Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Google Cloud’s Shweta Maniar On The 5 Leadership Lessons She Learned From Her Experience
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Advocate for yourself. — An oft-cited statistic is that women don’t apply for jobs unless they are 100% qualified for them, whereas men apply when they only meet 60% of the qualifications. A Harvard Business Review article found that this statistic (from a Hewlitt Packard internal report) wasn’t due to a confidence issue on the part of women, but rather, it was due to the opaqueness around the hiring process, which when clarified, revealed that recruiters and companies do actually hire people with fewer than 100% of the qualifications.
As part of our series about “Lessons from Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech,” we had the pleasure of interviewing Shweta Maniar.
Shweta Maniar is the strategy and market leader responsible for BioPharma in Healthcare and Life Sciences at Google Cloud, where she leads vision, strategy, and execution of Google Cloud’s industry product strategy and go-to-market model. Prior to joining Google, she led market growth strategies relevant to technology accelerators for therapies and diagnostics at Genentech, where she received multiple awards, including two Innovation Awards and the MVP Award.
She is also on the Executive Committee of Springboard Enterprises Women’s Health Tech hub, which is a program designed to catalyze the growth of women-led companies across the tech space for healthcare devices, diagnostics, and information that promise to change the way women manage health, reproductive, and life cycle decisions. Shweta brings an extensive network of established healthcare system relationships across Digital Health & Technology, Investor, Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, and Hospital Systems Industries and is passionate about keeping current with trends in medical devices, data, wearables, IoT, EHR (EMR), and machine learning.
Shweta currently serves on the board of directors for Seaspine Holdings Corporation, a global spinal technology company, and RXSight, an ophthalmic medical technology company. As a passionate advocate for community participation and engagement, she is also an active member of her local Parks and Recreation committee.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I’ve always been a go-getter even though I didn’t initially know this is where I was going. What I knew was that I was always looking for opportunities to learn. On top of that, my family taught me the value of community at an early age. We would go downtown to volunteer and clean up trash along the roads or in the parks and plant flowers. Even though my father was an immigrant and our community was not necessarily familiar to him, that was a seed he planted that later blossomed into the way I approach everything I do — professionally and personally.
Working in a community is critical in today’s world, and I relied upon those skills and experiences as I worked to unite stakeholders with different priorities and even different ways of communicating to come together over a common objective. Working in a community is ultimately about bridge building. It’s about bringing disparate people, ideas, and industries together to make a difference, and it’s what brought me to the work I do today — helping develop Google’s global life sciences strategy as it pertains to creating biopharma and biotech solutions.
I have been able to utilize that skill set throughout my career operating at the intersection of digital tech and healthcare — helping traditional healthcare companies, for example, think about tech in an impactful way while at the same time helping tech companies effectively work with the healthcare sector. Ultimately, it’s not about the tech, nor is it simply about the medicine. It’s about using both to get better outcomes for people — which brings us back to community.
Can you please give us your favorite life lesson quote? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My favorite life lesson quote would be: “There are opportunities to be a leader everywhere.” It’s not just confined to a professional setting — it’s with our families, our neighborhoods, and the various communities that we are a part of, whether that’s participating in the local sports league or a global organization of female entrepreneurs.
Underscoring that idea is the understanding that the best leaders exist to lift those around them, and they do this by helping unlock their potential. I’m fortunate to be in a position where I get to do that professionally with my team, as a parent with my children, and as a member of my local Parks and Recreation committee.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I’m limited in what I can share publicly about the exciting things we are developing at Google, but what I can say is that I feel privileged to be in a position to help teams think through how we can use real-world data analytics to inform the way clinical trials are done in the life sciences space — and by that, I mean ensuring that the medicines and devices that we are developing are truly reflective of the diverse population that is going to be benefiting from them instead of relying on data from a historically homogenous (and limited) segment of the population.
I am also excited to contribute to our understanding of how data and analytics can increase patient safety and treatment efficacy, as well as curtailing the delays in acquiring regulatory approval — which can ultimately save lives. One example of the power of this work was how quickly the COVID-19 vaccine gained approval, which allowed it to be made available to our communities. This is data and analytics at their finest.
I am also personally excited to be a part of the CITRIS Workforce Innovation Program, which is run through the University of California and gives undergraduate students from nontraditional backgrounds leadership training and career support in one of five areas of emerging IT innovation. As a woman of color working in STEM, it is incredibly meaningful to be a guest lecturer and share my unique perspective and journey working in a position that didn’t even exist when I was a student.
Are you currently satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM? What specific changes do you think are needed to change the status quo?
