“Success by delivering the promise.” Having worked in some of the IT industries’ most innovative companies such as HP and Microsoft, Maggie Anderson, a current participant of the 5th edition of our Women Talent Pool (WTP) program and Business Development Manager at Lenovo Technology Ltd is an inspiring leader in her field. Read the interview below to find out more!

You have worked for some of the most innovative IT industries and across various sectors including education; criminal justice, defence, and transportation. What led you to these career changes?

Becoming an expert in a vertical market is always a good thing, it raises your profile as a subject matter expert. Each sector is different, and the variety always keeps you interested. For me it was important to become familiar with a variety of customers and their specific challenges.

During your career, try to do different job functions and or work in a variety of sectors, this will stand you in good stead throughout your chosen career and give you a real perspective on different parts of the business. In every organisation, I have worked for, I have learnt so much and been able to transfer those skills to new roles. My advice is never stay static and try to broaden your knowledge.

Your son has just started post-secondary education and will soon be joining the workforce. What advice would you give to the younger generation when it comes to making career choices?

The advice I would give to my son and to people who are coming into the workplace is to try and find positions and subjects that they feel passionate about, that really spark their interest. Because at the end of the day, you are spending many hours in the workplace!

For me it was IT, and I feel more passionate about the subject that I am working in now than I did when I first started my career. That is the key point I want to give to my son: narrow down your choices to matters that you get excited about and would get longevity from in your working career!

What do you like best about working for the IT industry and why is advocating for women in IT important to you?

The IT Industry can really change people’s lives through products and services. Not only, is this true in the working environment but in our personal lives too, not to mention our children’s lives. I really enjoy seeing how technology can improve and evolve organisations, where I have had a small part to play.

Everything, we do is now linked to technology and for me this is an exciting time to work in IT. Women should be at the forefront of a fast-changing world, where technology is influencing how we do things. As women, we bring a completely different dynamic to the IT industry and I would like to see more young women entering the IT space as a career choice.

Women should be at the forefront of a fast-changing world, where technology is influencing how we do things.

In particular, few females take on roles selling as external sales representatives in IT. Could you explain why you think this is and what encouragement would you give to young women to move into an external role?

When I first started out in IT, it was a predominantly male dominated career choice and it was rare to see women. Since then, more women have been coming through. We have made lots of strides in specific sectors like HR, Marketing, or internal back office functions. However, too many females are still not making the leap to doing external customer facing sales roles.

I would encourage young women to really look at external sales roles, whether that be in IT or any other industry, and really consider it as a credible career choice. I think sometimes as women we lack the confidence to make that step from the back-office jobs to customer facing roles.

In my career certainly, if you are successful, then you ought to help your female colleagues or extend down the elevator to bring them up. We need to do more mentoring and encourage females to seek external customer roles. I would like to see more advocacy of that, especially in the IT industry.

If you are successful, then you ought to help your female colleagues or extend down the elevator to bring them up.

Do you think it is important to have role models and do you have your own role models for women in STEM?

I absolutely do have role models. I have worked with some great women during my career, real people that I looked up to, and who have been role models for me over the years.

Companies that have buddy systems or mentoring systems in place make a substantial difference. From a mentoring perspective, if you can receive guidance from someone who has been working in the sector that you have a specific interest in, then you can gain considerable knowledge from them. You can learn from their experience, and from their mistakes, go to them for guidance, or even just have someone as a sounding board. It is imperative to find someone you look up to, someone who can steer you through the challenges of the working environment!

It is imperative to find someone you look up to, someone who can steer you through the challenges of the working environment!

Lenovo is a proud sponsor of our Women Talent Pool program, a 12-month leadership program, and you have recently joined the 5th edition. What is your vision of leadership and what makes a good leader according to you?

There are some quintessential leadership qualities. I have been working now in my sector for 25 plus years, and according to me, a good leader is someone inspiring, who I can learn from, who is visible, influential, but above all, someone who is authentic!

Equally, a good leader helps teams and individuals achieve change. This is especially valuable in the IT industry! For example, the nature of the business that Lenovo operates in is very dynamic, but it changes very quickly. A leader is someone who can support people through those changes.

Lastly, we always finalise our interviews with a question from the Proust questionnaire, therefore: What is your personal motto?

My motto is to deliver the promise. If I say I am going to do something, then I make sure that I deliver, that I enact, and instigate what I said I would do.

It is equally indispensable in customer service to not make promises that you cannot deliver. Delivering a promise is always in the back of my mind in conversations, in customer meetings, or in any customer scenario. If this byword is achieved, then I believe that I will have content customers. This is a motto that benefits Lenovo and it also makes me successful.