Melba Cuyahon: Woman at the helm

Women are leaders everywhere you look — from the CEO who runs a Fortune 500 company to the housewife who raises her children and heads her household. Our country was built by strong women, and we will continue to break down walls and defy stereotypes.”

These are the words of American Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, who herself broke the proverbial glass ceiling by becoming the first female Speaker of the US House of Representatives in 2007 — a position she held until 2011.

The fact is, it’s not only in politics that women are proving themselves to be leaders. Even in professions or industries that are perceived to be male-dominated, women are showing that they have what it takes to become top executives. One such example is Virginia Melba Cuyahon, chairperson of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. or SEIPI, the biggest organization of foreign and Filipino semiconductor and electronics companies in the Philippines.

Currently the vice president and general manager of the Philippine manufacturing plant of STMicroelectronics  Inc. (ST) in Calamba, Laguna, Melba, a BS Chemical Engineering graduate from St. Louis University in Baguio City, saw how the semiconductor and electronics industry in the Philippines has grown from a fledgling sector into a major contributor to the country’s economic growth, with electronics exports soaring to a record-high $32.7 billion last year.

Melba Cuyahon believes in developing a culture of excellence to become successful.

In the early 1980s, there were only a handful of players in the semiconductor and electronics industry. Today, there are about 250 companies, the lady executive says, disclosing that she has been in the industry for 30 years now, having done work ranging from process engineering to production, facilities management and operations before rising to the position of vice president and general manager of Philips Semiconductors then on to NXP Semiconductors. 

Today, she helms the state-of-the-art ST plant in Calamba that has 1,600 employees. The plant is an important cog in the wheel of STMicroelectronics, a global company headquartered in Geneva whose 2017 revenue is at $8.35 billion. STMicroelectronics provides innovative semiconductor solutions for smart driving and the Internet of Things (IoT). The products are found everywhere, addressing the rise of the smart home, buildings and cities with secure and multifunction chips in “smart meters.”

“I like working in a company that can influence the lives of people — because we are dealing with technologies that influence our lives in our day-to-day living. If you talk about the future, technology goes with it, and this industry is preparing us for the future.” 

Asked what has helped her stay on top of her game all these years, she remarks, “When you are given an opportunity to handle a new job, you have to grow in that job. You can’t just say ‘Okay, I’m in this position and I will just do my work.’ I think I performed well — so my boss is not always looking behind my back,” she laughs, reveling in the opportunity to have the freedom and creativity to craft her own strategies to ensure that the organization achieves its desired results. For instance, when ST bought into NXP Semiconductors, she “carried the whole organization,” taking 90 percent of the people because they already had the required competency and experience to do the job.

Certainly, the work is very demanding and entails a lot of traveling because it has to do with new technologies that are emerging all over the world. “When you are an engineer, you travel a lot,” she says. And being a woman in an industry that is still largely associated with men, Melba admits that challenges are par for the course, especially since “there are still some cultures that do not really look up to women.”

Effective leadership, however, is not determined by gender, but in one’s ability to inspire others and encourage them to work for a common goal. Melba shares her experience teaching management in another country, observing that the man in charge was using a very authoritative style of management. “I always tell my people that when you use that style in managing people, (success) is only temporary. What is more lasting is when you inspire people to achieve the goal, because then, it multiplies tenfold,” she concludes.