We Are All Uniquely Diverse

I could probably direct you to hundreds of different articles that proclaim the benefits of teamwork and ways to improve collaboration in the workplace. For me though, it was during one of my first assignments after joining Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), then GE Oil & Gas—working as a commissioning engineer for gas turbines—that I learned how best to quickly turn a disparate group of individuals into a unified team:

Step 1: Travel to a really remote location such as the Kazakhstan desert.

Step 2: Set up camp in the middle of the desert.

Step 3: Get to work on a plant outage.

A simplified version of the experience, yes, but in essence I spent three weeks sharing the barest of amenities among a group of people hardened by experience. There was no time to “get to know” each other. The first thing you learn is how to become a team within seconds, even if you don’t already know your co-workers. You must immediately engage, communicate, and confidently execute tasks together, safely, correctly and in difficult operating conditions.

This wasn’t a group therapy session or a video game. It was a real onsite gas turbine revamping project, part of a planned outage at a large plant, and I had a key role to play. I was there to manage the restart and tuning of the combustion system. The atmosphere in the desert was unlike any I had ever known. What it showed me is that teamwork is undoubtedly the oil that makes the team work. Effective teamwork relies on trust, and trust is the foundation of respect. You have to respect the individuals with whom you work. If you don’t, you can’t build a team and you’re sure to fail.

I arrived on-site a week before my planned activities for the outage and—one of the things that stays with me to this day—is an older engineer I met, who had a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience. In hindsight, this encounter was a tremendous stroke of luck. Over the next few days as we waited for the job to begin, he decided to show me the pieces of the turbine that were lying around and explain it all to me. It was the best on-the-job training I’ve ever had. And it was interesting, because it brought home to me a very fundamental understanding of everything that I was working on, and would continue to work on over the course of my career. It was a tough job in a challenging environment, and we worked shifts day and night, but I loved it. It also taught me to respect anyone and everyone I worked with. It was an unforgettable experience and one that shaped me as a leader.

Today when I think about my own team, I try to be more of a coach than a mentor. A mentor can be useful in the moments of your career when you need to be inspired, but if you want to improve your muscles and develop your own skill set, then you need a coach that gives you the tools you need to find the answers yourself, tools you can use over, and over again.

I clearly remember the first time that I considered the possibility of becoming an engineer. It was summer in Tuscany (Italy) and my dad, my uncle and a cousin were rebuilding an older car for driving around in. I remember the men changing the oil, working on the gears, and they would say to me, “Hey, don’t worry, Francesca. You don’t have to help. You’re a girl. Don’t get your dress dirty.” They were smiling, they could see I was interested. That was the first time that I started to think ‘out of the box’. I certainly became a little bit more curious than other kids. I would think, “Can I take my bike apart and then put it back together?” That was the moment when I decided to take myself out of the box permanently.

I spent the following years studying physics, math, mechanical engineering. I moved to Berlin and worked for the German Aerospace Research Centre, also taking the opportunity to gain a PhD in the field of combustion technology. I travelled, I expanded my career.

Today, I am an engineering manager based in Florence, responsible for leading a team of my own. Each of them is an individual who brings their own perspective to the table. Some are business analysts, capable of turning the requirements of our customers—internal and external—into guidelines for software (SW) development, and others are more data-orientated, responsible for developing analytics creating the brain of our Industrial Internet SWs. Each with their own skill set, they are contributing to create the capability to detect failure and predict the needs of the machinery. Digital is opening up so many exciting opportunities for our industry.

My team is a constant reminder to me why initiatives like Balance the Equation are so important in driving greater diversity in the workplace. When I think of diversity, I’m not just thinking of gender, but of any type of diversity. I believe that no matter if you’re a woman or a man, if you are 20 or 50, you stand out. You are somehow, in some way, unique and diverse from all other individuals. Your diversity makes you distinctive. Ultimately, you can only succeed in your career if you’re passionate about it. When I have work that motivates me and gives me the chance to make a difference, that’s what makes me happy.

My advice to others would be to respect the people you work with, and don’t allow yourselves to be put in a box. Women do this, men do that… Who cares? Respect your own individuality, be passionate about your career, and follow it.