The Oxford Dictionary defines the word “leader,” as a person who leads or commands a group, organization or country, but is leadership really so black and white? What qualities, characteristics and traits comprise a true leader? Since there seems to be no one answer to this difficult question, we decided to ask the 2017 WIT Leadership Award nominees to get their thoughts. What do you think? Did they hit the nail on the head?

What Makes a Great Leader?

In the spirit of Women’s History Month, this blog is part of a Women in Technology (WIT) series honoring women doing amazing work across technology roles and organizations.   As we move towards WIT’s May 11, 2017 Leadership Awards event, we are featuring real life stories and insights of women who are rising, leading, and paving the way. 

This final installment of the “Best Advice I’ve ever received,” shows once again the diversity and wisdom emanating from our 2017 Leadership Award Finalists.  Take note and take some of this great advice to heart…..

In the spirit of Women’s History Month, this blog is part of a Women in Technology (WIT) series honoring women doing amazing work across technology roles and organizations.   As we move towards WIT’s May 11, 2017 Leadership Awards event, we are featuring real life stories and insights of women who are rising, leading, and paving the way. 

This year, from our Women in Technology 2017 Leadership Awards Finalists, we have a rich treasure trove of “Best Advice I’ve ever received.”   As began in an earlier blog post, today we continue with some diverse insight from our Finalists.  Enjoy these snippets of advice….

In the spirit of Women’s History Month, this blog is part of a Women in Technology (WIT) series honoring women doing amazing work across technology roles and organizations.   As we move towards WIT’s May 11, 2017 Leadership Awards event, we are featuring real life stories and insights of women who are rising, leading, and paving the way.

Good advice is hard to find and not all advice is created equal.  Yet, at Women in Technology, we believe that it’s worth listing to the things that the women being honored as finalists in this year’s Leadership Awards celebration have to say….

Shining a light on women at all stages and in a variety of roles in the technology industry is part of what we cultivate at Women in Technology.  We take our our mission seriously to walk with women “from the classroom to the boardroom.”  That’s why, in addition to honoring pillars of industry in the DC region, like Kay Kapoor of AT&T,  we also shine a light on women who are carefully and methodically working hard and working their way up, showing great successes early-on in their career journeys.

Today, across the United States, the UK, and Australia, Women’s History Month recognitions begin as the month unfolds.  Combined with the commemoration of International Women’s Day celebrated around the world on March 8, it is a time of year to reflect on the vast contributions of women to global culture, economic vitality, history and society.

AI has long fascinated us as a society, becoming central to the plots of numerous thriller movies and novels. Now AI is no longer just fiction; it is a reality, and its applications are broad reaching. AI-based technology is already allowing us to make invaluable advancements in medicine, cybersecurity, transportation, finance, and education. The potential benefits are so great, they are driving billions of dollars of investment.

In preparation for next week’s WIT Connect around AI, we sat down with Chuck Howell - Chief Engineer for Intelligence Programs & Integration at the Center for National Security, MITRE – to gauge his thoughts on AI; what it is and where it’s headed.

Incessant rain didn’t deter 110 attendees from attending an engaging evening of networking, educational and recruitment opportunities on January 17. WIT’s “Navigating the Multigenerational Office: Communication Strategies for Successful Teams” event, hosted and sponsored by KPMG at their DC office, and also sponsored by Fiscal Note, was a huge success.

The presentation featured moderator, Ginger Bonin, Managing Director, KPMG, who represented the Baby Boomer generation’s point of view.  The panel of generation representatives included Dawn Fournier, (Gen Y) an experienced marketer and Georgetown MBA student, Lisa Frumin, (Gen X), CEO, The Heart Alchemist, Leadership & Career Coach and Nora Chazan, (Millennial) a Senior Associate, KPMG.

With October’s WIT Connect right around the corner, we sat down with panel moderator, Laurie Wiggins, for a quick take on some of the topics to be discussed during this Thursday’s panel discussion. Laurie is the CEO and Founder of Sysenex Incorporated, a systems engineering company, with 28 years of experience in engineering and business development.

An entrepreneur and an engineer, Laurie shared some thoughts around questions that will be asked of WIT’s panel of experts --

In preparation for next week’s WIT Connect Panel, we sat down with panelist Camille Tuutti, the Executive Editor at NextGov, to chat all things IoT. Camille is responsible for the editorial vision and strategy at NextGov, having previously served as editorial director at FedScoop, and prior to that, was a staff writer and "People" section editor at Federal Computer Week. Before that, Camille worked as a news editor and reporter, covering government contracting and IT.

