Building a Strong Team
Based on an episode with Axel Ribardiere 🇬🇫
Welcome to Latinx in Power, a podcast aiming to help to demystify tech, the way we do that is by interviewing Latinx and Caribbean leaders all over the world to hear their perspective and insights.
Axel Ribardiere (he, him) combines skills in both telecommunication and software development. Axel graduated at ECE Paris as a Networks and Telecommunications Engineer and has experience in multiple IT projects which has helped him develop project management skills, adaptability, and good interpersonal skills to work with various stakeholders.
In this episode, we discussed Axel’s background and professional experience of someone who has worked in various roles in IT, including software developer, team leader, project manager, IT consulting company manager, and currently as an IT security officer.
Given that French Guiana is a unique country with a blend of European and South American culture, could you share with us how you personally feel connected to the South America region and culture?
I was born in French Guiana. French Guiana is literally in South America. Not all the people know that. We’re next to Brazil, so I can say I’m South American, yet at the same time, French Guiana is a French Overseas Department. Meaning that we have the same government, same law, same currency, etc. So, I’m French too. Nevertheless, the fact that we are located in South America, the culture, the exchange, and all the things that we can share with the country around us is not the same as if we were in Europe.
I mean, for example, when talking about the food, it’s not the same because we have influence from other countries of the continent, but also from the Caribbean or heritage from Africa. I’m living in Kourou, which is the European space port. We have the French Guiana Space Center there. You could totally be able to walk in the street, talk to an Italian guy, then see a Peruvian guy going back and eating at Brazilian restaurants. That’s the culture we have here.
How did you get it started in the field and what inspired you to pursue a career in tech?
Well, to be honest, I didn’t start in IT because my first degree was in the electrical field. Before I graduated from ECE Paris, I was at the University of Technology in Kourou, and during that time I did an internship at the French Guiana Space Center.
I worked on telecommunication stuff, but also, I did a bit of code. It was something like a VBE application for access and a bit of programming. It was not much, but it was the first step in the IT world. I remember at that time my mentor there told me that I should pursue my career in IT. I did not listen to him.
I went to ECE and graduated as an electronic and telecommunication engineer. At the same time, I was not a big fan of school. I stopped studying and kind of took a break off from school for one year. During this gap year, I worked for Airbus as a software developer. That’s when I really learned to code and programming and everything around IT. It’s not just code and application, but also the server. It was a lot of fun working in a complex application there, and that’s when I knew I wanted to work in IT.
How was your experience working in different roles in IT and how has each role helped you grow professionally?
IT is a very fast field, so both in technology and a different role that require to build a strong team, for example. After my engineering school, I started as a junior developer, meaning ends of the code, but also a sysadmin, virtualization, server management. My first job was in a small company, but that was great because we can do anything in a small company. Everything was going well, but I wanted to specialize in something and particularly in software development.
I quit that job and I became a consultant, and I worked for a big bank in France called BNP Paribas, and I was there as a software developer. Things are going well. It was a natural turnover on the team, I became the most experienced developer of the team, so they asked me to become the tech leader. You see, I can move from a position just by being there and working the application. I became the tech leader. Any question about tech, any question by the team, I’m here to support them.
I did it so well that at some point the team asked me to become the team leader, which is different from being a tech leader, not the same role because now you have to manage a team. We were working on an application. It kind of follows the sun, meaning that I have a client in Australia, India, Europe, and I finished with a client in North America. I have a team working on different time zones. It’s always easier for me to communicate with them because I’m coming from this tech field. The business leads started to ask me if I can improve the application, give me more requirements, and then ask me for ETA and planning. I’m going to be an IT project manager. I became an IT project manager.
This is how you evolve in a different role. Just in three or four years, like three or four years, I was a junior software developer, and then I became an IT project manager. I’m managing a team of 15 people working in India, working in Paris, working in Portugal, and working in North America. Every experience is really interesting. Every experience makes you grow. This is how you grow in your career. Just be open minded and have a bit of luck.
I grew up in French Guiana, and I never moved from there. I was born, then went to college and got my first degree here. Then I have to cross the world and go to Paris and change everything because even if I’m French, I’m not French French. You know what I mean? Because it’s not the same culture. I’m going to Paris and I’m moving to another culture, very different, and you have to adapt. At the beginning I was like, okay, I’m going to Paris, doing my engineering school, then I’m going back to French Guiana and I will probably work at Space Center or something like that. After school, I find my first job, then another one, and I’m going to make new friends. It’s just adapting. I don’t say it’s force, I have to adapt. But, yes, it’s kind of forced.
