Anna Leibel Director of The Secure Board
lots of loud voices. Questions were often asked, and
I
opinions shared. I wouldn’t speak up for fear of being laughed at. But after a few months of staying silent I think IT chose me for a career rather than me choosing IT. I taught myself how to code when I was only eight years ago, and started my own IT consulting business when I was still in high school, in Year 12.
I have now relished working in IT for nearly 30 years across a variety of technology domains and in management consulting roles where I have worked alongside the security department. After school I did not take the usual career path to university, but I’ve focussed on continuous learning throughout my career, including taking two courses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA, and becoming a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. My focus on continuous learning means I always try to develop the skills required for the next one to two steps in my career. If I am not familiar with something I set about learning more about it. I can then talk about it authentically, which builds my confidence.
similar to my own. That increased my confidence to share my ideas and opinions, which had a big impact on my corporate career. I have worked in many IT departments, established new enterprise global sales streams, worked in management consulting, and most recently as a CIO and board member. I’ve always said yes to every opportunity, taking myself out of my comfort zone, which has driven my continuous learning. But there’s good and bad in always saying yes. On the good side, it has been instrumental in my career success. On the downside, it has sometimes landed me in situations where I lacked the skills and experience to perform effectively. One example was when I offered to speak at a conference in 2012 to a room of 800 people. I was so nervous I learnt my presentation by heart. After my presentation I asked a sponsor/advocate for feedback. He said I had done well, but much better in the Q&A because I was more comfortable and
Continuous learning does not necessarily mean
confident. His feedback spurred me to develop my
formal learning. I am a huge fan of learning by
public speaking skills. That’s something I continue to
observing others, and by reading and listening to
do today, and will always do, because I think there is
podcasts. It’s important to be open, to enrich your
always more to learn.
understanding and perspective.
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realised other people were sharing perspectives very
Another example was accepting a six-month
My early years in IT were with Telstra, where there
secondment into an enterprise sales role. I didn’t
was always a large number of people in the room, and
know anyone in the team and was not familiar with
WOMEN IN SECURITY MAGAZINE
