Building confidence – personally and professionally – to advance your career and build an exceptional company culture was one of the key topics and takeaways in this year’s ChannelCon Advancing Women in Technology (AWIT) Community meeting.
In a panel led by AT&T Partner Solutions Meredith Caram, strong female industry leaders and CompTIA champions Toni Clayton-Hine from Xerox and Brenda Dennis from Cisco, as well as honorary male executive Carmen Sorice of Sungard Availability Services gathered to share their perspective with the engaged audience.
“In this more inclusive environment, everyone is coming to the table differently,” Dennis said. To be successful, it’s important for both the business and the person to “be authentic, but also know the game you’re playing.”
Caram concurred, adding “the only person who can put labels and limits on you and your company is you.” Businesses and leaders need to focus on “building a culture of yes” and encourage others “to bring their ideas forward.”
Clayton-Hine advised the audience to work on “managing up” and “building the credibility and visibility of your team.”
Sorice reminded the community that in order to create an exceptional culture, company leadership has to “be comfortable with diversity – race, ages and gender; be able to lead from any seat; and constantly look at who needs development and who on the team can help build others up.”
He also told the audience, if you “see something, say something.” Too often, Sorice said, people don’t ask and others don’t tell when something just isn’t right or just isn’t working. Approaching the person and addressing the situation head on with tact could easily fix or diffuse the issue and will likely open the doors for an even stronger, more collaborative culture.
Caram closed the AWIT panel capturing these key takeaways:
“Learn about investing in ourselves. Understand the need and benefit of diversity. Make more meaningful connections – have the right relationships all the time, not just when you need them. Think differently and lead differently. Make sure you and your company are putting your best everything forward.”
Click here to learn more about CompTIA’s Advancing Women in Technology Community.
