Nandini Sapru, Vice President-Sales, emt
What leadership skills are critical for women in male-dominated tech environments?
Although the dominance of men in the industry is fast reducing, I believe women have made their mark through sheer persistence, determination and technical skills. Women have the unique ability to nurture anything they work with and that helps them in the technology industry as well.
How do you advocate for diversity in team composition or project outcomes?
I believe that a diverse team bring diverse ideas to a project and hence makes the result unique and incomparable. As a company we try to hire people from various countries, industries and of course a good balance between men and women.
How do you handle being the only woman in a meeting/ team ?
It has reduced a lot in the past years . To be honest it doesnt matter anymore. I try to bring something unique to the meeting in terms of knowledge, ideas and support to a project. Once that’s established it rarely matters anymore how many women are in the meeting room.
What systemic changes would most benefit women in tech?
More inclusion for women in tech projects, gathering ideas from a diverse set of women and implementing those into technology projects would be good.
What advice would you give women negotiating work-life balance in high-pressure roles?
There isn’t an easy way out but when you balance your life on a daily basis between work and and home, you will see steady progress on both fronts. It’s important to communicate effectively, with your partner at home or your team at work. I recommend using technology to streamline work and home processes and automate or delegate tasks to stay organized. And of course always have a good sense of humour to help you on the bad days.
How can technology itself drive gender equality?
Technology helps us educate ourselves on any topic anytime as long as we have the will to do so. It facilitates us to seek help and support for our projects, goals and work through various channels. It helps us form groups and communities that can stimulate like thinking people supporting each other and make factual or data driven decisions. Such initiates rarely rely on one gender as access to information has democratized itself. This helps maintain gender equality.
