Nicki Fisher Clear-Com Sales director EMEA
What do you do? I manage the Clear-Com and Trilogy sales and pre-sales team covering the UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia for our broadcast and professional AV business
Who has been a mentor in your career?
through my career, always ensuring I stay true to myself and remembering the strength of a team. Dave provided guidance and structure for me approaching an interview for my first management role. Unfortunately, despite the preparation, I did not achieve my goal, as another interviewee had team management experience. I was disappointed and felt I would never reach my dream. It was Dave that made me realise this experience would only make me stronger. I just needed to take the experience, learn from it, and try, try again. It was not long before my dream became a reality! What have you learned that you would most like to pass on? Throughout my career, I have learned the value of having a strong support network to turn to for advice. It’s important to be conscientious, but also enjoy what you do. Life is too short and it’s important to enjoy every minute. Who would you like to mentor? For the past three years, I am lucky to have been a mentor on the Rise mentorship programme, providing support and inclusion for technology roles across the broadcast community. This brings value not only to mentees, but to all the wonderful mentors who share their valuable time and support to those on their career journey. I am passionate about supporting the next generation in engineering careers. I am a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) ambassador, helping primary and secondary school children by sharing my knowledge of the number of technology careers in the broadcast industry, for those wishing to progress in STEM subjects.
I was fortunate to be introduced to the concept of mentorship very early in my career with Hewlett-Packard (HP) in the early 1990s. During this time, HP spent a good proportion of time on skills and career development, so I established mentors to assist and support my journey from individual contributor to manager. One of these was Roger Beevor. He gave me my first break as a female sales engineer in an all-male Aerospace and defence team. Another was strategic accounts director Dave Farrant, who had great knowledge of sales processes and always remained calm, even in the most difficult negotiations. What did they teach you? On interview, Roger immediately said that he would like to hire me, but there was one small challenge before he could offer me the role – he wanted me to meet the team. As I arrived in the meeting room, he advised: “Just be yourself, they are not making any more!” He was exactly right, and as I responded to an interview panel of ten men firing questions, they asked if I had any questions for them. I said: “Would you like me to join your team?” I had effectively asked for the job and their consent. Roger knew that by doing this, he would establish the support of his entire team. This has resonated well
THROUGHOUT MY CAREER, I HAVE LEARNED THE VALUE OF HAVING A STRONG SUPPORT NETWORK
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