Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Diane Blair of Honeywell On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry

In the United States in 2022, fields such as Aircraft piloting, Agriculture, Architecture, Construction, Finance, and Information technology, are still male-dominated industries. For a woman who is working in a male-dominated environment, what exactly does it take to thrive and succeed? In this interview series, we are talking to successful women who work in a Male-Dominated Industry who can share their stories and experiences about navigating work and life as strong women in a male-dominated industry. As a part of this series, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Diane Blair.

Diane Blair is the Senior Director of Field Operations at Honeywell Intelligrated. In her role, she oversees a team of more than 650 throughout the world that provides lifecycle management services to material handling automation that ensure maximum utilization, extended equipment life and minimized maintenance.

Blair has been with Honeywell Intelligrated for more than 20 years helping distribution and fulfillment operators make the fundamental transition from traditional lifecycle management strategies of “react and respond” to a new paradigm of “analyze and predict.”

Blair has held several senior positions in project management and engineering prior to Honeywell. She served as captain in the U.S. Army’s 710 Maintenance Battalion.

She received her bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering from Auburn University.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?

When I was young, I realized that not only was science interesting, but in science, the possibilities are endless. When I really became interested in science, there were not any STEM programs that let a young girl in small town Alabama explore technology. I was always tagging along with my siblings seeing what we could get into. The closest opportunity I could find to work with something technical was a soap box or getting in the way of one of my brother’s science projects.

My first teacher of anything technical was my grandfather. He was always fixing or building something. He worked on cars, airplanes, and tractors. When he was in the barn working, I would tag along and ask him endless questions. I wanted to know how he knew what to do to, figure out why something wasn’t working. Then, after he fixed it, I wanted to know how the whole thing worked. I know I drove him crazy, but I am very thankful for his patience. When I was in high school a couple of other girls and I took physics. Not a popular class for girls then, but the teacher was great. He made it fun to learn. He filled the class with labs and gave us hands on experience. He showed us the principles we were learning and made them stick. He was the first person that made me believe that it was possible for me to get an engineering degree.

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

Industrial engineering is not a field women tend to gravitate to. In fact, my team at Honeywell focuses on the repair and maintenance of warehouse technology solutions. Of the 650 people I supervise, only one percent are women. After graduating from Auburn University with a degree in Industrial Engineering, I worked in the military as an ordinance officer. After the military, I worked as a Maintenance Manager at a couple of retailers an as an industrial engineer at a parts supplier. For the past 20 years, I’ve worked at Honeywell, a Fortune 150 company in field operations in increasing roles, recently becoming the leader of our global Lifecycle Support Services team. In my role, I ensure that conveyors, sorters, and advanced robotic solutions are working in warehouses around the clock, making sure packages arrive to your doorstep as quickly as they can.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I’ve had so many interesting experiences over my career that it’s hard to think of a specific one, but if there was something I could go back and tell myself 20 years ago it would be to not be afraid of the challenges that lie ahead, because it has been a wild ride. I’d tell myself to always be open to learning something new, something that you may not think that you’ll be good at, or you may not think is in your wheelhouse, because you’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish when you set your mind to it.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Loyalty: For the past 20 years, I’ve worked at Honeywell. My role as Lifecycle Services and Support Leader isn’t just a job to me. I genuinely care about those I work with as well as the success of our company. Each and every day I go to work with the mindset that I’m going to invest my time and energy to do what I can to not only grow personally, but grow the company in both the short and long term.

Courageous: It’s important to not be deterred by challenges and difficulties. I don’t shy away from projects that others fear may be too hard or require too much work. Personal growth is extremely important to me, and I’ve found I grow the most when I jump into uncomfortable situations. One thing I’ve learned is that if you’re going to go into a management type of role, you never ask someone to do something that you wouldn’t do yourself.

Resilient: I’ve always prided myself on being resilient and being someone that quickly recovers from setbacks, stress, and unfavorable situations. When I get knocked down, I make sure to get back up and keep pushing forward.

Can you help articulate a few of the biggest obstacles or challenges you’ve had to overcome while working in a male-dominated industry?

As a female leader in a male-dominated industry, there are a variety of challenges to overcome. I think one of the biggest obstacles many women face is being taken seriously. For me, my experiences in the Army prepared me for this and every other challenge that has been thrown my way. The Army taught me about resiliency, teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving — skills that have proven to be very useful as I’ve worked my way through my career in engineering.

Can you share a few of the things you have done to gain acceptance among your male peers and the general work community? What did your female co-workers do? Can you share some stories or examples?

Some women are not as comfortable being out front or being the outspoken one. Many women may be more comfortable in the lab or crunching the numbers. That lack of visibility may seem like a huge barrier to rising within an organization. However, this is not the case. It’s important to understand that there are other ways to become visible without being the loudest voice in the room. It’s important to promote what our passions and strengths are. One of the best ways I learned to do this early in my career was to become the “go to” person — the person that knows the operation, the technical constraints, and can address the problem. Understanding the business or product, being able to solve problems, and being a positive driver of change provides more visibility than the loudest voice.

What do you think male-oriented organizations can do to enhance their recruiting efforts to attract more women?

It all starts with workplace culture. To attract and retain more women, organizations need to create a brand and culture where women want to work. Aside from offering good medical benefits, daycare, maternity leave, flexible work arrangements, and clear paths to advancement, companies that support women’s organizations and other worthy causes send a powerful message about their culture and priorities. It’s also critical to take sexual harassment seriously and offer equitable salaries.

Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

Build connections: Seek out a strong group of women or open-minded men who can support you, whether that be within or outside of your organization, and likewise, it’s crucial to support and build up other women too. They can help you strategize, meet your goals, and allow you to vent your frustrations.

Positivity: Optimism and a good attitude builds team morale more than anything else. Focus on your victories, not your losses, and concentrate on your future successes and goals.

Confidence: Understand the value of your opinion and believe that what you have to share is worth listening to.

Don’t be a people pleaser: It’s important to be nice, but you won’t get anywhere by constantly trying to please everyone. Be confident in yourself and in your abilities.

Conflict Management: Knowing how to deal with conflict, reconcile emotions, and being able to reach an understanding is crucial in the workplace. It’s a valuable skill that boosts both well-being and productivity.

Finally, don’t forget to say thank you. Let your team and others you work with know that you appreciate them.

If you had a close woman friend who came to you with a choice of entering a field that is male-dominated or female-dominated, what would you advise her? Would you advise a woman friend to start a career in a field or industry that’s traditionally been mostly men? Can you explain what you mean?

I wouldn’t advise her one way or the other. It comes down to what her own preferences are in terms of what will make her the most comfortable and what will best set her up for success. Everyone, and every situation is different. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if a field is male dominated. If you feel that you belong, you belong.

Have you seen things change for women working in male-dominated industries, over the past ten years? How do you anticipate that it might improve in the future? Can you please explain what you mean?

Absolutely, while there’s still a lot of work to be done, I’m happy with the progress that has been made over the past handful of years. I’m thankful to be in the position I’m currently in with Honeywell, where we have a culture that advocates inclusion and diversity in the workplace. At Honeywell, empowering women and promoting female leadership is a top priority.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

It’s difficult for me to choose just one individual since there’s so many great people I could choose from, but I love hearing others’ success stories. Those that found a way to perservere and battle through adversity to reach their goals, even when their back was against the wall and the odds not in their favor. I think this is due to my past experiences in the military, but I truly gain a lot of inspiration and motivation when I have the chance to sit down with these types of people.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.