How does she do it? “There exists many profiles of people, specifically wonderful, hardworking, professional, family women in this business who inspire me and show me that it’s possible to have both,” she replies.
Dudek also cites “self-discipline, being open to all solutions, help from other people and learning how to manage the daily logistics”, as key to managing with so much on her plate. She also takes personal inspiration from a number of books, particularly Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, which she says “gives great examples of business and family life as a working woman.”
Dudek says that there’s no such thing as a typical day in her world. “We work in a market where every day is different, we’re constantly managing change,” she explains.
Outside of work and family Dudek is also active in her local community, something she says is important as it forms part of her local support network. “There’s a saying that ‘good managers can handle even more responsibilities because they know how to manage their time’, so on top of family and work, I try to be involved in the community, schools, and charities near where I live.”
As for her experience as a woman in telecoms, Dudek is pragmatic: “Telecoms is very technical so there are some valid reasons why men are able to do some things better in this area than women. I think that’s just about the gender differences and predispositions and I’m not really questioning this.”
What’s crucial to her is diversity and varied thinking at senior levels. “What’s more appealing to me is the fact that to have a successful business there needs to be a much diversified team. So all kinds of arguments have to be considered, which includes male and female types of thinking. If you look at the statistics it proves that the companies that have more women in top management positions are more successful and more stable.”
