holding the space

Rakhi Rajani, Chief Digital and Strategy Officer, Genomics England

The Women in Science group has recently been established as a safe space for women in leadership positions within a science/technical related role in the UK. This group provides an opportunity for its like-minded participants to share common challenges, offer support and guidance for one another and encourages the use of open communication channels to enable responsive and accessible contact. Externally, the group represents credible and successful role models who are keen to be the figureheads in challenging the status quo, promote professionalism, share their experience and learnings and advocate the need to have women in positions of leadership and seniority across the board.

My name is Rakhi Rajani and I am the Chief Digital and Strategy Officer at Genomics England.

I’ve had a meandering career journey through countries, industries, organisations and roles. I’ve loved every minute of all of my experiences. Sure, there have been challenges. Of course, being in industries where others are seen as ‘more than’ because of their gender and style is infuriating and de-motivating. Quite frankly, needing to navigate these stereotypes and boxes is tiring, but I hate the boxes so I’ve been busting out of them from the get-go, and I encourage you to do so as well.

I learned early on that conviction was more powerful than confidence, especially when you’re an introvert. You have to believe your ‘yes’ has more value than someone else’s ‘no’.

I was told I couldn’t play the trumpet in primary school because I was a girl, so my dad supported me in learning to play the drums outside of school instead. I was told I couldn’t combine engineering and psychology in my undergrad so I found a university that would let me combine them into a degree because I believed there was a connection between machine intelligence and human intelligence.

I’ve always worked in tech and science, in bold fields where my job has been to do what hasn’t yet been done, to invent the future. These are roles where you can’t say ‘OK’ when someone says ‘it can’t be done’.

The women in this group all work in a world where representation remains a challenge, yet being a female leader in tech and science brings, I think, well-earned wisdom. These environments demand resilience, vision, and the ability to pivot fast – all qualities that are shaped by lived experience. As a woman navigating these fields, over the past 25 years, I have learned three lasting leadership lessons.

Take yourself seriously

The number of times I’ve caveated what I’m going to say, made a joke, offered up a ‘I don’t have all the facts but imho’ has been pretty astonishing. The caveats were a fear of some sort, just in case I was wrong, just in case I had missed a piece of data. But here’s the rub: questioning myself means other people question me too.

We spend a great deal of time caveating and ultimately diluting our messages but hesitation is interpreted as lack of expertise, not humility – especially in a room filled with confident voices.

Taking yourself seriously begins with recognising the value of your expertise and perspective. It means preparing, speaking with clarity, and standing by your decisions with conviction. It also means resisting the urge to diminish your achievements. As women we are sometimes conditioned to deflect praise or downplay our contributions, but owning our successes – without apology – is crucial to building credibility.

I’m often told that we shouldn’t be worried about getting credit for ideas or work. I disagree. When other people see you receiving credit, it builds your credibility, and credibility is so much more powerful than being the loudest voice.

When you take yourself seriously, you invite others to do the same. It’s a lesson in self-respect, it strengthens your ability to advocate for ideas that matter, and it’s a foundation for effective leadership.

Know the impact of your ripple effect

I remember walking out of an exec meeting with a phenomenal CEO I worked with many years ago. He stopped me and said:

“I often leave a meeting wondering what you were thinking. I’m pretty sure you disagreed with me and if you had spoken up, you would have given others the permission to disagree with me too. Your actions and/or non actions have a ripple effect that’s powerful”

This has stuck with me throughout my career and I think about it every day. Leadership is not confined to grand gestures, sweeping initiatives or being seen to take action for the sake of taking action. Often, it’s the small moments that create a lasting impact. That single moment helped me understand that as a leader, my behavior – whether intentional or subconscious – creates ripples that influence the people around me. More importantly though, I realised that I had to be more aware of it – the good ripple effect, and the bad. Knowing the broader impact of your actions deepens your sense of responsibility as a leader but it also helps you realise that it’s ok to be ok with being you.

It is not your job to take on other people’s emotions

This is perhaps my biggest lesson. There is a very fine line between empathising with others and internalising their emotions. As women, we often act as emotional support systems, even in professional settings. But taking on other people’s emotions is usually counterproductive and interferes with your ability to be helpful.

Leadership requires emotional resilience. This doesn’t translate to being cold or detached, but it does mean establishing healthy interactions. You have to listen actively, address concerns, and provide support without absorbing stress that isn’t yours to carry. For some this may sound harsh, but it’s enabled me to be more thoughtful in my response to others.

The lessons I’ve learned have shaped my career but have also reinforced the realisation that a leadership position does not make you a leader. Leadership is owning and nurturing your values and creating clear pathways for others to take and follow. For those of us in science and technology, it is an opportunity to not only lead, but to reshape the future.

We know that women are over mentored and under sponsored, especially later on in their careers, yet women in leadership positions are crucial to creating exponential change for the world. It’s our responsibility to make that happen.