Channel Post speaks to Pui Chi Li, the Head of Marketing for Middle East and Africa at Xerox, about her leadership style, why she chose IT as a career option and the way forward
Tell us about your leadership style and philosophy.
Harmony is absolutely critical to creating a happy and productive team who can work together and achieve more than the sum of the parts. Creating this environment for my team is one of my top priorities when it comes to leadership.
Challenging and empowering members of my team and allowing them the space to exercise their creativity is also a part of my role. My leadership style is definitely collaborative and supportive, firmly believing that we are stronger and better together.
What made you choose IT as a career opportunity?
The IT industry has always interested me both personally and professionally. The pace of change and how it impacts our daily lives is of particular importance to me, hence, a career within the IT industry was a natural choice.
From a development and progression perspective, it also provides a varied and interesting path which represents challenge and growth. For this reason, Xerox has been a perfect match, the history and investment in innovation and embracing change within the IT context leading industry leading workflow solutions and launch of new mobile applications keeps me motivated and enthused about my role and responsibilities.
What advice would you give to women looking to break into the field of computer technology?
Define what you want and what matters most to you, go into the details and really understand the layers and different elements. This will form your core values and stakes in the ground, which will drive out everything you do to achieve these goals.
Women in the work place frequently take on an amicable persona and lose sight of their own goals in favor of other pressures and demands, having a clear goal in mind will help steer you through these pressures.
Start nurturing your network early on and develop those skills. Studies show that women are not as natural as men in the work place in building a network that will aid their careers as they progress through management. Perform your role and responsibilities always to a high quality to impact the business today, but invest time into your network for your future
What is the greatest transformation in technology you’ve witnessed in your career?
The advent and proliferation of the smart mobile device amongst the general population. The evolution of this has moved quickly from a personal device to being a business essential tool that has fundamentally changed the way we work and interact.
Industries have been created and grown on how to help the work force better use this in their day to day lives and increase productivity. Legacy rich companies such as Xerox are investing greatly to meet this new state working by their customers.
What are your thoughts on the next transformation in the tech industry?
The next phase of transformation is already underway in consolidation of these mobile devices to create a single ecosystem. We have started seeing elements of this in the personal space however the challenge is to achieve this within the B2B environment to enable a completely connected environment that give 100% transparency of operation to the customer of all aspects of the tech investments.
What’s next for you in terms of your career in the tech industry?
Having just stepped into this role 6 months ago, my current focus is to grow and meet the challenges of being Head of Marketing for MEA Xerox. Managing our channel partner engagement and supporting an excellent customer experience is the top priority. Looking forward I would like to further my career into technology service, offering bespoke solutions to meet customer needs.