There is much work to be done, although we have certainly come a long way. So many opportunities have opened up in STEM — not just for women, but for anyone coming from a diverse background who is interested in working in this field. To amplify this, I would like to see more companies (and recruiters) reach outside of specific background requirements to include valuable experiences in other critical areas and industries. This necessary shift is already beginning to happen in companies like Google or Roche, which are focused on competency-based hiring. I would like to see this adopted throughout the industry as a whole.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women in STEM or tech that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts? What would you suggest to address this?
The biggest challenge faced by women in STEM and tech is the lack of female mentors and role models, particularly in leadership positions. I have often been the only woman in the room (and certainly the only woman of color), and even though companies might report that they hire an equal number of women to men, women do not populate those critical leadership roles that can move the dial forward in a meaningful way.
Over time, I have become much more vocal about this because I wish I’d had this representation and mentorship when I was coming up. Prioritizing the advancement of women and women of color in STEM and tech is something every company needs to actively work toward in their recruiting and overall culture.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a woman in STEM or tech? Can you explain what you mean?
I remember being in high school and listening to the keynote speaker in our auditorium talkabout how girls can and should go into engineering. At the same time, in my computer science class, the teacher was saying that girls should concentrate on improving their typing speed so they could get a good administrative support job. That may have been a long time ago, but similar biases still exist today.
For example, a persistent myth in STEM is that women don’t care about science or that they are more drawn to working in the caregiving professions. Another bias or myth is that women are too emotional and lack the pragmatism needed for STEM. This is blatantly false. However, one distinction I would like to point out is that it is not an either-or scenario, but rather, an “and.” This means that people can (and should) be empathetic, emotionally intelligent, and caring while also working in STEM (and anywhere). These attributes do not cancel each other out; instead, they are qualities that contribute to a healthier work environment along with greater growth and innovation.
One of the ways that I work to empower women in the face of these challenges is through the I am Remarkable program, where I am a facilitator. We catalyze women and other underrepresented groups to celebrate their achievements in the workplace and beyond. When these groups celebrate their achievements instead of shying away from them (which often is a cultural norm or even pressure), they get promoted. They get jobs. They get greater opportunities and access to broader and important professional networks. We teach the difference between self-promotion and “bragging.” We check in with participants after a few weeks and months to see how they are languaging their successes on job interviews, social media, and networking events.
The success I’ve witnessed through this program has been — and continues to be — deeply inspiring.
What are your “Five Leadership Lessons I Learned from My Experience as a Woman in STEM or Tech” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
Advocate for yourself.
An oft-cited statistic is that women don’t apply for jobs unless they are 100% qualified for them, whereas men apply when they only meet 60% of the qualifications. A Harvard Business Review article found that this statistic (from a Hewlitt Packard internal report) wasn’t due to a confidence issue on the part of women, but rather, it was due to the opaqueness around the hiring process, which when clarified, revealed that recruiters and companies do actually hire people with fewer than 100% of the qualifications.
My work as a mentor, leader, facilitator with I Am Remarkable, and guest lecturer at universities and high schools is to empower women to ask for what they want regardless of whatever statistics and to get the allies and support they need to do so.
Get comfortable with setbacks.
We all deal with setbacks in life, small or large. My life has had several missed opportunities — mistakes I’ve made. Small setbacks can be overcome with some reflection and time with friends or family, and larger ones where you creep into the dangerous zone of self-doubt. But it’s important to understand that no setbacks are mistakes that are made to fix immediately. Setbacks are what have formed my journey and continue to serve as a driver of the ways I improve and can help others.
I viscerally recall as a young professional in a strategist role that “no one will trust you until you have some white hair.” While that may be a half joke, and I firmly believe experience counts for a lot, it took me quite a while to realize that my value was contributing a perspective that no one else had, and it had nothing to do with the color of my hair. It was combining research, business, commercial, and healthcare — everyone else had deep expertise in one or two of those areas. When I got over my imposter syndrome with some experience and observation, I gained the confidence and footing to hold on to my convictions and to share my perspectives confidently. I realized, after some missed opportunities to speak up, that we all have something to offer — and while a little imposter syndrome is okay, it should not take over.
You have to be resilient.
At Roche, I participated in a skills wheel where everything is highlighted as something that energizes or de-energizes you as a person, professionally or personally. Consistently, the top trait came out as resilience.
The imagery of resilience that comes to mind for many of us is something like a person courageously pushing a boulder up a hill with everyone below cheering. But it is sometimes lonely. I have to check myself — am I pushing a boulder because I am resilient, or is this the right thing to do? In each role I have ever held, it is most stimulating and exciting when I have to lead with resilience, but in overdrive, it can prevent progress.
