Today is International Women’s Day. Today, I’m grateful for the women I get to work with every day in my high-tech field. I appreciate the fortitude it takes to thrive in a field made up of mostly men.

I recently attended a Minnesota Technology Association event for Women Leading in Technology. I attended for three reasons: #1, I wanted to support the women on my team. #2, The networking and speaker genuinely interested me. #3 I knew I would be in the minority, and I wanted to feel what that felt like.

I’m a nerdy-looking man in a highly technical field. Every day, I fit right in. Not everyone on my team has that same advantage. As a leader in my department, I take my responsibility seriously to pay attention and look for opportunities for empathy, support, and advocacy.

Hidden Figures

I recently watched the 2016 film, Hidden Figures, directed by Theodore Melfi, and it made me think. I first heard about the film from my pastor at church. He used it to teach a lesson on forbearance. That was good, but I saw an additional lesson for all of the technology leaders out there. Before I get to that, I’ll give you a quick introduction to the film:

It’s based on the true story of three African-American women who worked at NASA in the 1960s. Katherine Johnson, played by Taraji Henson, was a brilliant mathematician on the Space Task Group, the group responsible for NASA’s first manned space flight. Mary Jackson, played by Janelle Monae, was a technician working to fix the design flaw of the space capsule heat shield. She eventually became an engineer. Dorothy Vaughan, played by Octavia Spencer, taught herself Fortran so she could program NASA’s first mainframe. She taught others and eventually led the programming department.

These are the heroes of the story. They were “hidden figures.” They overcame unimaginable circumstances. They were key contributors to the success of the space program. Watch the film. It will move you. I watched it with my whole family.

Different kinds of leaders

Now that I told you about the heroes of the film, I’d like to dive into some other characters. This is where the lesson is. We will examine the behaviors of three different people with authority at NASA. This blog is about leadership lessons. Let’s see how they responded to this situation.

Paul Stafford, played by Jim Parsons, was the head engineer at NASA’s Space Task Group. Katherine Johnson worked directly for him. Paul went out of his way to thwart Katherine’s success. He hid information, excluded her from meetings, and denied her credit for her contributions.

If there’s a villain in the film, it’s this guy. I found him shocking and impossible to relate to. I’m very happy to say that I’ve never come across someone so antagonistic to women or people of color in the workplace, and I hope I never do.

Al Harrison, played by Kevin Costner, led NASA’s Space Task Group. He was Katherine and Paul’s boss. He ran the space race and was losing badly to the Russians. I can relate to Al. He was a prototypical technology leader. He was stressed, driven, and desperate to find a way to succeed. I’m that way most of the time too.

Katherine’s contribution to the team got Al’s attention. She solved some significant problems that were important to the mission. Eventually, Al became aware of the barriers, rules, and people that treated Katherine so poorly.

Driven by his desire to succeed, and guided by values of fairness and decency, he used his authority to do what was right. He tore down many of the rules that hurt Katherine. He also made sure Katherine was included in the room when important decisions were being made. He didn’t speak for her. He gave her a platform to speak for herself, so her contribution would be known to all.

This action directly led to getting John Glenn into space and back home safely.

Vivian Mitchell, played by Kirsten Dunst, was Dorothy Vaughan’s supervisor. Dorothy was driven to lead her team. She did so naturally but wasn’t recognized with an appropriate title and pay. Vivian did absolutely nothing to help Dorothy. Her inaction was palpable. In one powerful scene, Vivian said to Dorothy, “Despite what you may think, I have nothing against ya’ll.” Dorothy responded, “I know you probably believe that.”

No thanks to Vivian, Dorothy took matters into her own hands and became indispensable with the IBM mainframe. Eventually, those above Vivian’s authority granted Dorothy the leadership position of Supervisor.

The leadership lessons

Here are the lessons from each of these leadership personas:

1. Every leader has some choices on how they treat women and people of color on their team. Obviously, no one should be like Paul and actively thwart and disrespect anyone on their team. That’s the opposite of leadership.
2. Initially, Al was oblivious to the problems on his team, but when he became aware, he chose to investigate, even though it was uncomfortable. He chose to right the wrongs. He broke the norms and did what was right for his team members and his mission.
3. I don’t know exactly what motivated Vivian, but I imagine it was fear. As a woman in technology, in those circumstances, I imagine she didn’t feel like she could stick her neck out for a fellow woman colleague with different skin color. As far as we know, she never even tried. That’s not leadership. Leaders take risks on behalf of their teams. That responsibility comes with the extra pay and the title. Since Vivian didn’t do that, she didn’t deserve her role.

Conclusion

It’s been sixty years since the events of this story took place. In so many ways, we’re doing a lot better than we were back then. Yet, as technology leaders, we still have work to do.

On this International Women’s Day of 2023, I implore you to pay attention. Watch out for unfairness and injustice. Use your position of authority to advocate for women who deserve to be included and promoted. Yes, that may mean taking a risk. That’s okay. That’s what you are supposed to do. That’s what leaders do.

I’d like to dedicate this article to the women of CHS IT. You inspire me to be a better leader.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download