Episode 16: Being Heard and Respected for Our Technical Abilities - Interview with Bhavna Bhatnagar
On today’s episode of the Retaining WIT podcast, we are joined by Bhavna Bhatnagar, Engineering Leader at Rivian, in the Identity Access Management space. Today's main topic of conversation is how to be heard and respected as a technical leader. So often, women are assumed to be non-technical. Jossie’s example drives this home, “When I managed at Apple, people constantly assumed I was the project manager, and I even got an apology letter from someone who made that assumption. I think this is a crucial topic to ensure we retain women in tech.” In our conversation with Bhavna, we dive into the challenges women face with being technical. We discuss unequal role opportunities, gender bias, unbalanced work requirements for growth, and issues that can arise in pushing policies and initiatives. She shared how small, consistent wins can reinforce an identity of competence and enable us to gain allies and build trust. She also shares tools for handling situations that bring you unexpectedly out of your comfort zone. Bhavna has over 25 years of professional experience, from a software engineer to growing through the ranks to a leadership role in the Identity Access Management and Security space. She has global experience, having grown up and studied in India, and then she made her way to UK, Singapore, Germany, US, India, and then US again for her jobs and family. She is an avid blogger, holds 4 US patents in the identity space, and is one of the authors of the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) specification. She led and started the Women in Tech forums at UBS, helping younger talent find their voice. She is married to a wonderful supporting husband, lives in South Bay, California, and has 2 boys. Key Insights: Find the balance. Apply compassion and curiosity confidently in dealing with perceived bias issues Start with low complexity, avoid jargon, focus on the business, and consider the audience, especially when talking to non-technical teams and leaders. Show and delegate repeatable competence. Empowerment through accountability allows teams to have ownership, lean in, and show mastery, bringing pride and technical excellence. Resources: On the Web - Bhavna’s articles on zero trust, IAM, and Security: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/zero-trust-its-players-principles-bhavna-bhatnagar/ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/zero-trust-prevalent-security-bhavna-bhatnagar/ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/saml-oauth-openid-connect-bhavna-bhatnagar/ You can connect with Bhavna Bhatnagar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhavna-bhatnagar-784403/ You can connect with Jordanna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordannakwok/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordeewok You can connect with Jossie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jossiemann/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JossieHaines Jossie offers free strategy calls to women leaders in tech to empower them to thrive, be sure to DM her on LinkedIn for more info! This podcast comes to you in collaboration with the sheTO community (formerly Divhersity). Did you know that less than 9% of engineering executive roles are held by women? sheTO is on a mission to change that. sheTO is a private network for women and non-binary engineering leaders with a goal of accelerating careers of our members and building their high powered network. Learn more at sheTO.org!
