Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Raytheon’s Annabel Flores On The 5 Leadership Lessons She Learned From Her Experience
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Be a people watcher. This is a trait I began incorporating early in my career. I have found that it can be beneficial to take a look at the people around you and determine who has the coolest job or who has impressive leadership or technical skills. Then, work to understand how they chose that career path and how they developed the specific skills you admire.
As a part of my series about “Lessons From Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Annabel Flores.
Annabel Flores is vice president of Electronic Warfare Systems for Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a business of Raytheon Technologies. She oversees the overall strategic direction and operation of a diverse portfolio of electronic warfare products such as the U.S. Navy’s Next Generation Jammer and the U.S. Army’s Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool, as well as the business’s high energy laser systems and Applied Signal Technology area. Most recently, Flores served as the vice president of Electronic Warfare Systems at Raytheon Company’s Space and Airborne Systems business prior to Raytheon Company’s merger with United Technologies Corporation in 2020.
She was previously director of the Airborne Early Warning and Reconnaissance Systems product line within the Space and Airborne Systems Secure Sensor Solutions mission area. She has also been the manager for the Silent Knight Radar product line and held various business development roles at Raytheon Company’s corporate team and with its Intelligence, Information and Services business. Flores was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She earned a dual master’s degree in mechanical engineering and a MBA through MIT’s Leaders for Global Operations program. She also earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the institution.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Growing up in a small town, I didn’t always feel like I “fit in.” Sometimes I was teased and called names because I loved math and science. My middle school math teacher had an engineering degree, and he saw something in me. He was the first person to suggest that I should become an engineer. I was about 12 years old at the time, and I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. When he explained that engineers use math and science together to solve problems — he had my attention. So, after some initial research, the lightbulb went off in my head: engineering is what I wanted to pursue as a career. I got involved in extracurricular STEM programs and found other people like me. That led me to MIT and eventually to Raytheon Technologies, and I “fit in” so well here that I’ve been with Raytheon Intelligence & Space for more than 20 years. Looking back, it’s amazing to think that one teacher taking an interest in me could make such a strong impact on my life.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began at your company?
One of the most memorable experiences of my professional career took place during my very first role at Raytheon Technologies as a program manager. My team was being asked to create and deliver a capability for a customer in record time — far less time than we normally spent on similar projects. Statistically, we had a zero percent chance of success, and my role was to be a leader for this team and rally the troops. It was an extremely daunting task. In the end, the team delivered on time. While it was a tough battle, I felt energized by the fact that I helped motivate this team to produce great results. Most people would never want to be in that type of situation and under that much pressure, but it’s the kind of experience that will teach you so much. For me, I learned that I was on the right career path.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Thinking back, I have been with this company for 23 years, and while I have made mistakes along the way, the good and bad experiences blur together. In my opinion, you learn from every experience. Even failures, or something that is perceived as a failure at that point in time, will allow you to find a silver lining and teach you a lesson that will help you better yourself. You have to learn from every mistake or misstep and then move forward. I think that looking forward is almost a superpower that helps you forget those small moments or mistakes.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
When I first joined Raytheon Technologies as a summer intern, I was very engineering-focused and I wanted to work on cutting-edge projects. Thankfully, even as an intern, I was given the opportunity to have the types of experiences I was longing for. I wasn’t just given busy work, but rather concrete assignments that supported what both employees and customers needed to be successful. From that, I knew I could build a career here at Raytheon Technologies and would always be involved in the innovative projects that first drew me to the company.
One aspect of my work that I didn’t fully understand as a young engineer was how critical our technologies are to keeping our nation and our allies safe. Today, Raytheon Intelligence & Space does a phenomenal job at combining both innovation and protection. For example, innovation is what typically attracts engineering staff — we work on some of the most cutting-edge technologies in the world. But once on board, you also find a common purpose of knowing the work we do saves lives, and this becomes the driving reason behind why we come to work every day.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I have worked in this industry for a very long time and there are few things I can share about the work that I do. However, I am leading a team doing exciting work with high-energy laser weapons, which I am able to discuss.
