The future is female, and nothing makes that more definitive than the news that women are now leading the nation’s military-industrial complex. As of 2019, four of the five biggest defense contractors in the country are now lead by female CEOs, according to Politico! Yay!
Now, a majority of the people leading our nation in “questioning stale assumptions” about making weapons, “negotiating better deals” when buying weapons, and “recruiting and retaining” the best people to make weapons are women, Politico reported. Gone, the site wrote, are the days of the“male-dominated” military, showing that both the government and private sector are beginning to “weigh merit over machismo.”
Who exactly are these women that have flipped the script on these traditionally male CEO roles? Here’s a quick rundown of these players in charge, per Politico (emphasis mine):
On Jan. 1, Kathy Warden, who held a series of senior executive positions at General Dynamics and other high-tech firms, became CEO of Northrop Grumman, the Pentagon’s fourth-largest contractor in 2017, with more than $20 billion of defense-related revenue.
She joins [Marillyn] Hewson at Lockheed [Martin], the biggest Pentagon contractor with nearly $50 billion in defense revenue, who first joined the company more than three decades ago as an industrial engineer.
Phebe Novakovic, a former intelligence officer, is the CEO of defense giant General Dynamics, while Leanne Caret now runs Boeing’s Defense, Space and Security division.
Yes, yes, women can do wars now! But that’s not to say that they still don’t face challenges. No, not institutional challenges—because now that women are in charge of supplying weapons for horrific wars across the globe, all other women at these institutions have been uplifted—but from their own self-imposed mental challenges. Per Politico, again, emphasis mine:
[Lynn] Dugle, the CEO at Engility, [an engineering and IT services firm that did more than $750 million of business with defense and intelligence agencies last year,] agreed that women can often be their impediment to promotion.
“One of my biggest challenges has been resisting the temptation to tell myself I couldn’t do something,” she said. “I didn’t think I was ready to be president of a multibillion-dollar business at Raytheon when I was offered the role. I continually remind myself to have courage and confidence.”
See, ladies? It’s all about overcoming that negative inner monologue and telling yourself that you too can do wars one day.