Alexandra LEPURE: “Managing a team is managing emotions”

Alexandra LEPURE: “Managing a team is managing emotions”

Helloo Girls!! I hope while reading this article you’re in a good mood, because I am 😊.

Let me introduce myself, I’m Alexandra Iepure, I’m from Romania and I’ve been Technical Manager Customer Service at SCHLUMBERGER in France for almost a year.

My role is to coordinate a multidisciplinary and international team, composed of software development engineers, quality engineers and business experts, with the objective of offering the best service to our customers all over the world, in the energy industry. You are probably wondering: what are all these jobs?!! well a software development engineer creates applications or software that are used in a company. Quality engineers verify that these applications and software are compliant with what is required by the company that will need them and my missions are to:

– Manage, with my team, the customer requests (assistance, incidents)

– Ensuring the quality of services and customer satisfaction

– Motivate the troops, create an environment of trust and professional growth

All right, all right, let’s go back over my route for a moment! After a Scientific Baccalaureate, I graduated from Bucharest Polytechnic School (Romania), specializing in Computer Engineering and Networks.

I obtained my master’s degree in France, at the University of La Rochelle, specializing in Mathematical and Image Engineering.

Since my childhood, I have been attracted by science and the logic of things. I grew up surrounded by numbers and mathematical calculations, thanks to my mother, a chartered accountant by profession. This family universe has certainly had an influence on me, hence my desire to pursue a career in the scientific field.

The most difficult part of my journey has been to constantly prove that a woman can have a technical leadership role in a male-dominated environment, such as energy and computer science. In order to diminish the judgements deeply rooted in people’s minds (men and women), you have to be armed with a spirit of listening, empathy, and knowing how to manage your own emotions and those of your colleagues.

I am deeply convinced that social intelligence, the ability to build strong and lasting relationships in the professional environment is more important than technical skills, which are quickly becoming obsolete in our world of new and constantly evolving technologies.

Thanks to this strong social intelligence, I am able to focus on the essential – the human being, which is a key asset in technical team management and leadership.

Otherwise it’s not just about work 😉…I always give a very high priority to activities outside of work, because they allow me to feel good about myself and be more productive in the workplace. I love to draw in pencil, play sports, travel and regularly go out with friends for drinks. Here are some pictures of my drawings, travels and outings with friends:

I think that even today, scientific professions still scare women. It’s the fear of not succeeding or the fear of not being up to it. But this has to change, because the scientific field is no more “difficult” than a literary or artistic field. It is just different.

Oops, I tripped, …

It’s funny, because I remember thinking as a teenager that you need to have a special, slightly twisted brain to do computers. I was convinced that it would never be for me. And yet, I’m currently a computer engineer…

So my advice for young girls is to follow your passions and listen to your intuitions, whether it’s science or another field. And if you like science, go for it! You’ve got what it takes.

Come on, I leave you with this beautiful phrase that helps me not to get discouraged: “Success doesn’t just come and find you. You have to go out and get it.”

Written by Eunice MBANDOU