A long-time journalist in the federal government space, Camille shared with us her thoughts on the Internet of Things; where she is seeing opportunities, challenges, and how government entities are taking advantage of IoT.

Clarity, Vision and the Importance of Knowing What You Want

By Shari J. Goodwin 

Connected devices are all around us; in the cars we drive, the smart thermostats we install in our homes and the smartphones we always have within reach. Take fitness trackers for example; according to Forrester Research, more than 20 percent of U.S. adults use a wearable device on a daily basis. These devices are counting our steps, monitoring our sleep patterns and helping us to live a healthier life. They’re also commercializing the Internet of Things (IoT).

IoT is changing everything from the way we deliver healthcare and receive in-home entertainment to how manufacturing facilities and other critical infrastructure run. Organizations around the globe are embracing IoT to listen to their data, analyze patterns and trends and make real-time, autonomous decisions at a massive scale. If the rise of these connected devices tells us anything, it’s that big data is here to stay - and there’s more to IoT than just being connected.

Mary-Claire Burrick, President, Rosslyn Business Improvement District

by Trish Barber, President, 3WaysDigital

We had an impressive turn out for the Women Business Owner’s first Spring into Action session "Communicating, Writing, and Winning: An Insider's Guide to the Proposal Process" on April 26th at Venable with Tim Gibson as the speaker. Our series this Spring is focused on adding resources and information to your business owner toolbox that will help you to grow and protect your ideas and venture.

The feedback for Tim’s session was great, and we appreciate him taking the time to share his insights about how to win Government funding to help grow your business.  We asked him for a summary of his presentation. He sent a few tips for proposal writing and included some additional information at the links below. First the tips:

• Proposal writing is much like taking a written exam. First, read the question.  If necessary reread it several times. Answer the question (proposal), clearly, precisely, understandably, completely, and with as much detail as required.
• The goal is for the readers to understand what you propose to do with as little time/difficulty on their part as possible.  A hard to understand proposal … is a hard to fund proposal.
• The proposal should flow logically from one concept to another.  Explain each concept “clearly, precisely, and understandably.”  If several concept/ideas/products will be put together into a component or deliverable, explain how this “integrating” will be done after explaining the individual parts.
• If there are technical or programmatic risks to what you are doing, address how you will deal with those risks to minimize the Government’s risk.  Ideally, move any risk reduction forward in the schedule; this avoids cataclysmic problems at the end.  Do not try to hide the risk or hope the customer “will not see it.”
• Never underestimate the power of a figure or diagram to explain something better than a page of text.  Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words.
• Facts work better than hyperbole.  If your company is great or your employees are more highly trained, explain why this is true, don’t just claim it.
• Tailor your past performance section on every proposal, don’t just pull that section from the last proposal and recycle it.
• Write in “one voice.”  Even if several people are collaborating, have one person go through and make everything read like one person wrote it because a “one voice” proposal is easier to read and looks far more professional.
• Pay special attention to the Executive Summary. It is your “elevator speech” to get them interested and keep them reading.  If you wrote it early in the process, edit it last to ensure it reflects your final proposal and that it is as clear and compelling as possible.
• Plan your time; avoid the dreaded weekender or all-nighter; and above all, good luck!

If you have questions, Tim would love to hear from you at [email protected].  His web site is www.parasangsolutions.com.  He also shared a shorter version of his presentation, which is available at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sx308qwkm3jpbwi/AADe9WpYwgxLUZUVOV56EqrWa?dl=0
 
We look forward to seeing you at Session 2 of our WBO SIG Spring into Action series, Protecting Your Business: The Nuts and Bolts of Navigating Contracts & Beyond, on May 31st!
 
Arti and Robin
 
Arti Varanasi, Chair, WBO SIG
Robin McDougal, Vice Chair, WBO SIG

This month’s blog posting is an excerpt from the Diversity Best Practices newsletter.

Balancing the Genders in STEM
By Lindsey Clark, Member Research Analyst, Diversity Best Practices
Publication Date: May 24, 2016

Suzanne Campbell is a recognized business and technology leader in the Federal IT community. Her 20+ years of experience span tenures at VMware, EMC, IBM and her own consulting practice. Suzanne has accomplished a strong track record of success with over 14 years in leadership positions. Suzanne has led teams ranging from 10 to 100+ employees, exceeding business growth objectives and delivering successful customer business and IT outcomes. Suzanne thrives leading and growing high performing solutions and engineering sales teams, supporting team and individual development, and cultivating collaborative partnerships internally and with clients and solution providers across the Federal ecosystem. Her background includes expertise in software development, systems engineering, program management, pre-sales systems and solutions engineering, business and financial operations. Suzanne holds a B.S in Computer Science from Virginia Tech and is a certified Project Management Professional.

