On 6th February 2018, Lopa Patel MBE spoke to Steph McGovern of BBC Breakfast about what it takes to succeed as a woman in business, particularly in the technology industry. The special programme was in celebration of the #vote100 centenary which marks the hundred years since Parliament passed a law which allowed some women, and all men, to vote for the first time: the 1918 Representation of the People Act. Throughout the year, many organisations including the BBC are celebrating this important milestone in the UK’s democratic history.
In the special all women BBC Breakfast programme, Steph interviewed three women at the start of their careers such as Katie Kelleher, Crane Operator; Katherine Tobin, Structural Engineer and Lois Medley; Apprentice in building services; women further in their careers such as Jennifer O’Donnell, founder of Jane Jefferson Cleaning and Bina Hale, Senior Recruitment and HR Manager, as well and those who have reached the peak in their professions such as Inga Beale, CEO of Lloyds of London, retail consultant Mary Portas, known as the “Queen of Shops”, digital media entrepreneur Lopa Patel and Hilary Devey, Founder of Logistics firm Pall-Ex.
The programme explored the barriers still facing women in the workplace; the challenges of childcare and work-life balance; the issues facing women trying to reach the boardroom and what the next 100 years will bring in terms of opportunities for women.
Top 5 Tips on how to succeed in technology as a woman
In her brief interview, Lopa explained the issues of the under representation of women in the technology industry and what they can do to succeed:
1. Stand out
“As a woman in tech, you are going to stand out”, she said, so Tip 1 is to use this to your advantage. Build your confidence and express your views as clearly as possible. Do not be afraid to be thought to be in the wrong. Put yourself forward to taking on new projects, even if you are not sure that you can deliver everything, demonstrate courage in wanting to succeed.
2. Invest in your skills
You need to build and develop on your skills. Initially, it may be coding skills and later this may be more about management skills. Do not wait for training to be suggested. Carry our a personal audit and decide which courses you want to pursue. If your employer is not willing to pay for you to acquire these skills then consider investing in them yourself.
3. Collaborate
You need to learn to work collectively and collaboratively. If opportunities for this do not exist in your workplace, then consider volunteering your time with a charity for example. If you can support others, you learn a lot about yourself and hone your mentoring skills without realising it.
4. Network
Build a professional network to help you succeed in life, not just in business. This means going to events not directly related to your job, Explore new activities, attend lectures, meet people and network with them in an active, but not aggressive, way.
5. Resilience
“To reach the top takes a lot of hard work and plenty of ‘knock backs’. The important thing is to build resilience in oneself,” added Lopa. Be prepared to try and try again and learn to take rejection well. It is easy to become despondent, but success often comes after several attempts. In business, if you lose a contract or fail, you often have to pick yourself up and look for another way to succeed; a new client, a new product, a new market. Resilience is critical for entrepreneurs because you often have people depending on you to succeed.