Each month, the Anita Borg Institute profiles Senior Technical Women. We have selected 7 questions and asked each of these amazing women to share their answers.
- How did you decide to pursue a career in technology?
I was always good at Math. I actually thought I was going to be a math teacher when I went off to university. Back in the early 70′s women were either teachers or nurses! I took a computer course in my Sophomore year and I was hooked on the technology and the power of what we could do with computers.
- Based on your own experience, what skill(s) or characteristic(s) do you think are most important for technical women to succeed?
One important aspect for success is to be yourself. I’ve learned that you can’t and shouldn’t try to change yourself but to use your skills and experiences to add value to your work. It may be a different path for everyone so you need to find the way that is best for you.
- What was the greatest challenge that you overcame in your career?
There are a number of challenges in everyone’s career! One that comes to mind is I took a job (my first VP role) that I thought was a new organization and I could define it from the beginning. In someways it was, but I found out the hard way that someone else had committed some results before I got there AND I had no budget. I had to focus on finding a good team, defining success and then selling the idea for investment. It took awhile but in the end the team and project was stronger for it.
- How do you deal with work/life balance?
I try to keep a balance by having other interests and activities outside of work. When my children were children (I now have adults:-) ) they kept me balanced. I was also on the local school board of my town to keep me focused on education.. Once they grew up and moved out, work started taking up more and more time… so my husband and I decided to take up ballroom. We now try to take at least one lesson a week when I’m not travelling. I am also still active in my community, I am currently on the Library board of directors. You need to focus on balance in your life it just doesn’t happen otherwise.
- What advice would you give to women in high tech who want to advance on the management track specifically?
Management track is good and fun if you like to help other grow in their careers as well as enjoying the technology. I always tell women (and men) that I mentor to stay focused on value and to take a leadership role. You aren’t just given leadership, you need to take it and help drive to success. Once you show you are a leader, then you should let people know you are interested in management. Sometimes we assume our managers know what we want but most times they need to be told.
- How do you stay current in your technical field?
I continue to network with the technical teams at IBM and outside. I read a lot about what is going on with technology and business, and while meeting with clients, which I do often, we have some good 2 way dialogs on challenges and possible innovation to help.
- In your opinion, what (if any) are the remaining barriers faced by women in technology?
Yes there are still barriers faced by women. It is still hard to get our voices heard so we need to use creative ways to get our ideas heard and attributed. The field is still very male dominated so we also need to find ways to thrive in men only world and help pull our women’s network with us. I am very lucky to work for the company I do. Women’s ideas and advancement in the technical fields are encouraged. We are continually looking for ways to keep our technical pipeline robust with women and under represented minorities.
Cathy Lasser is Vice President and CTO for the Distribution Sector, IBM Sales & Distribution division. Her role is to leverage IBM’s technical community bringing value to clients in the retail, consumer products and travel and transportation industries. She brings leading edge technologies and solutions into the market quickly through linkage with the research division and the industries teams. She began her career with IBM in 1978 as a programmer. Cathy is an executive member for the IBM Women in Technology committee. Cathy holds a BS in Mathematics/Computer Science from SUNY Binghamton and an MBA in Finance from Iona College.