Katarzyna Karpińska, Technical Tribe Lead, delivers - together with her team - the best network in Poland with high-speed data, excellent quality voice, IoT and much more. She encourages her colleagues to use all available means to share their achievements. Her experience from working in an international environment gave her skills that she is still benefiting from to this day.
You lead a team of about 90 engineers. What’s the story behind successfully getting this leadership role?
Katarzyna: It was a mixture of the rich experience I was able to offer, good timing and the company’s agile transformation. When a new opportunity occurred, I jumped into the recruitment process and succeeded in getting the position as Technical Tribe Lead. I have been leading it for more than year and a half.
What is the thing you enjoy most about this position?
Katarzyna: I appreciate working with the best engineers and the latest technologies to bring people closer together. I love doing things as a team, looking for opportunities not problems, showing people that collaboration is the way to success. I remember we had a big project on a new billing system which we couldn’t have handled without support of other teams. Product owners collaborated closely following the agile principle “people over process”, this was a huge success factor.
What advice would you give to young talents who want to boost their career?
Katarzyna: Have a growth mindset. Don’t get stuck in thinking that new things are simply not for you. It’s not enough to be a good performer, an “absolute must” is to present your success to the world, without that nobody knows what a cool person you are and what a great job you do. Share your success and ideas, talk to people, be visible out there.
Make noise within your organization, ask questions and share your opinion, engage in activities that have impact on the organization, e.g. processes, way of working, retrospectives etc. Build your personal brand outside the company, be a speaker at conferences and build your own network e.g. on LinkedIn. You can be the magenta change agent inside and a magenta ambassador outside.
You have been part of Telekom for 14 years with a small break in between. What made you re-join the company and why do you stay?
Katarzyna: When I left at that time there was no suitable career opportunity for me. But I have to admit I really missed the company. I took a chance and re-joined the company a couple of years ago. I became part of the international team and it was a turning point in my career. A great leader, new experience, international projects and multinational colleagues.
But even now, being back in a national team, I enjoy my work. I welcome the possibility to build a new culture, change the way of working and bring T-Mobile Poland forward as a tech company. And most of all, I have fun all the time.