Small, cheap drones are easily available today and they can be very dangerous weapons. Anyone can go online and buy a drone and potentially do something nefarious with it, and these threats are changing how we view the battlefield, airports and even large public events.
But drones can be very tricky to target, track, identify and take down, and we have to think creatively to defend against these threats. That’s why we are working with our customers and partners across the industry to develop lasers as a defensive weapon.
It sounds like science fiction or something from Star Wars, but at Raytheon Intelligence & Space, we’ve made defensive laser weapons a reality.
At RI&S, we have a phenomenal team with a diverse mix of talents that has quickly pulled together years of research and technology to create something entirely new. And we’ve proven that it works — on test ranges and in real life. Today, we have active laser weapon systems deployed with the U.S. military in the field to stop drones and protect lives.
And we are using that research while working on new systems to create new capabilities, which has been a great achievement of this team and a phenomenal testament to the innovation I mentioned earlier. High-energy laser technology is a game changer in how we defend and how we use resources to give the people on the front lines one more tool to keep them safe.
Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Are you currently satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM? What specific changes do you think are needed to change the status quo?
There is so much more room for improvement across the industry to make sure we have the right level of representation of women in STEM at all levels. My graduating class at MIT was 42% women, so I know there are strong candidates out there. Somehow, we are losing them as they enter the workforce.
Many young girls lose interest in math and science due to peer pressure and interests in other activities, so we have more work to do to help build confidence and foster a lifelong interest in this area. Raytheon Technologies proudly partners with organizations that cultivate STEM skills and critical thinking among students. We are committed to helping build and maintain a strong pipeline of female innovators, and know it’s important to communicate the career paths that STEM offers and how they are so useful in helping solve the world’s problems.
At the same time, we are doing more to increase the levels of active representation of women within our executive ranks. Knowing and seeing strong, diverse women at all levels of leadership is one of those factors that can help encourage other women to continue to pursue careers in STEM fields. The challenge is: how do we scale that to reach half of the world’s population? There is a lot of work that needs to be done to answer this question.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women in STEM or Tech that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts? What would you suggest to address this?
There is a lot of research that shows most women are judged based on what they have achieved in comparison to how most men are judged based on their potential. This creates an uneven set of evaluation criteria when considering women for hiring and promotions, so we have to challenge preconceived notions as we evaluate candidates. Within Raytheon Technologies, we are continuing to create diverse hiring panels for our interview processes to overcome those challenges. We are mindful that we owe everyone equal opportunity.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a woman in STEM or Tech. Can you explain what you mean?
Throughout my career, I have heard stereotypes that are harmful in so many ways. There are a lot of assumptions about what women want in terms of their careers so they are not given as many opportunities. “Mommy tracks” is a common term across industries, where people are trying to interpret and help women achieve “goals” that they might not necessarily have for themselves. This has proven to be harmful, and organizations are much better off if they sit down one-on-one with women in these positions and have an open conversation about what they want to achieve and how their organization can help them get there.
At Raytheon Technologies, we have a great program that helps women re-enter the workforce after taking time off. Providing women with these types of opportunities gives them a clear path to follow as they re-focus on their careers.
On the other hand, I think we need to normalize flexibility to support all employees who want more balance between their personal and professional lives.
Workplace flexibility should be offered to all employees. Allowing a workforce to be flexible with their priorities at any point in their career is only going to help retain people in the organization, while also keeping their minds as active as possible. If companies are more flexible and creative, it will allow for their employees to be their best selves at work.
What are your “5 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Experience as a Woman in STEM or Tech” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Be a people watcher. This is a trait I began incorporating early in my career. I have found that it can be beneficial to take a look at the people around you and determine who has the coolest job or who has impressive leadership or technical skills. Then, work to understand how they chose that career path and how they developed the specific skills you admire.
