Paul McGovern, Director of Worldwide Technical Support, Xilinx, explains why he joined the CWIT team and why leaders should get involved….
“I am lucky to have a diverse engineering team. I inherited most team members from great mentors and stewards, and 30 percent are women. We have folks hailing from Nepal, Tunisia, Shanghai, Tallaght, and Carlow. Hiring for a role that many people perceive as less glamorous forced us to look further afield and be open minded. We have quickly proved that talent lies beyond the orthodoxy of our peer group and we reaped huge rewards for it. For anyone who has read “Moneyball,” this should resonate. And you don’t need analytics to understand how diversity works to the advantage of a team.
So, we need to support people from all backgrounds and this where joining CWIT fits in. It is a great way for me to demonstrate that essential visible support to the engineers. Both my mother and wife have hard-won successful careers and I’ve witnessed the bias and struggles they have overcome compared to my relatively straight line to my success. Folks like me who have enjoyed significant institutional privilege sometimes need things need to be right in our face for us to recognize it. This is a new way for me to network and I get to hear a totally different perspective on work. It is rare to find groups to join where you can absorb so many new ideas.
I encourage any leader in our member companies to get involved. Start taking small actions, such as like letting your team know the next time you are in a bit late because you manage some family duties, I learned this makes a big difference. What I learn through CWIT will be part of how we build a systematic approach and environment to support and grow our diverse talent to drive our business forward.”
