“She told me to go and sit in the foyer of a successful law firm to see how the senior women dressed…”
Rebecca George OBE has been involved in a variety of activities to increase the participation of Women in the IT industry for over 10 years. We caught up with her recently to discuss role models within the industry, as well as the importance that image can have on your success in business.
Rebecca joined Deloitte as a Partner in September 2006 and leads the Firm’s Public Sector Health practice in the UK. Before joining Deloitte, Rebecca spent nearly 20 years at IBM in a variety of sales, HR and business process re-engineering roles. Rebecca will be moderating a panel discussion with successful women working in IT at the 2012 everywoman in Technology Leadership Academy.
WHO ARE SOME OF THE GREAT FEMALE IT ROLE MODELS IN THE UK AT THE MOMENT?
Mandy Chessell at IBM and Nikki Walker at Cisco are just two that spring to mind, but there are so many more. Take a look at some of the previous everywoman in Technology Award winners and Leadership Academy panellists for starters!
IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO HAVE VISIBLE FEMALE ROLE MODELS, WHAT DO THEY NEED TO DO OR SAY TO ENCOURAGE THE NEXT GENERATION OF WOMEN IN IT?
First off, men need to be much more involved in the active development of women in the industry. But women need to be very active, visible, good at their jobs, and importantly, talking to other women in IT and helping them when required.
Women need to be vocal about being able to do the job in interviews, make sure to remember the good parts from appraisals while learning and developing on the bad parts, and continue to sell yourself in your workplace – negotiating promotions and improved salary packages – opportunities will rarely be offered to you without your input.
HAVE YOU FOCUSED ON WHAT IMPACT YOU HAVE ON OTHERS?
I have worked to lower my voice over the years. Also, I try to say things only once. I think it is a habit of a lot of women who think because they believe their point is a really important one, they make it more than once; I don’t think it happens consciously, but I do think it detracts from the impact your point could make.
DO YOU FEEL THAT YOUR IMAGE/APPEARANCE HAS AN IMPACT ON HOW YOU ARE VIEWED BY OTHERS?
It goes without saying that a smart, professional appearance is important. Women probably have to dress more formally than men. If you want to be taken seriously, especially in a male-dominated environment, you just can’t get away with dressing untidily. You should always dress for the role you are aspiring to. It may not be particularly fair, but it is just one of those things you have to accept and move on.
HAS IT ALWAYS BEEN EASY TO DRESS FOR YOUR ROLE, OR CAN YOU REMEMBER A TIME WHEN YOU STRUGGLED?
Dressing for my role was fine in my 20s and 30s, but when I was reaching my 40s my sister-in-law took me to one side, and suggested if I wanted to be really successful in business I should see an image consultant. She told me absolutely everything – what to wear, how to wear it, how to accessorise. She told me to go and sit in the foyer of a successful law firm to see how the senior women dressed; interestingly, all of them wore skirts. I think you do pay more attention to how you look as you get older, when you are young you can get away with a lot, but you have to move on as you get older, and the more senior you become, the more attention you need to pay to your appearance.
WHAT ONE PIECE OF CLOTHING IS A MUST IN YOUR WARDROBE?
BaByliss big hair and good lipstick, which is important not just from how others see me, but also from a confidence perspective – feeling comfortable with my appearence. I don’t want to be fussing with my appearance all day, once I’m up and ready, I need it to be right all day, other than putting some lippy on, I don’t want to have to keep re-doing everything. I dress every day as if I was meeting my most important client, because I really could be.
The image consultant that I visited told me to go to a personal dresser whenever I had an important event to go to. When I was invited to Buckingham Palace to pick up my OBE I went to a personal dresser who advised me on outfits to buy, and also suggested that I have my make up done at the same time, I hadn’t changed the make-up I used since I was about 17, and that was in 1978. It made such a difference!
WHAT ONE TIP WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE TO IMPACT ON THEIR APPEARANCE?
I have two tips:
Keep your shoulders back, and smile
Dress up a level – dress like the senior women you admire
YOU WORK IN A MALE-DOMINATED AND CREATIVE INDUSTRY; HOW DOES THAT IMPACT ON THE WAY YOU DRESS AND THE MESSAGE YOU WANT TO PORTRAY?
When I joined Deloitte there were other Partners who were younger than me. Rather than try to change myself through enhancements, I decided to make the most of what I have through make-up, dress and highlights; but it was important to still be ‘me’. It is important that women have ordinary female role models to look up to, which is why I don’t try to be appearing to be someone different to who I really am.
