equality – I want to recognise two female project leaders who I have navigated complex programs of work with and after the first one we said we would do it again, and we did, three times.

Dana Ashe – Qld Government (Transport), Qld Government (Education), DXC Technologies

Alex Moloney – RMIT University, Business Aspect, Bureau of Meteorology

Thank you Dana and Alex for teaching me about leading business change enabled by technology. We have so many stories some we cannot ever share, and mostly I remember the laughs.

This is what you both left implanted in my project leadership DNA:

• People and relationships matter
• Collaboration fosters innovation and inclusion
• Process and data are the guardrails for performance

Who or what are you celebrating this International Women’s Day?