Tell me about your career journey and your time at BAE Systems?
I started at BAE Systems as a deputy program manager (PM), with responsibility for risk management and ground support equipment development on the Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures (ATIRCM) contract in 2008. My next three roles were all on ATIRCM and Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) – first a logistics Program Manager managing our Field Service Representative teams in Iraq and Afghanistan, then a development PM working hostile fire capability, and then a PM implementing software development. I then moved into international sales as a capture manager for APKWS® laser-guidance kit. In addition to leading foreign military sales and direct commercial sales contracts across the world, I got the opportunity to co-author the Business Winning white book and launch/co-teach the first international sales class. After that, I moved into the Quality leadership role, first with the legacy Survivability, Targeting, & Sensing Solutions (STS) business area and now with our Countermeasure & Electromagnetic Attack Solutions (CEMA) business.
How did your time in the Air Force influence your views of leadership?
Leadership in the civilian world and in the military world are very different. In the military, following orders can mean life or death for a team and questioning leadership decisions is often discouraged. But as a leader in the civilian world, the worst thing you can do is create a team where everyone blindly executes on a path forward and is reluctant to share when they think it’s not the best approach. It is up to you to create an environment that fosters all voices, and where your team is encouraged to bring up alternate viewpoints and share their inputs.
What have you learned from people who have helped shape your own career?
The people I’ve loved working for the most are those that trust and empower you – believing in your ability to do the job at hand and being given the freedom to express yourself. I’ve also loved the idea of bringing psychology into the workplace and trying to understand how people think differently, and adapting your style to suit them. Taking this approach allows you to bring out the best in everybody.
What are things employees can do to stay at the top of their professional game?
There was a Group Finance Director at Rochester when I was relatively young who was a brilliant leader. He dealt with everyone differently based on who they were and their personality. He set an example to me by empowering and trusting me, without becoming a micro-manager. That really inspired me to do my best work. Knowing that a senior leader trusted my judgement to deliver an important piece of work made me feel special and it’s something I’ve always tried to mimic and hopefully therefore inspire others to do their best work.
How have you adapted to learn so much about the wide portfolio you’re responsible for?
I think the best things you can do are to listen and observe. People often think that professional development is only about setting aside time to read a book or take a class, but you can drive a ton of growth inside the work you do every day. Listen carefully when people are speaking or giving feedback -- what message are they sending and what can you learn from that to grow? Watch the interactions in meetings. Observe postures, facial reactions, the tone of voices, and how people respond based on what they are saying or hearing. Developing the ability to ask insightful questions, with very little background or program knowledge, is a powerful skill and a very hard skill to develop. You can practice this by listening to the questions other leaders ask.
What role does ongoing professional development play in success?
I think professional development is key to achieving career success, but it’s up to you to invest in it. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day deliverables and tasks and forget to invest in yourself. Whether it’s setting aside time to expand your network, reading a book on development, or requesting to shadow someone on a new skill, you own that.
How do you maintain a healthy balance between your personal life and your role as a senior leader in the organization?
I think the important thing is to set boundaries and keep to them. Work is never 100 percent done and has a way of bleeding into a lot of your overall life – and if you don’t set those boundaries, it can take over. Finding that balance between work and personal life is an important piece of being a successful leader – you can’t be your best self without it.
How does putting Quality First help employees on their own career journey?
When I think about Quality First, I think about being ‘brilliant on the basics’ – understanding your job and your processes, while driving excellence in what you do. It is important to think about the future and what you want to achieve, but the best thing you can do to get there is to drive excellence in your present. Some people spend so much time thinking about their next step and trying to get the next job, they never master their current job. We need to focus on learning and excelling in what we are doing today in order to move up and succeed in the future.
What is your favorite piece of mentoring advice?
Often people move up into leadership because they were outstanding individual contributors; they know how to get the job done and be successful. New leaders may adapt a directive leadership style, thinking their value is imparting their wisdom and direction to the team. However, this creates doers, not thinkers. I encourage those I mentor to work on figuring out how to guide their team to solving problems themselves.
I recently learned a new leadership technique that I love – it’s the concept of determining if your people want you to hear, help, or handle a problem. Sometimes people just want you to hear what they are struggling with or working on. Other times they may want you to help them to come up with a solution, or even handle it for them directly. New leaders have a tendency to step in and handle or solve their problems for them, but that isn’t always the best option for growth of others. It’s important to understand where your people are in their development and what they need to be successful. Your best-case scenario is when you can grow your team to the point where they don’t need you!
By Timm Huffman, Communications