In an industry that can appear male-dominated, especially in the engineering and development spheres, increasingly women are found in key leadership roles, overseeing substantial business and numbers of personnel. Leading technology and manufacturing company Honeywell has particularly strong female representation in its upper echelons. Flight Daily News talks to two of its senior executives.
Q: How did you get into aerospace?
A: I look at myself not so much as an aerospace person, but as a general manager and leader. Before I joined Honeywell in 1999, I worked in the electronics, tourism and automotive industries. It took a lot of courage on my part to believe I could get my head around all this. Fortunately, I was able to walk into a good infrastructure.
Normally when you go into a new job, you give yourself six months to get a grip on what's going on, but given the breadth and depth of our products - accessories for over 125 engines on more than 100 aircraft - it took much longer.
Q: What assets do you think you brought to the job from other industries?
A: I looked at the quick cycle time of automotive and how to bring that velocity to development in this industry. I also brought a mindset of customer services from tourism - you get feedback very fast in that industry. One of the best things I took on was trying to think of a global world, rather than a local, US-centric one. I had experience in the late 1990s of trying to expand a business in China. It was a challenging and fulfilling experience, beginning to serve a new and growing market.
Q: What is your best professional decision?
A: I found a peer and asked if he'd be my buddy. You need a safe place to go to ask silly questions and get honest opinions. I surrounded myself with networks of people who know the industry and whom I could lean on when I needed to.
Q: Do you think women can progress in the industry easily?
A: In society generally, I have to acknowledge that women do not have the kind of representation in key leadership roles that they should have. When I was interviewed for Honeywell, I saw there were women in key roles. I believe that if you do the work, you will progress. I think relatively speaking we're doing a good job in this area.
Source: Flight Daily News
