Insight Into Women Leaders

Liz Robson, Business Information Officer, Siemens Enterprise Communications

Brompton Associates is running a series of interviews with Women Leaders to get an insight into their unique challenges and contributions to business. We wanted to know if Women Leaders faced specific issues in the workplace and if so how these successful senior women managed to overcome them.

We asked Liz Robson, Business Information Officer – EMEA for Siemens Enterprise Communications, what challenges women leaders face? She replied ‘Gaining credibility in more male dominated environments that traditionally IT has been. As you go up the industry ladder you find that at senior management meetings you are very often the only female attendee. So holding your own in that environment and feeling comfortable to operate at that level is vital. ‘

Liz believes that generally women bring a more nurturing approach to the workplace than men, that they are also more likely to focus on teamwork and the emotional impact of their leadership. She stated that ‘if there’s a balance of men and women in the room, you have more balanced contributions. If there are too few women then there can be less emphasis on the people management and development aspects of business. I used to work for UBS (investment bank) and it was recognised there that if they had a balance of men and women in their IT teams, they’d gain better teamwork and more balanced approaches to business. So UBS, along with a number of other investment banks were engaged in initiatives to encourage more women into IT and this is something I champion.’

When we asked Liz what women leaders bring to the workplace, she replied, ‘Women Leaders are a role model to encourage other women to move into leadership roles. From personal experience, I had a female role model in the former Global CIO for GMAC when I worked there and this has greatly influenced me and my approach.’

Liz added that women also brought a concept of working smart not working long hours, because invariably in our society it’s the women that have to leave the office at a certain time to pick up the children from nursery, so they have to learn to be more effective in a shorter time period. As a senior women leader who has also managed women with young families, Liz understands that it’s about the quality of work that people produce not the length of time you are at your desk!

She noted that because of the shift towards people working smarter, not longer, the culture of workplaces is changing and this is also allowing men to manage their hours better too.

Thanks from Brompton Associates to Liz Robson for her insights into the role of Women Leaders and what women can bring, not only to their own workplaces, but to a change in the working culture.