By Alice Webb, Commercial Director at 4most

I work in credit risk, a largely male dominated industry and honestly, I love my job. Part of that is due to working with great people, finding solutions to challenges, building relationships and supporting the growth of a company that I really do care about. Working in a male-dominated industry isn’t something I see as a blocker or negative thing; it is often more of an opportunity – partially due to the supportive culture in which I’m surrounded in. As a female leader I can offer differing insights and perspectives.

Progressing to a leadership role is always challenging. I have always been driven by what I am passionate about. I wasn’t fixed on a specific career path, but I identified the skills I had and the areas I enjoyed and was drawn to. I always tried to volunteer for opportunities that would enable me to get more exposure into my areas of interest to try these out and identify how I may be able to learn, contribute and add value. For example, I realised early on that it was working with people, identifying solutions really motivated me, which over time, lead more naturally to stakeholder engagement.

Business development was also an area that I found interesting, so I went out of my way to get in front of people working in related roles, to better understand the process. This helped me to understand how I might be able to help, what I needed to do to get there and to consider more specifically, what I could bring to that kind of role. It’s a bit of a cliché when people say ‘things don’t fall into your lap’ but it is true. I never expected anything to come to me, I kept asking questions, kept looking for opportunities and started performing each of my roles, almost before I had officially moved into them. Essentially, proving I could do the job.

Changing perceptions

As a women in leadership, there are definitely still biases. Some of this is a bit ‘old school’ and usually stems from ingrained behaviours that can sometimes be exclusive or less considerate to females. Some of the challenges or barriers I’ve come up against haven’t just been because I’m a woman in a male dominated sector, but also because I am relatively young for my position. It is often hard to distinguish the driver of some of the challenges you face. Preconceptions can still exist in the sector, such as assumptions that my male colleagues are more senior than me, or will be taking the lead in a meeting, or ideas about my abilities and skillsets as a woman, meaning I am talked down to or patronised.

Subtle comments and stereotypes are still present, and I’ve observed biases externally too. Sales and business development have also traditionally been a bit of a ‘boys club’ which I know can be quite daunting or exclusive for women to break into. In my experience, post the initial biases, I’ve been really lucky with the people I work with and generally, as soon as I’ve overcome that first hurdle, have been able to prove myself through my ability at work. I’ve also been surrounded by supportive people who are able to recognise my value and would call out negative or exclusive behaviours. But when faced with any of these challenges, I look at these as an opportunity to demonstrate my capabilities, add a different skillset or viewpoint, prove I’m deserving of where I am, and hopefully change perceptions.

There are lots of subtle changes that will make a difference: not focusing on treating everybody the same, but on treating everybody fairly. Having support systems in place; mentors, coaching, training courses to support with confidence in scenarios. Giving people opportunities and a voice. Valuing and listening to different perspectives, recognising the value in diverse skillsets. Setting good examples, not just women but men too. Normalising situations, providing platforms which are open and transparent, witnessing male colleagues calling out negative behaviours or comments and being considerate, thereby setting an example. Male leaders can also create balance by being transparent, for example, if they leave early to pick their children up from school (making it feel more comfortable for women to be transparent if they’re in that same scenario). It’s all about creating an inclusive culture where people are empowered by the decisions they make.

Celebrating difference

It is so important that we encourage more women into leadership because every business benefits from having a balanced leadership team. It enables you to utilise diverse skillsets within the organisation and to identify and develop individual strengths, bringing out the best in every person. Men and women can bring different skills too, as well as new perspectives, which can complement each other and empower teams through celebrating these differences.

Everyone has a different personality and certain traits are better suited to dealing with various situations or presenting different approaches to challenges. If we are passionate as a society about wanting to create driven and ambitious women who are our next generation of leaders, having female role models who demonstrate balance and leadership, is inspiring and motivational for young people today. We often have to see it to believe it. And we have to normalise it.

Providing strong female role models (and role models who demonstrate balance), mentors and guidance at a younger age, could create a larger impact across our younger generations but we also have to understand that that is a delayed impact, and it doesn’t solve the current senior imbalance but does support our future female leaders. I have a lot of male role models in my life too. Men who show they can ‘have it all’ and balance their home life with a successful career.

Lessons learned

The biggest lesson I have learned over the last few years is that saying no or asking for help isn’t a weakness. No one can do everything and sometimes we can be so keen to show our worth that we end up setting ourselves up for failure by taking on too much or not asking for help, or indeed taking on tasks that are less suited to us. I also think understanding my value and my own strengths and weaknesses and being more self-aware really helps. I find this empowers me to deal with situations more decisively and productively.

My advice to other women looking to progress into a leadership role would be to joining a company with the right culture in place, makes a massive difference. Try not to view male-dominated environments as a barrier, instead try to see it as an opportunity. Most importantly, it helps to remember that an all-male leadership team is likely to be missing key insights and perspectives. Realising the true value, you are able to bring to a business as an individual, as well as a female leader is something worth nurturing.

About Author:

Alice Webb is a Commercial Director at 4most (www.4-most.co.uk) the UK’s largest independent credit risk and actuarial consultancy. She’s worked across a number of roles at 4most over her 6 years at the business, starting on the technical side before moving into business development and client relationships. Alice’s role focuses on commercial and sales strategy, client relationship management and business development, whilst still supporting as a technical SME on projects.