Key Takeaways from Grace Hopper Conference India 2019
GHCI, Grace Hopper Celebration India, is Asia’s largest gathering of women technologists. With about 5000 women participants, GHCI commemorated its 10th anniversary in Bangalore this year. Attended by charismatic women carrying a zeal to learn, grow and lead, it was overwhelming to witness the colossal confluence of women, technology and leadership.
Dr.Anita Borg co-founded Grace Hopper Celebration in 1994 along with Dr.Telle Whitney, former President and CEO of AnitaB.org. GHCI’s mission is to connect, inspire and guide women in computing that view technology as a strategic imperative and the vision is to see 50/50 tech equity for women by 2025. Being a technology evangelist, I can relate to the mission and I am thankful for GHCI’s efforts to inspire women to be next-generation leaders. Below, I am sharing the learnings from the event with the hope that it will inspire us all.
1. We have a thriving future ahead
The first keynote was presented by Padmasree Warrior, CEO at NIO U.S. who underscored the below-mentioned leadership skills for the future:
Padmasree also shared examples of women who were one of the first to break the ice in the technical domain. Her examples included Ada Lovelace, an English Mathematician, and writer, who was one of the first computer programmers, and Hedy Lamarr, who was an actress in Hollywood who co-invented a radio communication system that created unbreakable code. Indeed, splendid examples of women bridging the gap!
Next, Padmasree went on to point out the changing role of a leader in the industry:
- Influencer
- Movement starter
- Be yourself
- Community builder
- Share experiences
She also emphasized the top 5 technologies for the next decade and its impact across the hot industries such as Manufacturing, Health Tech, Fin Tech, and Social Tech.
Data — architectures, analytics, data science
Content+Social redefined
Autonomous Systems — robots, drones, autonomous vehicles
AI/ML — algorithms, computer vision, silicon for data/AI
Blockchain — digital asset management, digital identity, cryptocurrency
Towards the end, Padmasree talked about not being guilty for prioritizing family over work or vice versa. One should decide in light of the current situation and live with the decision because there is no permanent rule as to which one to prioritize.
2. We can have a thriving future!
The next keynote was by Debjani Ghosh, President at NASSCOM who emphasized on not holding yourself back just because you are a woman. She talked of a study in which when men were asked about where they see men and women fit in leadership qualities, in 17 out of 19 qualities, women were found better. However, when the same study was conducted on women, they quoted men as better in all 19 qualities. She raised a point that women need to have confidence that they are fit for the leadership job.
She also shared lessons that her life has given her. Here they are:
The question is not if you can do it… It is if you want to do it!
Debjani grew up in a family of 12 elder brothers. Cricket was their family sport and her brothers always chose to make her the umpire with the minimal role of simply raising her hand. Although her heart desired to play cricket, she thought she didn’t have any other choice because she was a girl. Seeing her depressed, her father encouraged her to learn the sport stating that she has the hands and legs to start playing! Her father said, “Honey if you have all the essentials, why can’t you play?”. This realization gave her the encouragement to started playing cricket but she learned in a while that she didn’t like it. Now the question changed! The question she had to ask was not if she can play but rather if she wanted to.
Speak up if you want something as nobody can read your mind
In the story above, Debjani’s family had no problems with her playing cricket. It was all in her mind and it was just a matter of speaking up! She also emphasized that having a mentor and a sponsor within the company is essential. Know the mentor and make sure that he/she understands you.
Have a mission, be focused towards it
It is important to discuss your goals with your manager and the people around you. People, in general, want to encourage and support people who have the inner drive.
Don’t be guilty of your decisions
Debjani advised seeing work and family as handling two balls. One made of crystal, which thrashes upon dropping and other of rubber, which bounces back upon dropping. There is no fixed formula as to family is crystal ball and work is rubber ball. The situation keeps changing and so does the decision. Make this decision daily and if needed, multiple times in a day.
It’s okay to not fit in
When Debjani worked at Intel, she was the only non-engineer in the team and she contemplated quitting her job as she thought she does not fit in. She discussed this with one of her seniors over coffee who gave her a life lesson:
“When you do not fit in, you have extra attention by default. One has two options in this case. First, go duck beneath a table and second, understand that you have an advantage”. Further, Debjani elaborated by saying: “when entering a room full of men, a woman has extra attention by default. Use this as an opportunity to make an impact.”
3. Let’s attain it with love
Dr. Kuiljeit Uppal, first Image Scientist in the World, was an amazing personality who brought awesome energy on the floor and even made us all dance. She emphasized on becoming leaders with love.
Kuiljeit talked about her research project PRIM i.e. Persona and Image Management which is about creating an Authentic, Appropriate, Attractive and Affordable image.
She mentioned an interesting study that in conversations, 58% of what matters is body language, 35% voice, and 7% content. She also talked about strategic networking and asked to have a plan around it.
She brought such warmth in the room that everybody was moved and inspired to take better care of themselves to create a personal brand.
To summarize, here are the building blocks to reach a leadership role.
Assorted moments
The event was gainful. During the break, I connected with several admirable women from other companies and PayPal. In addition to the talks, there were technical workshops going on in multiple tracks. I attended “Testing AI” by women tech geeks from IBM who emphasized the importance of testing AI systems and talked about how it is different from traditional testing procedures, as the outcome is not certain.
I also met Ms.Tanya Ken, a young entrepreneur who is in her 11th grade. She is an ambassador at Ariel Foundation and a Student Ambassador at Technovation. I was in awe to learn that she went above and beyond to mentor rural kids by working with them on science projects.
Hand in hand, walk an extra mile :)
As the day ended, I wondered where all the men were! Gently, I reminded myself that it is about empowering women as this is the need of the hour. There is certainly a skew in women/men ratio in technology which needs to be fixed.
Nevertheless, takeaways from GHCI are helpful to everyone. I hope you liked the article and please feel free to share your experiences.
Credits: All images credited to GHCI 2019
References: https://ghcindia.anitab.org/
Revision: Corrected what was “38% voice” to “35% voice.”
