» BREAKING THE CLASS CEILING

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 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

well respected. Latest researches showed that women in leadership positions were perceived as being every bit as effective as men. Women were rated as excelling in taking initiatives, acting with resilience, practicing self-development, driving for results, and displaying high integrity and honesty, based on survey results published in The Harvard Business Review (June 2019). I really don’t want to be perceived as a feminist but I strongly believe that women have capacities that are underused or not explored due to lack of chances in the workplace

Has hybrid work mode been rewarding or taxing? Describe your experience from last year onwards in adopting to the new normal at work? Especially as face-to-face meetings have been difficult to do, how does that impact your work?

The new work mode has been for sure rewarding but also taxing at the same time. Rewarding because it assured the continuity of the business without any interruption Taxing, because working from home imposes no limit on working hours; so your working hours are trampling on your personal life, as you have no constraint on time you only continue working longer hours. I have got used like everybody else to work remotely from home and as explained this was a very enriching experience. From a productivity point of view, this was very efficient as we were using the business continuity tools of our company which allows to have continuous link with my teams, colleagues, Partners and Partners. However, at the same time, I am convinced that business is around people as people make the difference; especially in Middle East, human face to face contact is key to build up confidence and relation to be able to do business. I get the best of it by putting in place a hybrid model that is half at office and half remote, which brought a real balance to maintain contact with colleagues, partners and customers and at the same time being productive while working remotely.

Describe some of the achievements or milestones you achieved in sales in this role as well as over the career briefly

I have never had limits to my dreams, the sky is my limit. So my target was to climb the ladder and reach senior positions, which was a challenge for me as a woman in the tech industry I have been through a continuous fight to overcome lots of challenges, obstacles, roadblocks as well as stereotypes. I had to persevere and to work three times more than my peers as well as acquiring all the necessary skills via trainings, diplomas etc. to prove my legitimacy to obtain a promotion. My career is my true achievement, starting as sales specialist and ending up as Regional Vice President. My career continues and I am aiming for more senior positions and working towards it. I am currently preparing a PhD in business to reinforce my learnings and to get ready for my next step. I am also mentoring some entrepreneurs and start-ups to grow their businesses as well as to achieve their dreams.

On the road ahead in your professional journey, what are the ambitions that motivate you?

Jack Ma said "the most important thing is to keep doing what you are doing right now with passion, to keep it up." And I am Sandrine Moustafa El khodry

VP, MEA, Alcatel Lucent Enterprise

" 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."

passionate about business and leading people, this is what I do the best. Growing business and creating success stories are my passion. Leading, guiding and mentoring people are what I love doing the most. So, I will continue leading people and growing business wherever I go. My main personal target is to become a reference in my domain and to be able to guide and support people to grow specially women and most of all break their ‘GLASS CEILING’ and show to the world that there is nothing impossible.