I went to the 11th Digital Industry Females run by Tara Dee West and Sam Noble while I was in London last month. Harriet Minter, the Head of Community Engagement at The Guardian  gave an inspirational speech about how women can get to the top.

Harriet shared 5 tips on how to get to the top:

1) Know Yourself and Be Authentic

2) Have a Personal Brand

3) Influence is Everything

4) Prioritise Your Boss’ Priorities

5) Support each other

It is very important to look after yourself as well throughout the process.  This may seem obvious but many people do not.  Women in particular are too busy to loo after each other and not themselves.

Women do not always put themselves forward and hold themselves back which can partly why there are not as many women in leadership as there are men.  Harriet said women need to have more confidence and believe in themselves more.  Lisa Myers, owner and Founder of Verve Search also gave a great presentation of how she believed in herself, did not pay attention to people doubting her and set up her very own digital agency which has grown from strength to strength.  She is a key search professional in the industry and speaks at many online marketing events, including Search London.

For more information, follow @gdnwomenleaders, or visit the new website – www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership. Harriet heads up the Guardian’s Women in Leadership Initiative which was created to highlight the lack of women in top business positions and provide a platform to address and pave the way for more women to get to the top.  They also run events  and they encourage all females to join their online community.