In this launch episode, Rebecca George CBE - a former managing partner at Deloitte and the past President of the British Computer Society – talks to Marina about confidence not being in women’s DNA, and how to overcome it; why women are perfectly suited for careers in technology; and how learning a musical instrument could give you an edge.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• I didn’t think I was successful for most of my career. After about 35 years I sat down and looked at how many years I’d been on a sales quota, it turned out that I’d been on it for 28 of those years and I’d always beaten the sales quota by a big margin every time. That can’t just be luck, I must actually also be good at what I do.
• You can be hugely successful in the IT industry without being technical because there are so many different jobs and roles for people to do, especially for women – women who are interested in the digital world, interested in transformation, interested in change and how change happens. Technology is a wonderful, wonderful place to work.
• I try not to gender-ise too much, but there are some ‘typical’ behaviours of girls and boys: Typically, boys tend to be more confident in the classroom around STEM subjects. If computers are shared, boys tend to be more confident about taking the lead of those activities. Boys also tend to be happier in an abstract world. The more practical the computer exercises are, and the more relevant to girls, the more likely they are to have an interest in it.
• I don’t know why, but many women suffer from imposter syndrome, or downplay their skills and capabilities, and don’t sell themselves in the way that men tend to. There are always exceptions, but typically women don’t apply for jobs unless they feel they can do the whole job, whereas men are more likely to apply if they think they can do it, even if they don’t have all of the experience.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I’m not particularly competitive with other people, but I am competitive with myself. I’ve always wanted to know how far I could go, what could I do/achieve.’
‘I see a lot of people you would think are successful, and I don’t think they’re particularly happy. Being optimistic is more important.’
‘There’s an awful lot of skills that both boys and girls need in order to be successful in IT, they’re not about technology, they’re about communications, teamwork and understanding the importance of bringing together diverse views and different ways of working. This is almost as important as being able to code the software.’
‘Learning to play an instrument and reading music is a great grounding for any child. It’s like learning another language and learning about logic, without realising it, you also learn to work with other people.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

“You can have it all but you need to negotiate the deal” – Rebecca George

Rebecca George CBE is a former senior executive at IBM and then Deloitte where she became one of the first female Managing Partners. She is also a immediate past President of British Computer Society and The Chartered Institute for IT, and until recently she was on the Board of the City Mental Health Alliance. She holds a number of non-executive roles, including a Non-Executive Chair of the T-level Reform Board at the Department of Education. 

She is passionate about education and inclusion in the technology and IT sector, and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to diversity in the technology profession.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccageorgeobe/ 

ABOUT THE PODCAST

Woman Self Made podcast brings you interviews with hugely successful women from all walks of life – world renowned business leaders, disruptive entrepreneurs, world class athletes, self-made multi-millionaires, entertainment and TV personalities. In these conversations we dive into their unique stories with an aim to deconstruct their secrets for success. We talk about their journeys, ups and down, while distilling along the way the habits, tools, tactics and tips, which you can learn and use.

So, grab your favourite drink and join us every Thursday for open conversations with the most inspiring women talking about building successful businesses, careers and living lives of their dreams.

ABOUT THE HOST

Marina Bennett had a high-flying international career in strategy and finance, and in 2019 she decided to leave her £300k/year City job to take entrepreneurial plunge from scratch. She is now a multiple business owner on the way to her first 7 figures. Marina is also a founder of Woman. Self-made. (@womanselfmade.inc) - an online community of confident, ambitious women who want to achieve success and live the lives of their dreams.