Worldwide Ladies in Engineering Day supplies us with the chance to acknowledge the work and achievements of girls engineers all internationally. At this time I rejoice all of our Cisco Ladies in Engineering by spotlighting two extraordinary ladies, Priya Aiyer and Christelle Mombo-Zigah. Each share their profession journeys, together with their expertise taking part in Cisco’s Exemplar Numerous Feminine Mentee program which has been sponsored by Cisco SVP and Basic Supervisor Alistair Wildman and can proceed below Cisco SVP Buyer Expertise (CX) Americas Harry Caldwell.
Priya Aiyer: A ardour for course of enchancment
Priya Aiyer is a System Engineering Chief who has been a know-how chief for greater than 15 years at Cisco. She started her profession in India as a folks chief and transitioned to customer-facing buyer expertise roles in the US. With a concentrate on know-how transformation and companies, she supported clients throughout service suppliers, enterprises, and the general public sector. Later, she moved to Gross sales management. Cisco is an organization that gives many careers, and Priya has skilled these in her journey.
“I knew I used to be interested by a customer-facing function, however on the enterprise unit, I used to be restricted in what I might do,” says Priya.
Priya all the time knew that she wished to land a customer-facing function. Her ardour for course of enchancment, for addressing gaps and for offering end-to-end options was acknowledged with a supply excellence award. She is an energetic member of Ladies of Cisco and presently, she leads the Chicago chapter of the Ladies in Science and Engineering. The inclusive neighborhood is targeted on making a optimistic impression within the lives of girls and women in STEM fields inside and outdoors of Cisco. She is keen about supporting ladies early of their careers and connecting them to alternatives.
Participation in Cisco’s SVP and Basic Supervisor Alistair Wildman’s mentee program drastically expanded Priya’s community. As part of the mentee program, Priya and different mentees had been launched to every of the senior management workforce members and he or she’s grateful to have had the chance to listen to from senior executives about their management journeys.
“Once I take into consideration mentoring and sponsoring, it’s a journey,” says Priya.
“Every of the mentors gave me a unique perspective and shared useful nuggets that helped me broaden my very own perspective and helped me in my management journey,” she added.
Christelle Mombo-Zigah: A life-long learner
Christelle is a Buyer Success Americas Regional Chief who has labored at Cisco for 9 of her 15 years as knowledgeable. Christelle started her profession in France the place she was born and raised and labored in a number of industries, together with luxurious items, client items, and banking. She began her journey in know-how at Cisco Meraki for 4 years earlier than transferring to Gartner. She then returned to Cisco to affix M&A integration. She later discovered her present dwelling in Buyer Expertise (CX). Her first function in CX was as a Success Program Supervisor in GES West earlier than being promoted to the function of Buyer Success Americas Regional Chief.
With greater than 15 years of expertise in gross sales, enterprise improvement, M&A integration, and buyer expertise in numerous industries, Christelle has taken benefit of quite a few skilled improvement alternatives at Cisco and past.
Having all the time seen her profession as that of a normal supervisor, Christelle knew that what she wanted was to be taught from totally different enterprise capabilities, enhance her management expertise, her visibility, and publicity. She participated in Cisco’s Subsequent Technology Chief program designed to assist underrepresented minorities develop management expertise. She additionally participated within the firm’s Leap Ladies’s Management Program, the Government Shadow Program yearly and within the Multiplier Impact, which leverages sponsorship to foster range and inclusion and speed up the pipeline of various expertise throughout the tech business.
She was additionally an energetic member of the Related Black Skilled (CBP) worker useful resource group (ERO), the place she served as a co-lead of the San Jose chapter. She then joined the Ladies of Cisco San Jose Chapter management workforce together with the Accountable AI committee to align her work, values, and objective. By the CBP, she has mentored 10 to 12 early-in-career professionals yearly to provide again, elevate as she climbs, and develop her folks’s management expertise. Serving as a mentor additionally offers her a chance to know what her personal mentors count on from her.
A lifelong learner, Christelle accomplished Stanford’s LEAD program, an government schooling program by way of the Stanford Graduate College of Enterprise (Stanford GSB) the place she now serves as a course facilitator. This system proved to be a transformative expertise for her. She subsequently launched improvements at Cisco to unravel issues impacting buyer expertise by way of provide chain and cross-functional alignment and was quickly promoted.
Wish to supercharge your profession? Use Priya and Christelle’s 5 key takeaways
1. Have a transparent imaginative and prescient.
“Be intentional. Know your passions. Make your plan. Have a imaginative and prescient on your future and imagine in it and the universe will conspire to make it occur,” advises Priya. “This program has helped me construct my mentorship tree. I’ve mentors and sponsors throughout totally different verticals in addition to in business consequently.”
2. Be daring and brave.
When Cisco’s SVP of International Buyer Expertise Alistair Wildman joined the Americas from the EMEA area in 2018, Christelle reached out as a fellow European dwelling in the US, to welcome him to Cisco’s Americas workforce and to let him know that she loved his All-Fingers assembly. She additionally made positive to share her work in Buyer Success International Enterprise Gross sales West by cross-functionally aligning buyer success, gross sales, and renewals. She additionally shared her two improvements. Later, she was nominated to take part in Alistair’s Exemplar Numerous Feminine Mentee program in addition to Gross sales Champions 2022.
3. With mentors or sponsors, attempt to make the dialog as useful for them as it’s for you.
“In case you have a mentor, all the time summarize what you be taught and ship a thanks be aware,” says Priya.
“At all times observe up and share your learnings. Share your perspective and your takeaways from these conversations. Probably the most vital is to be intentional along with your relationship along with your mentors and sponsors. It will go a great distance.”
4. Give attention to sponsors, not simply mentors.
“Most of my sponsors have come by way of the Government Shadow program by which I shadowed and added worth,” mentioned Christelle. “One in all our executives was new. I used to be working in M&A so I might share insights on Cisco tradition, and our acquisitions integrations working mannequin [with him].”
Completely different from mentors, sponsors, “will use [their] personal capital to advocate in your behalf so it is advisable to be in a trusting relationship in order that they may symbolize you properly and advocate for you once you’re not [in the room],” she continued.
“In spite of everything, you may enhance your skillsets by way of on-line studying through Coursera [and] LinkedIn Studying however tapping into the connection you develop with a sponsor two ranges above your personal is a useful asset with an amazing impression in your profession.
5. Make your work seen and get as concerned as potential with a wide range of applications.
“[There are] many components you may’t management however having a sponsor in a task advocating for you, saying you need to be thought-about is most vital,” says Christelle.
“One vital program I participated in was the Government Shadow program. It helped me discover my mentors who then grew to become my sponsors. Get as concerned as potential with these applications. Benefit from these to be taught, develop your expertise, and construct relationships at Cisco.”
Should you’re trying to take the next step, discover your house at Cisco with
Sources
Take time to be taught extra about Cisco’s applications and communities:
Subsequent Technology Chief Program
Leap Ladies’s Management Program,
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