Helping Women Rise: Three Vital Roles in Their Career Journey

International Women’s Day (IWD) 2024 was an interesting one for me this year. Women’s History Month in March always encourages me to reflect on my career journey as a woman in tech, a traditionally male-dominated field. As far as we have come from my start at Electronic Data Systems (EDS) where I wasn’t allowed to wear pants as a woman, to my position as a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), makes me hopeful. Yet, there are still those moments, those little comments that are made, that still point to the fact that with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), we still aren’t quite “there.”

One phenomenon I have noticed on IWD is that we hold fantastic events to celebrate women, but we don’t invite men. How can we drive equity and inclusion when we aren’t being inclusive? Having conversations about women’s empowerment and our struggle to achieve equality is, in effect, “preaching to the choir” when the audience is only female. How can men better understand why women feel oppressed if they can’t hear our voices? I challenge all of us for IWD2025 to keep the celebrations and the gatherings, but don’t exclude anyone from being part of the conversation. We all have so much to learn from each other.

As a member of the CISO XC community in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, I am blessed to be in the company of great leaders (both men and women). They are not only fellow CISOs, but they are also true friends. We have been there to support each other, provide guidance, and share valuable lessons in an often-difficult career. Last fall at the CISO XC conference, three of us took the stage to talk about our career journey as #WomenInCyber. When the three of us became #CISOs, there were few female CISOs out there. IWD2024 inspired me to think about our panel discussion and how we have navigated through our careers. Note, as it was a CISO conference, there were more men than women in our audience, and it was a great thing. Our male colleagues commented that, not only did they learn more about our struggles, but that they were now more aware of opportunities to advocate for women, and personally, for their daughters.

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Three Important Roles in Your Career: Mentor, Coach, and Advocate

Mentors have been critical throughout my career. They have been a guiding light along my professional journey from my first corporate role as a recruiter in IT to now, vCISO. Your chosen mentor may be someone you work with or have friended along the way, but they are typically people who have walked similar paths, are a few steps ahead in their career, and can offer invaluable insights and wisdom tailored to your career stage. They provide personalized guidance, leveraging their own experiences to illuminate the way forward. I believe that there should be a special bond between mentor and mentee and a shared desire to see the mentee succeed. ?

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Later in my career, I had the privilege to work with an Executive Coach. She was instrumental from helping me rise from my Manager role into a Director/CISO in cybersecurity. Coaches have expertise to help you apply the skills to the next level or step in your career. In my opinion, your Coach shouldn't work for your company (others may disagree, but I am firm on this one), keeping them free from company politics. They are often hired by your company (or by you) to give you practical advice and assignments designed to further your career. Whether that is building your reputation (or repairing it) or even navigating through difficult work relationships. As a leader, they are invaluable to help you become a more effective leader by leveraging your strengths and identifying your weakest areas.

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The one role most don’t realize could be the most valuable in your career is that of an Advocate. The information about advocacy is why we need EVERYONE in the room (men and women) to understand the power of advocacy. What is an Advocate? They are a person of power or influence who believes in you and understands your talents, skills, and most importantly, your potential. They aren't mentoring you. They are advocating for you to get a spot on a project, recognizing you in a meeting, bringing visibility to your accomplishments, and sadly, in my case, protecting you against those who don’t agree that you should advance for one reason or another. ?

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Why do women need Advocates, especially in male-dominated fields? Because oftentimes, the leadership team will not hear her. Instead of voicing her desire to get a promotion or take a different role, she will work her fingers to the bone to prove herself and hope that she will be recognized and rewarded. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.?I have seen this happen time and time again. Men are taught to be bold and speak up. Men are taught to “seize” the opportunity even if they aren’t 100% qualified for it. Women won’t even think about applying for the position unless they are 150% qualified, and most likely, they still will produce 100 reasons why they aren’t ready (to take on more responsibility, move into a new position, for the promotion, etc..). ?

So, why are there so few women in the C-suite? Because they lacked that one person to advocate for them and get them a seat at the table.

Most of my Advocates have been men. They took a chance on me, and with their advocacy, I have been able to achieve some great things in my career. I am so very grateful, and if you are reading this blog, you know who you are. Thank you so very much.

Recognize capability. Tap her on the shoulder and get her out of her comfort zone. Advocate for a stretch assignment or a promotion.