By doing this, I have identified strong mentors to help guide my career. I have found that the more open you are to talk about your gaps and areas for improvement within your network, the more willing the people around you are to help. I believe this is how I landed where I am today in my career — by being very open and by learning that it’s okay to be vulnerable with people. Those people very often end up in your corner and want to see you succeed.
I think this also applies to leadership styles. Reflecting on leaders you admire and their unique leadership styles can help you improve who you are as a leader. Doing this has made me more comfortable with who I am as a leader and has also helped me identify areas of improvement.
What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?
It is important for leaders to remember that yes, you are leading a team. But that team is made up of individuals. If you take the time to form individual relationships with each one of those people and understand their strengths, weaknesses, goals, and what makes them tick, you can determine what type of team environment will help those individuals flourish. Sometimes it is easy to lose sight of the fact that each individual person makes up a team, so pulling that knowledge from all of those individual relationships is one of the best ways for people to feel valued.
What advice would you give to other women leaders about the best way to manage a large team?
Remember that authenticity becomes more important the larger your team gets. When managing large teams, it is harder to get that one-on-one time that is more accessible with smaller teams. You develop a reputation for the type of leader you are. So, on a large team, your employees might not know you personally but they will know your reputation. Being authentic will help you succeed not only by enabling you to connect with your team, but people will want to work with you because of the personal brand you have created for yourself.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I was connected to my very first mentor at Raytheon Technologies through one of our Employee Resource Groups. She was a program manager who started her career as an engineer. At the time, I was an engineer and was working to figure out what I wanted to do next, and I remember thinking, “Wow, her job is so cool.” But I had been focused on engineering for so long, and it was not easy for me to shift to a new mindset. Seeing her in a project management role made it possible for me to see myself in a similar one. Thanks to her, I knew that I could still use my engineering skills to do something fundamentally different while also leading a team. So, I fully credit her for opening my mind and showing me how to use my background to do a job that was interesting, challenging and, ultimately, became my passion.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Very early on in my career I joined multiple ERGs at Raytheon Technologies because I wanted to be a part of helping with STEM outreach for women and people of color — something I have been passionate about for a very long time.
There are so many people who helped me get to where I am today, and giving back is something I enjoy doing and feel a responsibility to do. I’ve been involved in mentoring, tutoring, and leading various science clubs, which has now evolved into being a part of the Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering, an organization that helps cultivate interest in engineering among underrepresented groups — including minorities, girls, and underserved rural communities like the one I grew up in.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Something that has been eye-opening to me, especially since the pandemic began, is how prevalent food insecurity is within our communities. During my time at Raytheon Intelligence & Space, I have enjoyed volunteering with Feeding America, which is one of our corporate partners. My team and I have helped fundraise for Feeding America and their community partners, in addition to distributing healthy fresh and non-perishable food to our neighbors in need. I am proud that Raytheon Intelligence & Space supports organizations and causes like this, and that employees like me are able to lend a helping hand in the communities where we live and work.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Keep learning. This is something that has been important to me my whole life and a motto that I live by. Education does not stop when you graduate. As an engineer and as an engineering student, you learn how to tackle a problem. And, when you graduate and begin working, you learn how to apply those skills for the rest of your life. Even though I have been at Raytheon Technologies for 23 years, I have held about 15 different roles because I always have the desire to learn more. These experiences really helped me grow as both a person and a leader.
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the U.S. 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 🙂
I really enjoy reading, and I recently read two autobiographies by very influential CEOs — one by Ursula Burns, the former CEO of Xerox, and the other by Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo. What they were able to accomplish in their lives and careers is inspiring. Beyond their professional experiences, so many of their stories about their individual childhoods and families really resonated with me. I would love the opportunity to sit down with both women to learn more about them and to get guidance on my career journey.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Raytheon’s Annabel Flores On The 5 Leadership Lessons She… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.