Collaborating with people who have a growth mindset and who solve critical problems inspires Minoo Gupta. She loves coaching and mentoring colleagues and seeing them grow their skills and reach their potential. As Senior Director, Engineering, she works across four geographies, leading and managing the Shared Services Engineering teams, which help to deliver a frictionless engineering experience for Citrix product development and success. This blog post is the fifth in our Women @ Work series spotlighting women at Citrix. You can meet Xue Wang here, Sam Foster here, Zanisha Jones here, and Amanda Cruz here.

How did you get into technology?
I am an electrical engineer by education and a self-taught computer engineer. I’ve been working in the technology industry since 1986, when I started my career as a programmer. A few years later, I switched to managing and leading engineering teams and working at various companies in Silicon Valley.

What advice would you give to women who are building careers in technology?
Look for opportunities to say “yes,” inside and outside the immediate teams you are working with. Making new connections and leaning on them to grow every facet of yourself is important for long-term growth.

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your career, and how you have managed them?
The biggest challenge for me was to care of my preemie daughter. I was lucky to have had supportive family, managers, and peers to help manage this challenging time. Working part time and keeping my technical career going was the best choice I made to bridge this life change. This enabled me to dedicate the extra time to my daughter at a pivotal moment for our family and her life.

What’s a skill or trait that has helped you excel?
Staying curious and maintaining a growth mindset throughout my career and in life has helped me to propel forward. Always looking at ideas and possibilities, with an eye toward learning, creates an approachable and open environment where everyone feels motivated to bring innovative and creative ideas forward.

What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received and how have you put it into practice?
Early on in my management career, I was fortunate to have good mentors and role models who instilled the value of feedback and an open communication style. Working with determination and a level of authenticity while receiving and giving feedback builds trust and partnership with co-workers and mentors.

How can women help to shape a more empowering culture?
Leading, mentoring, and encouraging younger women to pursue STEM careers. Also, all leaders, especially women, should be role models and create an equal opportunity environment for everyone on the team to speak up and showcase their good work.

What advice would you give to a first-time leader or someone who strives to be a leader in their organization?
First-time and up-and-coming leaders benefit from building trust with their peers and co-workers. Create an inclusive culture, where everyone is motivated to discuss creative innovative ideas and difficult problems, to help drive team efficacy.