PORTFOLIO OF EXECUTIVE INTERVIEWS
THE 5 ASIAN TIGRESSES
Volume 1
By Isabelle Paradis
President, HOT TELECOM
September 2016
Interviews - Magazine format Interviews - PDF format
If it is true that most great changes are preceded by chaos, we are in for a really exciting ride. Never before in the history of telecom, and more particularly of international wholesale, have we faced so many unknowns, disruptors and new technologies, nor have we been in such a state of flux.
Nevertheless, in the midst of chaos lies great opportunities for those who are courageous enough to write their own rules, and to take the necessary steps to transform themselves to lead the new wholesale world. This will be a place where agility, creativity, differentiation, taking risks and pushing the boundaries will be the norm and keys to success.
Concretely, this will require wholesalers to initiate a 360° transformation of their business. More importantly, they will need to not only start thinking outside of the box, but to actually get rid of the box altogether.
This will happen with an evolution of the technologies used, services and business models offered above and beyond connectivity (to move towards cloud, platform as a service, analytics and interworking), and, critically, with a transformation of their culture and organization.
Without this final evolution, wholesalers will never really succeed in re-inventing themselves to become enablers of change and to offer what end-users really want: the flexibility to control their communication experience from start to finish.
In my opinion, to facilitate this culture shift, telecom operators and wholesalers will increasingly need to embrace and encourage diversity of thought within their organization. Not only by promoting diversity of culture, knowledge, expertise and age, but more importantly of gender.
Which brings me back to the title of this article: ‘More women at the top - So what....’
Having interviewed a great number of inspiring lady commanders at the top of their game, successfully leading innovation, disruption and the industry’s transformation, I am convinced that we would be sadly misguided if we would try to go through this journey without them.
Each has something fresh and new to bring to the table and is not afraid to tackle this challenge with groundbreaking approaches and a certain subtleness and flair that men sometimes struggle to display. At the end of the day, our industry’s success will come from having a mix of strong and inspirational leaders with the guts to stop fighting for the old and to start building the new, and women are an integral part of this equation.
As you will see, the women that have been chosen to be part of this second HOT TELECOM Lady Commanders interview portfolio, are telecom tigresses with unparalleled dynamism, intelligence and vision - all traits that are pre-requisites for our leaders of tomorrow.
Keep on reading and I am sure that like me, you will be convinced that a future wholesale world without women at the top would not be as exciting, inspiring or would ever come close to achieving its full potential.
Isabelle Paradis
President
HOT TELECOM
About the Author:
Isabelle Paradis, President of HOT TELECOM is an international telecoms expert, with over 20 years working experience in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.
HOT TELECOM has been serving global operators, governments, equipment vendors and telecom investors for over 10 years, providing leading edge market research and consulting services to industry leaders around the globe.
For more information on our HOT INTERVIEWS program, please contact Isabelle Paradis at: paradis@hottelecom.com or at +1 514 270 1636