What advice would you give to someone who’s just starting in tech in general, or maybe in IT specifically?
As far as advice for someone who starts in IT, well, you have to be flexible. There’s something that you must not forget that we’re doing it for the people, because it’s the people who’re going to use your application and it’s the people who’re going to work with you. As you said earlier, we should not neglect our soft skills.
During my career, I saw a lot of people who were brilliant but were not able to advance in their career because they were not able to communicate. They were maybe stubborn and less flexible. At some point you’re working with someone, if someone who’s going to give you this opportunity to work with this company, with this technology, to work within this project, so never neglect the soft skills. You’re starting in IT, you can learn any new language, any new technology. Nowadays, there are so many resources to learn a new language.
Everybody can learn a language. My son is seven years old, he’s starting to learn Python. Even me at some point, I’m agnostic to any new language. I don’t care, you give me a project, it’s in Java, okay, it’s in C Sharp or JavaScript. I don’t care. I can work on any language. I just have the mindset, I know I can learn, I know I’m not the best, and I can ask maybe a specialist to help me. So, just be flexible, work on your soft skills, and have a great career.
What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in that role and how did you overcome them?
Well, that was just after my experience at BNP, so I have the opportunity to become an IT manager at the consulting company. Being a manager of consultants is really different. It’s really hard. I did not expect it to be so challenging because I was a team leader working with people who are working on the same project or on the same application. Now I’m managing a team of consultants. That consultant might not be working on the same project. They’re not even working on the same team. They’re not even working in the same company, and they don’t have the same skills. I can have a consultant who is a software developer that’s working in Java. Another one is working in .NET and maybe another one is working on the front, then another one is working on the backend. Maybe this one is just a data scientist, so it’s not even touching the code or maybe some ARC, and this one is sysadmin. You have to work with them, manage them, help them to improve their skills, and guide them in their careers. That’s your role as a leader, as a manager. But also, you’re the manager of the consulting team, so you have some objectives. And my boss has goals as well, at the same time I’m managing, but I’m also managing the ENL Center and I’m deciding which one deserves a raise but it’s not so easy because I’m not working daily with them. You feel sometimes really alone and that was the hardest part of this job. But you get used to it.
How do you stay up to date with the latest trends and development in IT? How do you think technology will evolve in the future?
To stay up to date, well, I’m working in a big company, EDF is a very big company. I’m working now in IT security, so we can exchange and learn a lot with my coworkers. We have a lot of seminars with all the people working in security, we exchange about the problematic, we exchange about the new trend and the new threat, that we can have, the tools that we can use.
If you’re not working in a big company, you can go to some conferences, even find a mentor to help you on LinkedIn, or in some groups. You have many groups on LinkedIn where you can learn things. So that’s cool.
At the same time, when we work on the seminaries, we really focus on all subjects. So, we’re working in IT security, so we’re talking about IT security. But that’s not all. The IT field is very vast. I’m using a lot of resources on the internet to get up to date and see which trend is top on the technology.
I’m using ChatGPT lately. That’s cool. AI, I think it’s going to be a huge thing, but maybe we’re making a bit too much noise about it because people are scared. We had the same thing a few years ago with Big Data. Everybody was talking about Big Data, and now we’re talking about AI. All these things will help us, will improve the work of the developer. I think that’s where we’re going now, using AI and maybe focusing a bit more on the business than on the technology.
Which resource helped you in your journey?
A lot of internet, to be honest. I have an application that’s called Pluralsight, which is a kind of website with a lot of eLearning that you can use to prepare for some certification or just be curious about new technology. I recommend this one.
Personally, there’s two books that really helped me in my career and in my personal life. The first one would be Nonviolent Communication from Marshall B. Rosenberg. It’s a great one. I think everybody needs to read this one.
The other book that really helped me was called Never Split the Difference from Chris Voss, who is a former FBI negotiator. I saw his presentation in a TEDx on YouTube and decided to buy this book and I was not disappointed. In the presentation, he was saying that we’re negotiating every time. “I’m negotiating with my kid, with my wife, with my colleagues, with my boss. We’re negotiating every time.”
I’m happy to help anyone who’s reaching out and even young people who’re looking for advice for a career or anything, just text me on LinkedIn and I would be pleased to help you.
I hope you enjoyed the podcast. We will have more interviews with amazing Latinx leaders the first Tuesday of every month. Check out our website Latinx In Power to hear more. Don’t forget to share comments and feedback, always with kindness. See you soon.
Additional Reading Mentioned in the Interview
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