What does a flight attendant managing unruly passengers at 30,000 feet have in common with leading tech teams through digital transformation?
According to Charne Kotze, Delivery Manager at Mercator Digital, quite a lot.
“If you told me 10 years ago I’d be in tech, I would laugh in your face,” Charne confesses in this eye-opening conversation about unconventional career paths. Her journey from restaurant management to aviation and finally to tech leadership challenges the notion that successful tech careers require traditional backgrounds or formal education.
The skills Charne developed handling demanding customers in hospitality, defusing tense situations mid-flight, and organising executives’ schedules now serve as her secret weapons in tech project delivery. She brings a refreshing “people before process” philosophy to digital transformation, using emotional intelligence to balance stakeholder expectations with team wellbeing.
Perhaps most surprising is her revelation about tech team composition. “Half my teams generally are girls,” she notes, contradicting the stereotype of male-dominated environments. This diversity, she explains, is essential for innovation: “If everybody was the same, it would be so boring and there would be no innovation.”
For those contemplating a career change, Charne offers liberating advice: “Why not take the chance? You don’t need to make a big impact. All you need to do is make an impact or join.” She emphasizes that your unique perspective might be exactly what the tech industry needs.
Ready to explore how your unconventional background might translate to a fulfilling tech career? Listen now and discover why the most valuable skills in tech might be ones you already possess.