YP team met with Suzanne for a short interview to get to know her, here is a summary.

Describe, anonymously or not, the best manager you know, and why they are so good at it.
Suzanne thinks that the key characteristic of highly skilled managers are being a listener, not a teller and an enabler without micromanaging so that one can bring the best out of employees.

What music are you grooving on?
Suzanne is currently listening lots of pop as that’s what her 13 year old and 15 year old are into in addition to GarageBand. She enjoys 80s, 90s music.

Any tips on staying energized when the going gets tough?
Reframe the situation. Listen to the inside message because chaos is opportunity and solving means growth.

What are some of your favorite vacation spots?
Suzanne has a couple. SF for its innovation and beauty, DC for being the most powerful city, Italy is her favorite vacation spot and she also enjoys diving in Maui. She used to be a scuba diver!

Maria Sasinowski started at Microsoft less than three years ago as their first Federal Sales college hire in the pre-sales engineering role.  She has since been a key player in Microsoft’s first cloud deals for the intelligence community and lead the Windows 10 migration sales strategy for DoD. In November, she became an Account Executive on the Army team managing 350,000 users across give major commands. She will be the chapter lead for Girls in Technology NoVa next year and has been a guest speaker for girls in STEM at high schools in Metro DC.

YP team met with Maria for a short interview to get to know her, here is a summary.

What music are you grooving on?
Maria is so into Brian Adams' new rock/pop album and is a big fan of Sia.

Describe, anonymously or not, the best manager you know, and why they are so good at it.
Maria had 3 managers within 4 years whom she is grateful for different aspects of their managerial skills.  She had a hardworking technical manager who would fight for the team, another sharp one with great diplomacy and political skills, one who is big on recognition and awards and finally one who would treat the team with fairness.

Any tips on staying energized when the going gets tough?
Maria calls her favorite customer to cheer up and get some positive energy. However, she suggests to remind ourselves what gets us excited and employ that.

You win the lottery for $10 million. What do you do?
Maria would invest it and would not tell anyone! She also added that a vacation would be another way to spend the money yet it’s not enough to quit her job.

Founder and President of eGlobalTech, Sonya Jain, a PMI certified individual, has 20 years of Information Technology (IT) and management-consulting experience working primarily in the Federal Government sector. She founded eGlobalTech in 2004 with a vision of creating a family-friendly company based upon principles of the book Fish!: Bring a positive attitude to the job; be present; have fun; and make someone’s day! After more than a decade as a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, Sonya left to start eGlobalTech; determined to create a company that could be successful in providing management consulting services and be responsive to client needs.

YP team met with Sonya for a short interview to get to know her, here is a summary.

Annelise Dubrovsky is a Senior Manager of Product Management at Appian, the world's leading Business Process Management company. Annelise has spent over ten years shaping, building, and delivering Appian’s product vision to more than 4 million users worldwide. She is the leader of a portfolio comprising five development teams, a co-author of Appian's patent-pending SAIL technology, and a frequent speaker to customers and prospects. 

Annelise is a long-standing champion of Appian corporate culture and an ambassador for women employees, serving as a mentor and board member of Appian's Women's Leadership Program.  She has a Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University and lives in Herndon with her husband and daughter where she enjoys cooking in her free time.

Sophia Paros is the Cyber Technical & Development Support Team Lead of the Cyber Security Workforce Technical Programs Branch supporting the Cyber Workforce Development Division of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). In this role, she provides oversight and guidance to both government civilian and contract personnel to manage to cost, schedule and performance of the Information Assurance Support Environment (IASE) ‐ DoD’s primary source for Information Assurance training, policy & guidance, and Cyber Defender ‐ DISA’s continual cybersecurity awareness program. Sophia earned a dual‐Bachelors in Business and Information Systems from the Notre Dame of Maryland University, and a Masters of Science in Engineering Management from George Washington University. She enjoys spending time with her Big Fat Greek Family, traveling, and crafting.

On sexism in the workplace:
I actually started off as a software engineer, so that’s really male dominated, and I was often the token female in the room or on the project or in the development phase, and it was hard to gain the same level of respect that my male counterparts did.