“I have really learned about leveraging the power of minds to deliver anything.”Candice Pressinger
ADP Scholarship | Director of Customer Data Security, Elavon Europe
People, culture and language have always fascinated Candice, and this helped her navigate the corporate world – building an extremely successful career at British Telecom (BT). Amid her success, Candice took time off to care for her terminally ill mother. Once she returned to work in a fast-moving technology company, she found her confidence was dented by the time away. To get back up to speed, she joined the Accelerated Development Programme at London Business School.
Coming from a family with limited resources, I’ve always seen education as a privilege and aspiration. My dad left school when he was 14 to care for his siblings and my mum didn’t go to college or university. My parents always pushed to get me an education.
I studied lots of languages at A-Level because I wanted to understand different people – their culture, the life experiences and what makes them who they are. I love academia and the power of other people’s minds. When I did my degree, I just loved the fusion of different perspectives and being surrounded by intelligent people.
I became well known in the technology industry when I was Head of Group Payment Security and Compliance at British Telecom (BT). I’d worked very hard to get there and had a successful career. But there are some things in life that you have no control over, and it was at this time my mum became terminally ill.
As you can imagine, it had a massive impact on me, and I decided to take a career break. Dropping out of such a fast-moving industry meant I lost a lot of my self-belief and confidence.
After some time off and returning to a new role, it wasn’t until my CEO asked me ‘What’s next for you?’ did I realise I had stopped thinking about my ambitions. Suddenly my entire perspective changed. Our European President was an ADP alumna herself and had encouraged me to go to London Business School.
"I love academia and the power of other people’s minds."
"I am a firm believer that you never stop growing and never stop learning."
Read moreI didn’t know what to expect from the ADP. I had two objectives when starting the programme; find out what’s next for me and to steer my own destiny. I am a firm believer that you never stop growing and never stop learning. Throughout my career and experiences, I had never stopped my desire to know more and to educate myself along the way - personal growth and education is a gift. I learned at LBS that you are your own barrier with self-doubt; you can do it.
On the programme, I got to know my peers in depth; their worldviews, how they work, navigating different industry politics, and their cultural contexts. It was really inspiring that we were all learning the same things, and yet we all had different questions.
Doing the Accelerated Development Programme (ADP) at LBS was a way of regaining my confidence, I had a real lightbulb moment of how I look at myself. Previously, I was a project manager who as the workstream manager had to have tight ownership and be very prescriptive with people. I felt like I needed to have all the answers. Sometimes that made me hold back and not take on certain projects if I wasn’t an expert.
Now, I know my job is to bring together diverse minds- I bring the right people together, encourage healthy debate, make sure everyone’s voice is heard and make sure ideas and conversations are always evolving to do get the job done. I am confident in my skills and knowledge that I can say ‘I don’t know’ and in turn harness the power of the group. This gives everyone a chance to contribute and use their talents. I now have the confidence to take the reins of any sized project, I can now ask myself ‘Why not me?’. This programme has helped to change my perspective of myself and has left an imprint on me.
"Doing the Accelerated Development Programme (ADP) at LBS was a way of regaining my confidence, I had a real lightbulb moment of how I look at myself."
"As I reflect on my time at LBS and things that I have learned, they are all hugely empowering and profoundly affect my view on myself and how I do business."Read more
The most important thing for any leader is understanding who you're working with and treating them as people, not just work utensils. I put people first as a leader. I care about each member of the team. I give them thought, consideration and appreciation for their contribution. My ethos is derived from there is no ‘I’ in Team.
It all starts with self-awareness and understanding different people’s approaches and attitudes. By giving space for everyone to contribute, the outcome can be twice as good as you could ever dream. It’s core to the success of my practice and it sets me apart from other tech product managers. I’d say it’s my secret sauce.
For example, I can be super positive and extroverted, and I tend to just share my thoughts in the room. But more introverted people need time to reflect and think. I’ve found that those quieter, thoughtful people often have the answers and ideas that I don’t want to miss.
The more time we spend working virtually, the more important developing these people skills becomes. Understanding people is so important in business and I want to be known as someone who puts people first and works with integrity and love.
As I reflect on my time at LBS and things that I have learned, they are all hugely empowering and profoundly affect my view on myself and how I do business. Whether it’s simply changing out the word ‘challenge’ to ‘adventure’ or developing my network of incredible people from my cohort to becoming more self-aware and taking on a bigger role; I will move forward with confidence.