Meet Mike Battle, President of BRMi, who led initiatives to carry out major transformation and change for major Federal organizations such as the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Consumer Packaged Goods Industry, and U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service. BRMi is a leader in management consulting services for the Federal and Commercial markets. Prior to working at BRMi, Battle worked for many large organizations such as IBM, HPTI, and AppNet. Last week, Battle sat down with WashingtonExec’s Aisha Jamil to discuss his professional background, the Federal budget situation, and why he thinks you should read 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni.
WashingtonExec: Could you talk about your professional background? What was your focus before you became the President of BRMi?
Mike Battle: After undergraduate and grad school at James Madison University, and for the early part of my career, I worked primarily for large companies. First with IBM as a public relations specialist and later a marketing representative and manager. There, I was raised on a unique culture of individual empowerment and servant leadership. The IBM of the 80s and early 90s provided a great learning environment. When the services market began to take off, I got an opportunity to be a part of the startup of Computer Sciences Corporation’s commercial outsourcing business. At IBM, I learned how to navigate the executive suite and the value of the services “cost model” working on extremely large scale outsourcing deals (Hughes Aircraft, JP Morgan, ING North America).
During the late 90s, the energy around Dot.com was peaking and my career focus became improving supply chain efficiencies. As part of CSC’s commercial consulting business and later with Ken Bajaj’s Appnet , I began to understand the importance of an individual’s professional network and the Beltway’s One Degree of Separation Effect. This became even more ingrained when Dot.bomb hit and the scramble for stable environments occurred around the country. This time also presented interesting opportunities. A fellow JMU College of Business board member, Don Fitzpatrick, asked me to join him at High Performance Technologies, Inc. (HPTI). It was at HPTI, I gained a real understanding of the federal space and the challenges they face. I was asked to be a part of a team supporting OMB’s development of the Federal Lines of Business initiative.
Based upon my comprehensive business background, and insight into the challenges government organizations face in executing change, I saw an opportunity to make a difference. I learned that having the right solution wasn’t enough to execute change. Governance, effective communication, and engagement of stakeholders was just as important to success as having the right solution. I took the opportunity to start BRMi with the idea of building a firm thats mission was to help organizations execute change. I love what I do and what our team has created. It has allowed me to take the best of the cultures I experienced and avoid the worst of those cultures.
WashingtonExec: What is the number one way to create a business that empowers employees and lets them give back to the community?
Mike Battle: In my opinion, it first requires a recognition that you value the intellectual capital individuals bring to the business. Rather than a focus on predefined jobs and responsibilities and overly hierarchical decision making, I believe that everyone brings the accumulated knowledge of their professional experiences. Unleashing and empowering them to help define the business, letting them try and sometimes fail is the key to an empowered organization. At BRMi, we talk a lot about passions and “YaYa’s”. We encourage every individual to express their passion both professionally and personally during the interview process. The firm helps them fulfill those passions by committing financial resources to the causes they support. Overall, we support organizations such as the Center for Adoption Support and Education (CASE) and Tear Drops to Rainbows (T2R), both of which senior management of the firm are active board members. We lead by example.
WashingtonExec: Is there a specific reason (professional or personal) that BRMi focuses it consulting services primarily on Homeland Security issues?
First of all, our services portfolio extends beyond our core management consulting services. We now are providing more classic IT services such as cloud solutions design and implementation and cyber security risk analysis. The key reason is that we see a tremendous opportunity to be impactful in an area so critical to our Nation. We also feel strongly about the work we do at Department of State, PBGC, Department of Labor, and other non-DHS organizations. I believe it is a privilege to serve our Nation’s government.Our mission is to help our government serve the citizens of the United States.
WashingtonExec: How has the federal budget situation impacted your business and why do you think BRMi is still here while others have had their doors closed?
Mike Battle: Budget challenges are always a concern, particularly for a small business. At present, our work has been in mission critical areas that have not yet been hit by the budget crunch. But, we are preparing for the inevitable. BRMi’s success starts with our people. We are fortunate to have hired some of the smartest, most dedicated people around the beltway. This coupled with our commitment to delivering mission-focused services and maintaining the highest past performance track record possible seems to be the formula for our continued growth.
WashingtonExec: What is the last book you read? What did you think of it?
Mike Battle: The last book was the “5 Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni. I loved it because it described the challenges that face all organizations and especially senior leaders. It has helped me better articulate to my management team that no matter how smart we are. We will fail if we don’t function as a team.