AW: As a female in an executive role in IT, I understand your dilemma. Personally, I have found that anytime someone is willing to provide guidance and share knowledge as a mentor, it is important to accept the offer, regardless of gender. It can be very difficult to find the right personality match with a mentor, so if you are able to find that right fit with a male manager, then go for it. And if your organization would allow it, I suggest having more than one mentor. If you have difficulty finding a female IT mentor in your field, broaden your search; I have found it very valuable to look outside of my field for a strong female leader. Having someone provide guidance and advice on issues that are unique to women in male-dominated industries has helped me operate within my own organization.

Q: I have 15 years of experience in software development, mainly with investment firms and government organizations. My skill set mainly includes Powerbuilder, Sybase, Oracle, Microsoft .Net and C#. I have also earned an MBA specializing in MIS. I am quite motivated and passionate about career and have a whatever-it-takes approach. Please advise how best I could direct my career.

AW: I receive similar questions a lot, and they are probably the most difficult to answer. Your first challenge is to determine where your passion truly is in the IT realm. You can stay with the more traditional IT roles of technology management (such as application development manager, manager of network operations, etc.), or you can venture down a more emerging path of managing the business side of IT applications. With a strong technical background and an MBA, you have the ability to understand your organization's technical requirements, along with the skills to create a strategic plan for achieving the organization's goals through the use of technology. Maybe a good start would be to see if there are projects or a team that you could be involved with in your current organization. In my experience, your combination of skills is far too rare, and will allow you to enter a management type position and provide great value.