How UND’s CIO leaned into the unknown

Madhavi Marasinghe, 50th speaker for 18:83 Speaker Series, shared what it takes to be a leader against the odds

Madhavi Marasinghe knew that being hired for her current position at UND went against the numbers.

In technology fields, 38% of the workforce in education is made up of women.

For chief information officers in that category, 23% of them are women.

From there, fewer than 3% of CIOs are women of color.

These factors used to intimidate Marasinghe, but then she found her “superpower” that changed the way she thought of leadership: her cultural upbringing in Sri Lanka.

“Born and raised in Sri Lanka, our culture is community-oriented,” Marasinghe told those gathered at the Memorial Union Social Stair. “What that means is we are not individualistic. When we think things through, we think about the ‘us’ and ‘we’ and the community, instead of ‘me’ and ‘I.’”

Embracing this changed the lens through which she viewed her career and opportunities for leadership. The notion of leadership isn’t what you stand to gain for yourself, but what you work toward for the community, she said.

This made the meetings and rooms of peers easier to navigate, even when the numbers made her an outlier.

Embrace your ‘superpower’

At her 18:83 Speaker Series talk on Wednesday, Oct. 15, Marasinghe shared several tenets of her approach to leadership, including what led to her current position as UND’s CIO: leaning into the unknown.

She said the biggest risk she has taken in her career so far was applying for and taking the job.

“When I applied, it was advertised that there was no budget and no staff,” she said. UND was going through a transition with its IT structure, as it wasn’t centralized at the time. The path forward was full of uncertainties.

“All of my colleagues questioned why I was taking this on without any staff without a budget or structure, and how I was going to get it done,” Marasinghe remarked. “My answer was, ‘That is exactly why I want this job, because I know I can put structure to this place. I know I can work with the people to get it to where it needs to be.’”

She embraced community, coincidentally UND’s word of the year, to frame her approach to leading what exists today, almost 10 years later: a central University IT.

Marasinghe encouraged everyone to find and embrace their own “superpower” to bring to the table. “Dig deep, dig it out, and use it in these kinds of situations,” she said.

Leaving the comfort zone

Through her time on stage, Marasinghe also talked about the impact of building meaningful relationships — essential to the influence required in leadership positions — as well as the courage and payoff to being outside of one’s comfort zone.

When she was younger, growing up in Sri Lanka, Marasinghe skipped swimming lessons to meet with her future husband.

“In that generation, there was no such thing as dating,” she said. “Swimming lessons were my only opportunity to get out of the house without my parents … So, I don’t know how to swim.”

But recently, she and her husband decided to take those lessons she missed years back. She remarked that it has been a humbling experience to be a beginner, scared of letting go of the walls at the shallow end of the pool.

“Learning to swim after all these years took a lot out of us,” Marasinghe said. “We failed publicly, with so many kids and their parents watching us … but you’re at least trying something.

“We were committed, we kept going, and we saw some progress.”

The lesson she’s learned: Learning something new, outside of your training, keeps you humble and vulnerable. Doing that throughout your life will make you stronger in what you do.

Peace and pressure

Also essential to Marasinghe’s leadership style are peace and pressure.

At the outset of the pandemic, Marasinghe kept her routine as much as possible (including wearing professional attire, minus high heels). But with the 15 to 20 minutes she had without needing to drive to work, she decided to start meditating.

“I’ve learned a lot from that,” she said. “Slow down and breathe. When you’re stressed or frustrated, you can feel your heartbeat. I learned to listen to my heartbeat and my mind to know when to calm down, and meditation gave me the tools to be as close to the ‘center’ as possible.”

She added that the mental and physical fluctuation that happens during crises or stressful moments can be exhausting. “After five years, I still practice meditation before coming to work,” she said. “It helps me reset. In times of crisis, it keeps me grounded. Inner peace will allow you to respond instead of react.”

And maintaining inner peace allows Marasinghe to embrace pressure as a privilege, in reference to a quote from tennis great Billie Jean King.

“If we have pressure, it’s because our position matters, because people depend on us to make the right decision,” Marasinghe said. “It means we have a seat at the table, our voice counts, and we have a chance to shape what comes next.

“Embrace pressure. You’ve been given a chance to make a difference in your community.”