Brought to you by the Professional Women’s Network of Barcelona.
Almost five years ago Linde Eijking moved from Dublin to Barcelona after being hired by software development firm SAP. After working in various sales roles over the last four years, she is now Partner Business Manager. In addition, she co-leads SAP Business Women Network Barcelona (BWN) and different voluntary projects at SAP. Due to a partnership agreement between the two organizations, Linde came into contact with the Professional Women Network (PWN) Barcelona. Her next step was to join PWN, too, as a mentee in September 2021. She found the PWN mentoring program to be very attractive because it allowed her to meet new people outside work.
Linde had instant chemistry with her mentor, Monica Rodriguez, who is also co-VP of the mentoring program at PWN Barcelona. “My mentor and I are discussing a wide range of topics,” said Linde. “She is helping me navigate the organization, network, and determine my next step.” They also discuss whether Linde wants to be a manager in the future as well as how to delegate without being intrusive. “I’m from the Netherlands so sometimes I can be too direct,” she added with a laugh.
Linde changed her role at SAP last year. Her mentor Monica provided a lot of support and it proved to be a great decision. “Since my mentor does not work for SAP, she showed me a whole new perspective. Yet she also understands how these large software companies operate. Her insights have always been fresh and new to me.”
Other skills they are working on include, for example, public speaking. As part of the mentoring sessions, she learned many presentation tips and tricks and they also discussed the impact of the speaker’s voice, words and hand gestures. “Advice that my mentor gave me is that you really have to look into the camera and not only the screen when you give a presentation online. It sounds easy and logical, but in your day-to-day work you forget these things,” she said. Besides the mentoring sessions, Monica is providing videos to watch and books to read.
“What I really like about my mentor is that she helps me improve my self-awareness by asking the right questions,” Linde said. “At first, these seem like simple questions, but when you think about them, you realize that they are not as straightforward as they appear. It’s great that she is teaching me without telling me what to do.”
Linde’s plans include becoming a mentor at PWN Barcelona. She already serves as an SAP mentor and hopes to be able to help others based on her own experiences at PWN, too. At work, she aims to focus on her new role for now and see what the future will bring. “I would like to become Chief of Staff at SAP. “Hopefully, my mentor can guide me with this as well,” she added.
Linde doesn’t have plans to move away from Barcelona for now. Every time she travels and comes back she is convinced that Barcelona is the best city to live in.
You can learn more about the PWN Barcelona's mentorship program and events on the website at pwnbarcelona.net and follow the organization on Facebook @pwnbarcelona, Twitter @PWNBarcelona and LinkedIn.
Brought to you by the Professional Women’s Network of Barcelona.