The tech industry’s lack of gender, racial and ethnic diversity impacts company culture and profitability. In 2017, McKinsey found that companies in the top 25th percentile for gender diversity on their executive teams were 21% more likely to experience above-average profits.
Yet just 26% of women who graduate from science, technology, engineering or math fields end up working in tech after graduation compared to 40% of men, according to WIRED reporting. The women that do enter tech careers leave sooner than their male counterparts. Indeed found that only 53% of women in tech think they have the same access to senior leadership roles as men and 46% think they are paid less than men.
I spoke with Lori Wright, the general manager of Microsoft Teams and Skype, to learn about her career path and advice for closing the tech gender gap.
How did you end up at Microsoft? What was your career path?
I joined Microsoft after two decades in the tech industry. While I have been in tech most of my career, I have had many varied roles spanning across nearly every discipline from marketing to sales to operations to product management. I joined Microsoft after being the chief marketing officer of a high-growth startup.
What are your responsibilities as a general manager at Microsoft?
I am responsible for the business side of the Office 365 collaboration applications. This includes products that are known to many people like Outlook and SharePoint and newer technologies like Microsoft Teams and Stream. As part of my role, I lead the product marketing teams that oversee these collaboration applications.
How do you think we can encourage more women to work in tech and advance to senior positions?
I believe women will only work and stay in tech if they feel welcomed and have a voice. Women need to see tech as a place where they can belong. And tech needs to work hard to help women belong because, otherwise, companies will offer products that only represent half of the population.
For women to advance to senior positions, I encourage finding a fierce advocate inside the organization and a strong supporter outside of the organization. These can be demanding jobs that require the proverbial “village” to survive and thrive in. Having people who can advocate for you internally and keep pushing you forward on the bad days is really, really important.
What are the most important characteristics someone needs to have to be successful in your role?
Customer empathy and teamwork are the first two words that come to mind. Customer empathy because you must be able to deeply understand the needs and wants of your customers in order to deliver the right products and make sure they get the most out of them.
Teamwork because Microsoft is a huge organization. To be successful in my role, I must work across thousands of people to deliver on my core responsibilities. But in doing so, I get the benefits of thousands of people who are all rowing in the same direction.
What’s the biggest lesson you learned at work and how did you learn it?
Resilience. In the early part of my career, I could get easily knocked off course if someone didn’t agree with an idea I had or things didn’t come together just right. I’ve learned that business is messy and it’s important to get comfortable with the messiness of it. Not everything happens in a straight line, and people don’t always agree. What matters is how you pick yourself back up again after the setbacks and keep marching forward. I’ve found sleep and perspective greatly help with resilience.
What is one thing that you wish you had known when you were starting out your career?
I wish I had known my full value and had more confidence in myself. I’ve been fortunate to have people who recognized my value at times when I didn’t and kept pushing me forward way outside of my comfort zone. That’s why I strongly encourage everyone to find their work “cheerleader” who will fiercely support them and help them navigate the inevitable moments when the crisis of confidence hits.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Be yourself—this means knowing what matters to you and prioritizing accordingly. This always wins in the end.
What is your career advice for other young professional women?
Dream big. Spend your time wisely. Get to know as many people as you can: A strong network can open doors you don’t even know exist. Build a life you love and are proud of, and don’t forget to help people along the way.
Photographer Brian Smale.
