Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | February 7, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 7 W O M E N I N L E A D E R S H I P F O C U S potential. While she said she never personally experienced the impact of sexism in her career, she is a member of the Boston chapter of CHIEF, a private organization where women senior leaders work to support one another through peer coaching groups. "ough I haven't really experienced being held back due to my gender per- sonally, I know many women who have, so I think I have been able to help coach them and provide them insights and guidance," she said. Peacock said women have a sense of self-doubt, which men lack. As a result, she would encourage women to take the risk and apply for a position even if they are hesitant. If her mentors hadn't pushed her to try, she would not be in leadership today. "I really hope my role as president in a male-dominated industry helps other women realize that they can go aer their dreams of being an executive. Although I have not been held back, it has not been an easy road," she said. In the service of others e power of service is intrinsic to Peacock's leadership style. Whether it is serving her 750 employees or spear- heading sustainability practices, she is conscious of FLEXcon's impact on others. "While she brought a tremendous track record and a high level of confi- dence in terms of how to do her job, and do it well, she was also very hum- ble," said Winkler, the former president and CEO of FLEXcon. Peacock's humility and compe- tence were a perfect fit for FLEXcon's instituted servant leadership model, Winkler said. Rather than a traditional leadership structure where executives are in a top-down hierarchy, the servant leadership model focuses on supporting workers from the ground up. "We have to serve the people before we earn the right to lead them," Winkler said. Winkler said Peacock easily em- braced FLEXcon's individuals-first philosophy because it is a part of her own personal ethos as well. "It is easy for us to talk about the buildings and the products and the computers and the machines and the plants, the list goes on and on. e reality of it is that nothing is possible without the people," he said. While traditionally manufacturing has been male-dominated, the industry has improved throughout the decades and still has quite a way to go, Winkler said. Winkler has always believed in hiring the right person for the job and is proud FLEXcon's five-person executive team includes Peacock and Chief Operating Officer Kara Weiner. "I did not hire female executives to satisfy some sort of quota or to inten- tionally balance the team. Literally in each of those situations we did exhaus- tive interviews … and we offered those positions to those individuals without looking at gender, skin color, or ethnic- ity," he said. Commitment to sustainability Peacock has impacted the sustainabil- ity of not just FLEXcon, but other print manufacturers, said Rosalyn Bandy, vice president of sustainability at the Tag & Label Manufacturers Institute. "ere are lead- ers that are in the category of 'Yes, but' and then there are people in the category of 'Yes, and' and what that means is that she is always listening to ideas," Bandy said. Peacock is the chairperson of TLMI's Sustainability Leadership Awards Rosalyn Bandy, VP sustainability at Tag & Label Manufacturers Institute Central Mass. manufacturing leaders, by gender Largest companies, by employees Top executive Gender Dell Technologies, Hopkinton Michael Dell Male IPG Photonics Corp., Oxford Eugene Scherbakov Male Waters Corp., Milford Udit Batra Male Saint-Gobain, Worcester Pierre-Andre de Chalendar Male Jabil, Clinton Mark Mondello Male Bose Corp., Framingham Lila Synder Female Boston Scientific Corp., Marlborough Michael Mahoney Male Bristol Myers Squibb Co., Devens Giovanni Caforio Male Raytheon Technologies, Marlborough Gregory Hayes Male Columbia Tech, Westborough Chris Coghlin Male Sources: Each manufacturer via survey, annual reports, company websites, and Mass. Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development National manufacturing industry workers by sex: 1970-2016 Gender (in percentage) 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2016 Men 71.4 68.1 66.8 68.5 70.7 71 Women 28.6 31.9 33.2 31.5 29.3 29 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, October 2017 Roles of women in manufacturing Job % women Sales and office 52% Managment, business, science, and arts 28% Service 28% Production, transportation, and material moving 27% Natural resources, construction, and maintenance 6% Source: U.S. Cenusus Bureau, 2016 Committee, which highlights the sus- tainability of other manufacturers and suppliers. Peacock developed the monthly Champions of Change campaign to help recognize the forward-thinking envi- ronmental actions of companies. Bandy finds Peacock's leadership style refreshing, especially for the president of such a large organization. Like Winkler, Bandy has seen the slow evolution of women leaders in manufacturing and believes the indus- try is gaining a greater appreciation for the different leadership styles women have to offer. Both TLMI's president and chairperson are women. "Her personality and leadership style are going to continue the trend within the industry of women in leadership positions because she has that mindset of service," Bandy said. In a world where all industries are facing labor shortages, having a positive leader like Peacock can be highly attrac- tive to workers, said Bandy. "As a worker, no matter what your level in a company, it's just always good to be appreciated, and I think that is really where Aimee shines," she said. W

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