The importance of having mentors and inspirational leaders in the workplace can’t be overstated. They help us build confidence, navigate challenges, and share experiences that guide us through the unwritten rules of the workplace, from negotiation and visibility to networking and self-advocacy – they can offer insights that can shape entire careers.
Inspiring women from DWP Digital’s data and analytics leadership recently came together for a powerful ‘Lunch and Learn’ session with Women in in Data®. Jacqui Leggetter, Head of Data Platforms, Olga Boynton, Head of Profession for Data Science and Gemma Elsworth, Head of Data Capability discussed their paths to leadership, the challenges they’ve overcome, strategies that have helped them succeed in their career – advice that will certainly inspire others.
DWP Digital provides digital services to deliver the state pension, working age, disability and ill health benefits, and child maintenance. As partners of Women in Data® they enable their workforce, including those working in their Data teams to break barriers, build connections and align support networks to help colleagues reach their full potential.
A key theme that emerged during the ‘Lunch and Learn’ was the importance of intentional career development. Jacqui shared practical advice on being purposeful with career planning, “Visualise yourself in that senior role that you want to get to, and other people will start to visualise you doing that as well.”
She recommends looking at job adverts for roles one or two levels above your current position, identifying skill gaps, and creating a long-term development plan.
The leaders emphasised the value of sideways career moves in building the breadth of experience needed for senior leadership. Jacqui explained how her transition from project delivery to a more people focused role managing 120 people gave her essential leadership skills.
“As you get in these leadership roles, there’s an element of balancing the technical capabilities with people capabilities. Setting the vision, the strategy, bringing people on a journey is more important sometimes than the tech.”
Gemma is passionate that you don’t have to be from a maths background for acareer in data. “There are numerous entry points into data careers, from technical roles to data governance, management, and delivery positions. There are entry level roles and apprenticeship opportunities.
“If you’re not ready or don’t feel confident enough for a promotion, think about a sideways move that could mean a huge number of transferable skills.”
The conversation tackled the challenge many women face in balancing career ambitions with family responsibilities. Olga offered an honest perspective: “I don’t think every day I’m winning at everything… There is a finite amount of time, headspace, willingness and energy that you can give to a variety of things. My measure of winning is to be 100% present wherever I am, whether that’s at home or at work.”
She shares that this requires clear communication about availability and establishing boundaries at work. Supported by DWP Digital’s flexible and hybrid working policies, the key is honesty and mutual support within her team.
“We are really transparent in saying I’m not available as I have the school run, and asking the team back “when are your commitments? We’re going to make it work around you’”.
The leaders stressed the importance of creating a flexible, inclusive culture. As Jacqui noted “It’s incredibly important to acknowledge our colleagues as well-formed humans outside of work”.
Her approach to leadership recognises that understanding what drives people, their values, and their life experiences is crucial.
After building her data expertise across multiple sectors, Gemma made the transition to government. “I really love working in government. It’s an incredible place to be and I really like working somewhere that makes a difference to people’s lives every day.”
Gemma shared how she created an internal Women in Data network within DWPDigital, as a community for women to build networks and connections. “If you see that there’s something missing in your company then create it. No matter the level of authority that you have, if you know that it’s a good thing to do, start doing it.”
Acknowledging experiencing imposter syndrome, Gemma views it as “wanting to do a good job and having really high expectations.” She reminds herself that “everybody feels like they’re making it up as they go along at some point” and that “senior people are people too.”
Thankful for the supportive environment she’s experienced, “it’s reassuring that actually we don’t expect you to be sprinting out of the gates on day one, we know that there’s a learning curve.”
Jacqui recognises imposter syndrome as a natural chemical reaction to stepping outside your comfort zone, and how you should “turn it into something positive. Slow down thinking to ‘I’m prepared for this session, and I’ve earned my place to be in this discussion.’”
She offers advice for managing it “get more familiar with taking yourself out of your comfort zone and doing things perhaps that you wouldn’t normally do.”
Learning to set boundaries emerged as a crucial skill for career progression. Gemma shared how she learned this from taking on too much. The key is knowing what you want to work on and having a clear career plan so you can identify which opportunities align with your goals.
Her approach normalises the concept of saying no: “It’s a perfectly reasonable thing to do. Keep focused and don’t give your energy to things that aren’t going to help you to move forward in the way that you want to.”
Emphasising the power of mentorship and seeing other women in senior roles, Olga’s advice is to be direct “If you see good leadership you’d like to emulate then ask.“
Jacqui has benefited enormously from role models and mentors and now seeks to provide the same support to others. “Seeing other women that we aspire to helps us visualise ourselves and it makes us more driven and focused on achieving.”
Her advice on mentorship is practical and encouraging, that role models don’t need to be more senior than you and diversity of thought can strengthen your development.
Olga: “Trust yourself, that your decisions and your intuition is right. Ask for things that you need.”
Jacqui: “First and foremost be a good human being. And secondly, be purposeful.”
Gemma: “Be yourself and be confident in you and your abilities.”
These three leaders represent the diverse paths available in data and demonstrate that success comes from combining technical skills with strong leadership capabilities, having a supportive system around you and the courage to push yourself.
Whether you’re just starting out, considering a career change, or looking to progress to senior leadership, there are opportunities in the data field for those willing to be purposeful, ask for what they need, and support others along the way.
You can Catch up on the ‘Lunch and Learn’ recording here.
