Managers have more in common with cartographers than they do with architects. Rather than building from the ground up, these people leaders are tasked with mapping the human element of the workplace: personalities, skill sets, aspirations and undiscovered possibilities.
The better they capture this landscape, the more able they are to guide individuals and teams to their desired destination — and beyond.
In the tech industry, the broader management landscape is imbalanced. While many women have ascended to these positions, a significant majority of people leaders are men. These leaders possess an experiential perspective that can help those with similar aspirations along their management journey.
According to an Accenture and Girls Who Code report, women in less inclusive workplaces have a 28 percent likelihood of advancing to a managerial position. In comparison, men have a 40 percent likelihood of doing the same.
In other words, diversity in management begets diversity in prospective managers.
The tech industry’s recent layoffs have further compounded the imbalance: Layoffs.fyi data showed that women have been overrepresented in the layoffs, accounting for 45 percent despite representing roughly one-third of the workforce.
The picture these studies paint demonstrates why women’s wisdom and mentorship are vital in the tech industry, and why bringing up future leaders is necessary.
At four Boston tech companies, women in management have created a roadmap for breaking into management. Here are their insights.
Kensho combines natural language search, graphical user interfaces and secure cloud computing to create a new class of analytics tools.
How can individual contributors prepare for roles in management?
I’m a big fan of Lara Hogan’s philosophy when it comes to management. She breaks the role into three categories:
1. Mentorship: advice based on your experience and hands-on problem-solving.
2. Coaching: asking open questions and offering reflections to help your teammate find their own answers.
3. Sponsorship: assigning stretch projects and growth opportunities while creating more visibility within the organization.
Each person you end up working with will require a different balance of these three areas. As an IC, you can practice and exercise all three of these skills when working on any project. The key to management is customization — one size does not fit all. It’s your responsibility to adapt to the needs of your team, communicate with individuals in the way that is most effective for them and make sure there is clarity around expectations. Finding gaps that need to be filled or areas that need ownership within a project or team is one of the many ways to level up and start preparing for management roles.
Share a moment or achievement that accelerated your career.
There were many small moments and achievements that helped to accelerate my career, not one or two major ones. As I mentioned, a leader’s role is to adapt to the needs of the team and balance that with the goals of the company.
Throughout my career, I would find small problems that needed to be solved and focus on finding solutions for them. These problems could range from cumbersome project management processes to development workflow pain points to tech debt that kept being deprioritized. I would make time to fix these things that didn’t necessarily relate to my day-to-day work but would benefit myself and others on the team once resolved.
When you keep focusing on improving things, people usually notice, and even if they don’t, you can speak to these improvements when advocating for yourself. I had quite a few wonderful senior leaders who would advocate for me and sponsored me within the org. Making these connections definitely positively impacted my trajectory.
What is one trait or skill all good managers have?
It’s challenging to pick just one trait — if I had to choose, I would say effective communication is paramount. Multiple skills fall under that category: active listening, adaptive language, clear expectations and asking clarifying questions are a few. I have never seen any team or project be successful without effective communication.
When collaborating, whether within your team or the organization overall, ensuring that you and others are on the same page and are extrapolating the same takeaways or next steps does not come easy. People are different. Our brains all work differently. You need to expect that others will have differing viewpoints and be able to have conversations that allow for people to be heard while simultaneously moving in one direction. This will require making trade-offs and compromises. Being explicit in your expectations and goals will foster better conversations and clarity.
People are different. Our brains all work differently. Expect that others will have differing viewpoints and be able to have conversations that allow for people to be heard.”
People also prefer to receive feedback in different ways. Some people want to have a conversation immediately; others prefer to take some time to process and think through things before discussing. So again, being flexible and adaptive is essential.
Tufin develops, markets and sells software-based solutions that enable enterprises to visualize, define and enforce their security policy across heterogeneous networks, on-premise and in the cloud.
How can individual contributors prepare for roles in management?
Think like a problem solver by approaching challenges with a solutions-driven approach rather than dwelling on the issue. Be motivated to visualize like a leader and consider short- and long-term strategies and goals for the team you’re in or the team you’re striving to lead. Provide input and be open to honest feedback. Seek out a mentor or participate in leadership roles within volunteer activities outside of work to gain additional experience.
