Every year, Lockheed Martin Canada looks forward to recognizing female Emerging Leaders in the organization through our partnership with Women in Defence and Security (WiDS).
The criterion for the nominations is someone – in any stage of their career – who is:
- Doing great things
- Inspiring change
- Blazing a trail and setting an example for other young women to follow.
This year, we had 24 nominations from across the business and ultimately put forward:
- Rosalind Dickinson, Software Engineering Supervisor, RMS from Dartmouth, NS
- Maybelline Lee, Engineering Project Manager, Research & Technology, E&T from Kanata, ON
- Robin Whiteley, Technical Operations Manager, CSC AWW IPT Lead from Kanata, ON
We asked them what it means to lead an inclusive team and what Lockheed Martin Canada has done to enable their success. Here’s what they had to say:
What does an inclusive team mean to you?
To me, having an inclusive team means that everyone has a place at the table, and everyone’s opinion is heard. Team members feel like they belong, and their contributions are valued. Individuals in leadership positions trust and rely on their teams.
How does Lockheed Martin Canada enable your success?
Lockheed Martin Canada’s leadership at all levels, including first line managers, enables my success by modeling the company core values themselves and providing opportunities for advancement. Paid training opportunities are provided in many areas, including technical and soft skills. Leadership provides valuable feedback on a regular basis. As individual employees we are given a framework to create and adjust personal career goals, and a forum to track these goals with our leaders. Having these tools available ensure we are equipped for success.
What does an inclusive team mean to you?
One that embraces different Ideas, experiences, background and point of views. Where both men and women are treated as individual, respected for their way of thinking and feel welcome and valued for their contribution. Where you will feel that you are part of something great and can overcome any obstacles together as a team.
How does Lockheed Martin Canada enable your success?
Lockheed Martin Canada encourages and supported creativity, autonomy and thinking out of the box. But most of all, Lockheed Martin Canada provided an environment where you can grow.
What does an inclusive team mean to you?
To me an inclusive team means having equality amongst the team members in the sense that they feel welcome to share ideas regardless of their background, gender or any other differentiating factors. When I have an all-hands team meeting sometimes those that are capability area leads or more experienced may feel more empowered to speak up and ask questions, but I like to encourage everyone from the new hire to the most experienced to ask questions and engage.
How does Lockheed Martin Canada enable your success?
At Lockheed Martin Canada I rarely felt singled out or isolated as a female engineer. I found the culture of inclusivity to be excellent and I always felt comfortable to be myself at work. My capabilities and dedication to work rarely went unnoticed at Lockheed Martin Canada and this afforded me the opportunities to explore many roles and projects over my 16 years that built up my career to the exciting one it is today.