Meet Sarah Broux, winner of the Women in Dynamics Leadership Award

In the series of inspirational stories, we want to introduce you today to?Sarah Broux, winner of the Women in Dynamics Leadership Award at Directions EMEA 2022 in Hamburg.?Motivation from the judges, why Sarah???For her significant leadership skills and for promoting teamwork and collaboration across the Dynamics community. Sarah has worked consistently to empower the?Drink-IT by NORRIQ?team.

Sarah has been part of the Dynamics channel for many years, taking on different roles and responsibilities with a strong sector focus on the beverage industry. Sarah is a mom of two sons - 2 and 5 years old – and, as managing director of Drink-IT by NORRIQ, she is?someone with practical?experience?regarding diversity and inclusion.

Congrats Sarah, thank you?for inspiring us all, especially the future Women in Dynamics.

How does it feel, to win the Women in Dynamics Leadership Award??

It’s great to be an ambassador for Women in Dynamics and to receive the award as a recognition.

Your advice for future Women in Dynamics??

Make sure you focus on a strong purpose. There are no hard or easy paths, there are only great habits. And focus and commitment, every day. Really being consistent in this. And enjoy what you do, with others, find your fun.

How do you look at diversity???

Diversity is about gender, colour, age, and people of all walks of life. Diverse teams generate more and better ideas. Ideally, a company's workforce should?reflect?its customer base. But diversity alone means little if these same people are not ‘invited to the table’ when crucial projects or roles are being defined.??

Diversity and inclusion go together. Inclusion is about truly involving people of any gender, colour, and age, and at all levels of the organisation.?It is also about nurturing a culture that includes and leverages these differences. People are looking for a space where they can grow, feel accepted and can be challenged.

We sell our Drink-IT solution?globally.??We have delivered implementations in Asia, Africa and the US and I have travelled quite a lot over the years, visiting and working with our customers.???I learned that involving more women in technology, and especially in leadership, is a global challenge.??Often I am still the only female in the room.?We need to convince women early on in their careers that technology is a credible career path for female professionals, both technically and from a management point of view.?

What I find interesting about hiring people from diverse backgrounds, nationalities, and cultures, is that we bring new and fresh ideas to the table.??We need to realise there are still a lot of bias around diversity. It may be unconscious bias, but it can influence our behaviour and the way we make decisions.?Therefore,?it is important to reflect and challenge ourselves in our day-to-day interactions and?seek out?different perspectives when making decisions.

Why is it important to you??

Because ideas thrive and it is the right thing to do! I love to cooperate in a diverse context internationally. It may not directly seem like it, but?workplace diversity leads to innovation. When you have a homogeneous group of people, their thought patterns and problem-solving skills will most likely be similar. And the same thoughts don’t lead to creative solutions. A diverse group of employees will come up with unique perspectives, which leads to innovation.?

Do you have suggestions on how to progress in better diversity and inclusion??

Next to creating awareness around diversity, good mentoring is important. Since starting as a graduate young consultant, I have had mentors throughout my career who worked with the intention to include and encourage me. This helped me a lot to believe in a career in technology and to build my career in an international and diverse organisation.

Many women believe they are not as competent as others perceive them to be.??Therefore, good mentoring is key to convince women of their potential. We need?to convince them of their leadership potential through mentoring and coaching. We should recognize talent and reward role models.?We should make sure women?are considered for new roles, new projects, or new opportunities they might not even be aware of. Often because they are not aware, we should support by seeking opportunities for that person to grow.?

At NORRIQ diversity is embedded in our culture, it needs to be, and?we want?everyone to get similar opportunities. We are committed to building diverse teams because differences matter. The current 30-somethings will be our?CEOs?in the 2040's. If our employee population in their 30s today is not a mirror of our society, it will not be in the 2040’s. Great things take time, so we need to act now.