Articles
Dea Sølbæk Lillelund: Shattering Glass Ceilings with Grace and Grit
Dea Sølbæk Lillelund is the kind of person who doesn’t just break glass ceilings, she shatters them with a smile. Today, as a Director at Capgemini Invent, she leads strategic initiatives to empower organisations to leverage full value from technology. Along the way, she’s broken stereotypes, navigated bias, and become a beacon of empowerment for women in tech. But her journey to this point hasn’t been linear, it’s been a winding road full of unexpected turns, challenges, and moments that shaped her along the way.
Curious to know more about Dea? Let’s dive into her journey.
The Unexpected Beginning: From Political Science to Cybersecurity
Dea’s journey didn’t start with a grand plan. With a degree in political science, she envisioned a future in central administration, perhaps working as a civil servant. But life had other ideas. She found employment as a case handler in the Dansk Autohjælp answering phone calls from car owners in trouble. This work progressed over almost 10 years toward a role as an Information Security Manager.
The road was not linear, but each internal move brought new areas of responsibility and allowed Dea to familiarize herself with many different areas, spanning from quality management of frontline personnel over a Product Owner role and leading developers towards the shelf where she stayed for many more years to come.
Seizing Opportunities: Dea’s Journey into Cybersecurity
Dea had the luck of being part of an organisation that gave her the opportunity and support to try all the seats at the table, and her career developed from Case Handler over Quality Management to Product Owner-role settling into the role of Information Security Manager, from which her career developed.
Having the mindset of seizing opportunities when presented, Dea has been working within the cyber security space both as a management consultant as well as internal advisor in both private and public sector organisations. Her leadership role has expanded from informal leadership to formal leadership roles, allowing her to grow and learn from more experienced leaders and role models crossing her path.
Today, as a Director at Capgemini Invent, she is building and leading a team focusing on strategic advisory and organisational change management under the headline of technological shifts and changes, helping clients navigate an ever-evolving digital landscape.
But with her growing influence came a new set of challenges: navigating bias in a male-dominated industry.
Navigating Bias: Rising Above Industry Challenges
Dea has faced her share of challenges working in a male-dominated industry. Despite her seniority and vast experience, she often encountered bias, with clients directing questions to younger male colleagues instead. Over time, she learned to confront these situations head-on, standing firm in her expertise and refusing to let others undermine her value.
– I’ve encountered an incredible amount of bias – more than I can even explain. You have to be twice as good just to be taken seriously. I can hear the way they ask questions, and I can tell they’re trying to undermine what I say. They focus on tiny details, hoping to discredit me. It is getting better than it was, but we are not there yet.
Through these challenges, Dea found ways to assert herself and establish her value, knowing her worth and the experience she brought to the table.
– If I feel like I’m being undermined, I confront it. And if that’s not possible, I remove myself from the situation. I have over 20 years of experience. I know, I’m good at what I do. To put it a bit black and white: If someone doesn’t want my advice, that’s their loss, not mine.
These experiences didn’t just harden her resolve they shaped her leadership philosophy, one rooted in empathy and the belief that everyone deserves to feel heard and valued.
Leadership Beyond Authority: Dea’s Philosophy of People-Centric Leadership
For Dea, leadership isn’t about holding authority but about tapping into intuition, emotional intelligence, and truly understanding the people she leads. She believes leadership should create a safe environment where employees feel heard, respected, and valued. A speech that profoundly influenced her leadership philosophy states:
-Don’t be a leader unless you cannot help yourself.
She sees leadership as a role of guidance, where the main responsibility is to coach, inspire, and ensure the well-being of employees.
-Your role as a leader is to coach, inspire, and protect the well-being of your employees. You spend eight, nine, even ten hours a day with them, what you do as a leader affects their mental health and happiness.
She believes in treating employees fairly, not equally, as everyone’s needs are different.
-You don’t treat everyone equally, you treat everyone differently to treat them fairly. A young, ambitious woman needs different support than an employee balancing work and family life. A good leader understands that success looks different for different people.
This people-centric approach extends beyond her team. It fuels her passion for advocating for women in IT/leadership roles and breaking down the barriers they face.
Empowering Women: Dea’s Advocacy for Equal Opportunities
Dea is passionate about advocating for women in leadership, especially when it comes to the challenges they still face in today’s corporate world. Despite her achievements, she’s frustrated by the barriers that persist for women striving to reach top positions. She points out that in many cases, the rules for career progression remain unspoken, and men often have access to these unwritten rules in ways that women simply don’t. This lack of transparency makes it harder for women to move up, even when they have the talent and skills to succeed.
-To reach top leadership, you need someone to explain the unspoken rules of career progression. Many women don’t even know what those rules are, let alone how to navigate them.
Dea stresses the importance of mentorship in breaking down these barriers and providing the guidance needed to navigate the often-hidden dynamics of corporate advancement. Her advice is straightforward:
-Find someone who knows the rules and is willing to disclose them. Mentorship doesn’t need to come from a particular gender, just someone who understands the system and can help you navigate it.
In addition to her mentorship, Dea is a cofounder and vice president of Women4Cyber Denmark, an initiative dedicated to empowering women in the cybersecurity field. Her advocacy extends beyond words, creating tangible opportunities for women to thrive in tech.
Work-Life Balance: A Non-Negotiable Priority
Despite her demanding role, Dea is adamant about maintaining a clear work-life balance. She sets strict boundaries to protect her time, believing that well-being is crucial to sustained success.
-I insist on my free time. If no one is dying from me not answering an email until tomorrow, I won’t answer it.
She emphasizes the importance of planning to manage a busy schedule, a philosophy she instils in her employees as well.
-You can’t work yourself out of being busy, you can only plan yourself out of being busy.
Outside of work, Dea embraces a variety of hobbies that allow her to recharge and enjoy life beyond her professional responsibilities.
-I live a bit of a double life. At work, I’m a professional consultant. But in my free time, I’m a cat lover, a gamer, and a music critic. I go to metal concerts and festivals and every Wednesday, I go to a pub quiz. That’s non-negotiable.
Dea encourages others to adopt similar boundaries.
-Stop being available 24/7. No one will thank you for it, and it will just burn you out. When I’m on vacation, I don’t check emails, I don’t bring my work phone. If it’s truly urgent, my boss and employees have my private number. But otherwise? Work can wait.
By maintaining a strong work-life balance, Dea not only sets an example for her team but also ensures she’s able to continue making an impact, both in her career and in the legacy she hopes to leave behind.
Inspiring Change: The Legacy Dea Aims to Leave Behind
When asked about the legacy she hopes to leave behind, Dea’s answer is clear.
-I hope my employees remember me as a role model, someone who was demanding but fair. Someone who pushed them to see their potential.
Dea is passionate about inspiring women to pursue careers in male-dominated fields, believing that there is space for them everywhere.
-It doesn’t have to be cybersecurity. It could be management consulting, engineering anything. I just want women to know they also belong in these spaces.
Reflecting on the support she received in her journey, Dea recalls how a former boss believed in her abilities and pushed her to take on challenging roles.
-He threw me into the deep end time and time again. But he always reassured me, ‘I got you.’ And knowing that, I swam. He was a huge role model to me and I hope one day, someone will say the same about me.
Dea’s journey is a reminder that success isn’t about following a straight path. It’s about embracing the unexpected, standing firm in your worth, and lifting others as you climb. Her legacy isn’t just in the systems she’s secured or the teams she’s led, but in the countless women she’s inspired to believe they belong in every room they enter.