Ingrid Riehl, a senior executive with more than 24 years of global experience in b2b2c data and insight-driven businesses across industries shares the insights she has gained on the path to success.
Ingrid has recently faced a life-changing transition from her leading role as an executive towards self-employment. Having created her consulting business with the collaboration of like-minded people, she is currently advising and mentoring founders, leaders, and investors in the digital industry on business models, strategy, development, and leadership. She is currently an investor and advisor for RegTech and DataTech globally and a mentor at the female factor.
Ingrid has been enthusiastic rather than worried in this transition journey, “it is exciting to fly, learn new things every day and about the capabilities I was not aware of so far, and to constantly improve myself professionally and personally.”
In order to learn from a female leader who made it in IT regardless of the speed bumps for women in the tech industry, keep on reading.
#1 no challenge is impossible to overcome
As a woman in a male-dominated industry, Ingrid believes that what really matters is your inner belief system. “Your inner mindset must be that of a winner even if it does not look like that and you have a lot of disbelievers around you”.
In addition, according to Ingrid, you also need to be confident in the fact that nothing is really impossible, it just appears so because you have not found the means to overcome it yet. "You have to be comfortable with uncomfortable situations, embrace and love them to grow" is her advice.
In order to overcome challenges, Ingrid also highlights the importance of networking and collaborating with like-minded individuals; this includes those who are not only successful and passionate in your work area, but also those who are in alignment with your goals. Ingrid reminds us that negative experiences in the process of overcoming challenges should be viewed as learning opportunities.
#2 collaborate with a mentor and be diplomatic
Choose wisely who you surround yourself with and accept help from them in the path towards success. Ingrid emphasizes the importance of having a mentor, “you need to have a mentor who believes in you and has no fear that you might be better than him/her”, and this is precisely what makes them a true leader according to her.
Another significant trait is being able to act diplomatically. According to Ingrid, you may be smart, but diplomacy is the only way you can deal with certain situations. Those who lack your level of intelligence and expertise can still be strong rivals if they are good at acting diplomatically when dealing with conflicts or challenges.
However, being diplomatic does not mean you should not stay true to yourself and your core values. In the path to leadership, Ingrid’s advice is to be grounded. One thing she is the proudest of in her journey is staying authentic, never betraying herself and her values on the track of her carrier up to the management level.
#3 grow your personal brand
Ingrid suggests that when it comes to building your personal brand, the most important thing is to know yourself. The starting point is to define what you, and consequently your personal brand, stands for, and to practice Clifton Strengths.
Another significant aspect when growing your personal brand is how you present yourself. Be clear and concise in your CV and Linkedin profile with no more than three pages, advises Ingrid, and to “experiment with your Linkedin Profile to attract the people you would like to be connected to”.
Building a network, creating collaborative and trusted relationships is one of the most important factors even when it comes to job search, according to Ingrid.
When applying for a job, always consider what they need and what you, with your personal skills and talents, can offer. “They are looking for skills and you have to offer those. So always find out first whether it might be the right fit for you both”. The key to this is, once again, knowing yourself and your skills well.
#4 use diplomacy, leadership, and collaboration
Although it is proven that women in IT are still underpaid as well as underrepresented, Ingrid believes that the biggest obstacle is ourselves. According to her, it is always smart to use diplomacy, leadership, and collaboration to our benefit while bringing excellence, flexibility, and determination to the table in order to achieve our goals.
Mentoring is a way of collaborating; it is a give-and-take relationship. Ingrid suggests that being a mentor helps her make new experiences when dealing with the situations her mentees face. Although Ingrid may not have faced certain challenges herself before, she works out resolutions together with her mentee using her knowledge and leadership skills developed over the past 25 years in the tech industry as a “toolkit” to find solutions that fit her mentee’s personal brand.
Being a mentor is also a reminder for her of the past challenges she faced and learned from. “It reminds me of the situations I overcame by nature, where I needed to adapt my behavior, and how I have developed myself in the last 25 years”.
#5 your communication with the people surrounding you is key
Ingrid believes that the path leading up to a promotion or recognition at work is connected to the people around you. How to better position yourself for this recognition highly depends on “your carrier level, who your audience is and the people surrounding you, the playground”, says Ingrid. Thus, collaborating with those around you who share the same core values as you do, and helping each other up the ladder is the key to success.
In order to negotiate your needs with those around you, you need to turn the situation into a collaborative one and work together with the other person. Ingrid advises, “in tricky situations, step out with your negotiation counterpart into a neutral room where openness and being authentic is allowed in order to find out how to help each other in the best way. At the same time, this creates a trusted environment, as well as a trusted relationship.”
And last but not least, Ingrid’s advice to all future females is that “we together can be the ones who change the world with idealism, purity, curiosity, and wisdom”.
In order to meet and learn from kickass women like Ingrid, join the Female Factor inner circle at https://www.femalefactor.global/ and apply for our career mentoring program at https://www.femalefactor.global/mentoring.