Women in Leadership Interview Series: Donna Geoghegan from Network Rail

Tell us about your journey and what led you to this role today

I've been in IT & telecoms for 30 years now. It was never the career I intended – I was bound for veterinary school and, right at the last minute, changed my mind. I decided that whilst I was working out what to do next, I would take a temporary job with BT as an administrator in their HR department — and the rest, they say, is history. I've worked my way from ground roots in administrative roles to the portfolio delivery manager role I’m doing now. Today in Network Rail, I've gone through a series of different skills and capabilities and learnt along the way.

One of the key things I've learned is that everything I have done has enabled me to help people, and I think that's been the thing that's kept me going and striving towards the next opportunity. Within the HR role, which is where I started, I was focused on performance and long-term absence management, and it was that role that enabled me to help individuals take and prepare for their next steps. Then, as my confidence and capability grew, I moved into project and programme management, which meant that I was consistently delivering to customers. As my role has developed over the years, I have been mentoring and coaching more junior staff, working with primary and secondary school students, and also engaging with early years entrants — those taking their first steps in their careers.

Can you share a lesson or insight you've gained throughout your career?

There's definitely been a lot of lessons learned along the way. The two key lessons are to do the things that you love to do, and don’t be afraid of hard work because it does take hard work and determination to be successful. It’s important to have courage of conviction and confidence in your own capabilities.

One of the more recent life lessons I've learnt is don't ask people for permission to do the right thing. If it's something that you believe to be the right thing, you should do it because nobody is in control of your career except for yourself.

I am an introvert by my very nature. I have always been of the volition that you work hard, you'll get noticed and you'll get rewarded for it but this is not always the case. After I become a mum, my view and outlook on life changed because I have to be that advocate for somebody that relies on me and fighting their corner is what gives you more and more confidence.

It was the pinnacle point for me when, several years ago, I knew and I was ready to take the next steps in my career and I found myself asking my boss for permission and I came away from that meeting thinking why am I asking for your permission? I've got this all wrong. What I should have been asking for was your support. I think that was the turning point for me about having those open conversations, being realistic as well as understanding where you are and where you need to get to in order to achieve the outcome.

Who is your key role model and source of inspiration? 

I can honestly say that somebody like Michelle Obama would be a real inspiration for me. She’s somebody that came up through grassroots and her autobiography is incredible.

The other person that really resonated with me is the late Queen Elizabeth II - because she was never intended to become queen. She's seen the country through so many changes over the years - I just don't know how that has even been possible as well as keeping your composure throughout.

In your opinion, how can organisations drive meaningful diversity, equity and inclusivity within the workplace?

Across my entire career I have worked in a very male dominated environment, and it's been a challenge because you always feel like you need to work as hard, if not harder than your male counterparts, while juggling motherhood and a full-time job.

Conversations have positively evolved over the years about culture, race and sexual orientation. We're just a lot more open with those conversations now. The more we talk about it, the more we drive  inclusive, equal relationships with all of our peers and colleagues across the board. People want to work for businesses that are diverse and where there is an equal partnership for all colleagues and that everybody has a place to come to work and thrive. That is what businesses need to continue to do - they need drive diverse and equal based culture and stamp out poor behaviours.

We're human at the end of the day, people do like to feel like they're understood or being listened to you. Businesses driving meaningful conversation will reap the rewards.

What advice would you give to women looking to take the next step into leadership? 

Take the time to be very sure of your path. For a long time, I could see myself sitting in a multitude of different roles, and that was absolutely fine. It was only when I was being pushed in a direction that I didn’t want to go, that I was aware of where I wanted to go in my career.

Be sure about the things that you like doing, and what you don't like. Be aware of your own areas of development and find a really good mentor and coach. I say both because they both bring different qualities to the table. It’s important to have your champions in your corner - people that will advocate for you and be a good sounding board.

And then I think it comes back to that statistic that women by default will think they have to check 95% of the boxes of the application. You don’t need to check all the boxes but you do need action plan on how to achieve the boxes that you don’t tick.

How do you think the rail and telecoms industry is doing in terms of adopting female leaders and what changes would you like to see?

We know in this industry that less than 30% of all tech and telecoms-based roles are populated by women. In Network Rail collectively there is approximately 20% of women in roles across the organisation. We need to do significantly more to encourage women to take those steps.

Change comes from gender neutralising job adverts and that is important, but really it starts from a very young age and it goes right back to primary school education. The minute that girls hit those teenage years is when they often flip the switch into thinking their skills would suit the softer skills-based jobs. Young girls aren’t always encouraged to take steps into jobs in STEM. As businesses now, we need to make these jobs more meaningful to them and to demystify job roles.