Be humble.
No one is successful in isolation. Show gratitude for those that contribute.
Know your worth.
Everyone is a leader, especially in STEM, so knowing how you add value to the whole is critical.
STEM is still considered a male-dominated industry, which is why advocacy and knowing your worth are so critical to being successful in this space. If you do not articulate your worth or your value and you don’t ask for it, no one will do it for you.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I’d like to bring it back to the idea of the community and planting flowers. The idea is always to plant metaphorical seeds in the terrain we find ourselves in — whether that’s with the students I talk to, or as a facilitator to women and diverse talent coming into STEM, or as a leader who works at the intersection of healthcare, life science, and tech. To me, that is the definition of true success. When I can sleep at night, I know it’s because my priorities are in alignment with these values and I’m being part of the solution and not the problem.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person you are grateful toward who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My first mentor was my dad, who set me up for success personally and professionally by instilling the value of community and giving back.
Later, someone who influenced my growth and development was a woman who did not directly impact my career in healthcare and tech but greatly influenced the way I interact with teams there as well as interacting with customers, stakeholders, and the general public.
Chiquy Mejia has been a mentor, manager, and youth development coordinator at the City of Morgan Hill. She immigrated to the U.S. from Venezuela, which required her to learn a different culture and study the nuances of building trust and relationship within a diverse community. Her background as a children’s entertainer infused her work in city government with a passion and energy for helping people that was palpable, and she taught me how to connect and build trust with individuals from all walks of life. I joined the City of Morgan Hill’s Recreation Department to organize and run the Cool Kids Summer camp for the community, where I learned to communicate and interact with individuals from backgrounds and abilities.
She taught me that creating a connection with individuals was more important than planning the most elaborate activities. It was how you make the children, the parents, the caregivers, and even your employees (mostly high school kids or retired teachers) feel. I carry that desire to create a connection with me to this day above all. It is about how you make someone feel after you’ve left the room.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Working on the frontiers of healthcare, life science, and tech requires not only making sure solutions serve a diverse population and their needs but also depends upon bringing together diverse groups of people (and mindsets) to create those solutions. That work essentially requires me to be a bridge builder between the science folks and those on the corporate development side, and as the global landscape continues to shift, so do priorities and conversations.
One example that highlights the work that we do was recently when DeepMind open-sourced their AlphaFold tool in order to create better predictions for drug discovery in the future. (DeepMind is a division of Alphabet.) The DeepMind researchers rightly believe that their work needs to be open and available to non-commercial entities (versus commercial ones) for the good of the world.
I was proud to be part of the effort that made AlphaFold available to commercial entities as well — helped, in part, by the fact that the COVID-19 vaccine was developed by the concerted efforts of commercial organizations accelerating their work for the common good. This success is directly attributed to the ability to build bridges among various interested parties so that innovation can be available to everyone and benefit the community at large.
What advice would you give to other women leaders about the best way to manage a large team?
Being a leader means helping to influence and inspire people. To do that well, you need to be able to understand a variety of mindsets, priorities, “languages,” and perspectives so that you can build bridges to a common goal for the benefit of all. This is why having (and hiring) a broad background of experiences while tapping a broad network of mentors (such as Chiquy Mejia) is critical. It effectively gives you the tools to create a common cause that unifies teams and ultimately sparks greater innovation.
What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?
Begin in your community. Don’t limit your learning to the professional setting. Being around a diverse group of people who all have a place at the table and all have an equal voice will provide leaders with the skills they need to overcome obstacles of all kinds.
One of the best places to find and develop these critical skills is in your local community organizations where you learn (among other things) how to move forward even when you don’t have a consensus. Bringing these skills to your teams (as well as teaching them) will allow teams to thrive.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
My first job related to the sciences was at a Scripps Clinic and I was (dare I say) overly confident (and I hadn’t even gotten the job yet). I was a go-getter almost from the crib and I was ready to get my professional life started. I couldn’t wait.
Unfortunately, in my enthusiasm, I didn’t realize that there were many Scripps locations, so I didn’t bother to check the address of where I was headed. I just assumed I knew. When I arrived, I realized I was at the completely wrong location and had to walk miles uphill to the correct one. Arriving late, my go-getter attitude hadn’t completely got up and gone, but it was a little…shall we say…withered. It was a very humbling moment, and in retrospect, a little humorous. However, a little humility goes a long way, and I was glad I learned that early.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
