» SPOTLIGHT
Women's Day Supplement
BREAKING
THE CLASS CEILING
Sandrine Moustafa El khodry, Vice President Middle East and Africa, Alcatel Lucent Enterprise elaborates how the determination to overcome all the odds has been key to her success so far
What made you choose technology as your professional path? How has this journey been so far in terms of achieving professional success and personal happiness? Freshly graduated, I discovered this path by pure coincidence during a discussion with a friend. So, I gave it a try and I am in since over 26 years and enjoying. It has been very challenging and stimulating and I have loved every moment of it. Every day is a new challenge to overcome; you go through deception and success as it is the case in the world of business. I acquired a lot of experience from being in Sales. Keeping an open mind, being flexible, ready to accept other points of view, adapting – all of these learnings especially reinforced me. I became stronger and more determined to achieve and to overcome all obstacles. this is
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how you should be to be a successful Sales leader: agile, people centric, flexible, open minded and show perseverance and never accept a NO as an answer. The Sky is my limit I would say. Does gender matter in channel sales in terms of expectations and recognitions? What are some of the common attributes as key differences between women and men in such roles? The tech field where I work is known to be a man’s field. Everybody knows how difficult it is for a woman and specially in a senior position. You need to overcome 3x times more obstacles and barriers than a man in the same position. Every day, it‚ is a battle to acquire the legitimacy in this man’s world but once you do it ‚ you can truly feel proud because you are really admired and