The most important thing that can prepare you not just to be a manager but a great leader is to stay accountable. Take responsibility for decisions and actions, and be willing to learn from mistakes and lead by example. Listen to your team. Earning the trust and respect of your colleagues and team will inspire collaboration and forward-thinking solutions.
Earning the trust and respect of your colleagues and team will inspire collaboration and forward-thinking solutions.”
Share a moment or achievement that accelerated your career.
Having the right mentor has been an important key that has helped shape and accelerate my career. I was fortunate to have leaders who inspired and encouraged me to share ideas and challenge me when I could be thinking bigger. I learned to brainstorm ideas for growth, precisely communicate the benefits and present an actionable rollout plan with realistic timelines.
Executing that first plan gave me the experience and confidence to continue improving the structure within the team, building new teams and expanding globally.
What is one trait or skill all good managers have?
Strong emotional intelligence: Being self-aware of your emotions and behavioral responses to situations can help increase your understanding of your strengths and weaknesses.
Recognize how others are feeling or respond to your communication. Do you need to adjust? Stay open-minded, listen to feedback, empathize, practice active listening and stay calm under pressure.
Endpoint Clinical designs, engineers and tests interactive response technology platforms that enable data access through phones.
How can individual contributors prepare for roles in management?
Lead by example within team settings. Mentor and knowledge-share as much as possible and show your positive passion to the rest of the team. Challenge yourself to make positive changes within your group of peers so that those around you have an opportunity to grow from your drive and determination.
Energy is contagious. I genuinely believe that the more positivity and example-setting you give, the more ability you have to rally and motivate a team around you to do the same.
Energy is contagious. The more positivity and example-setting you give, the more ability you have to rally and motivate a team to do the same.”
Share a moment or achievement that accelerated your career.
My career was accelerated when I accepted my first management position. I was told by the hiring manager that they were uncertain as to whether or not I was qualified for the position but that I was going to be given the opportunity anyway. It fueled a fire within me to prove that not only was I going to be able to do the job at hand, but I was going to excel in the position.
I trusted myself and the knowledge that I have developed to be a positive contributor throughout the organization, both within my group and also cross-functionally, in an effort to improve processes in various spaces within the team to gain respect and continued growth opportunities along the way.
What is one trait or skill all good managers have?
Accepting that good management doesn’t mean that you have to have the loudest voice, but understanding and listening to those around you is even more important in order to provide thoughtful and productive responses.
Seek to understand and learn all tasks that the team needs to complete so that each manager can provide proper support and guidance. Celebrating quick wins with your team members as they eventually equate to the “big win.”
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How can individual contributors prepare for roles in management?
It starts with exercising leadership from any position that you’re in. You do not need a title to begin practicing; it’s about developing skills that help you build trust and credibility across stakeholders, enabling you to motivate and empower them to achieve company goals.
What is the path to success? How are you going to help your team be successful? That is what leadership is all about. A title in an organization gives you authority, but the reality is that you’ll be ineffective if you have a title without the practiced skills that make a good leader. You need to start exercising the muscle when you get the opportunity and show people you can lead.
A title in an organization gives you authority, but you’ll be ineffective if you have a title without the practiced skills that make a good leader.”
Share a moment or achievement that accelerated your career.
Early in my engineering career, I was suddenly put in a position of responsibility where I needed to try to solve a very complex problem. It was a large-scale project across multiple countries that required a cross-functional team. My boss, who was heading up the technology piece for this project, said, “Susana is going to lead this.”
I had to build trust quickly and with people significantly more experienced than me. I established strong relationships at pace by actively listening and learning. I made sure I recognized everyone’s contribution. I used all the knowledge, the goodwill and the trust I had built to solve the issue. It was a true collaborative effort where I stepped outside my comfort zone, embraced the opportunity and used everything in my toolkit. I understood this was an opportunity for growth, and I took it.
What is one trait or skill all good managers have?
It has to be empathy — not your traditional view of empathy, but through a lens of understanding what drives a person. It is key to give each person you manage the “why” they are doing what they are doing, and that “why” has to resonate with them. You see their potential, you link it to their motivation, and then you give them growth opportunities. You help them be the best version of themselves.
Once you have identified this, it is then about understanding the tools and support they’ll need and keeping them motivated along the way. You help them flourish in the new environment you have put them in.
