The Pisani men dreamt of being professional athletes — dad, Al, wanted to play infield for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and son, Alex, sought to be some type of athlete who got to travel and compete.
Neither one plays sports professionally these days, but they’re still in the same field — of work, that is.
Today, Al Pisani is the senior vice president of corporate development at Serco Inc. His background “centers upon applying analytical thinking and techniques to optimize resource allocations and decision making,” he said in an interview with WashingtonExec, a position that is a long way from his first job as a caddy at a local golf club.
“This role is largely focused upon helping to create a culture that leads to a high performance and well-managed business enterprise,” Al said. “In particular, this job entails the development of our corporate strategic plan, the development of an enterprise Program Management office focused upon the training and development of high performance program managers, installing and maintaining quality assurance programs and capabilities within our business operations to better deliver services to customers, managing our lean six sigma team aimed at optimizing current contract program performance, as well as working with the line organizations to instantiate a formalized risk and opportunity based approach to business pursuits and execution.”
“Professionally,” he continued, “I am passionate about leadership and the ability of high performance teams to produce remarkable results even when facing significant business headwinds.”
Son Alex Pisani’s career is similar.
He started as an employee of Hoop Magic Basketball Academy in Chantilly, Va. “I worked the gamut from front desk and food services to putting on birthday parties for kids,” Alex said.
Today, he is a research associate at Dinte Executive Search in Tysons Corner. “I conduct research and develop reports on candidates for high level searches for clients within the defense industry,” Alex said.
Alex said he never saw himself entering the govcon industry like his father, but now that he’s a part of it, he is recognized as his father’s son.
“I always had a plan of going to a university and continuing my education within a graduate program afterwards,” he said. “I was very fortunate to be able to spend a few years while in undergrad working with incredible people at TASC, one of which happened to be my dad.”
“I would say that I am sometimes recognized as my parent’s child, as this is a tight-knit industry. I appreciate when someone acknowledges that, and I try to work and perform in a way that makes my last name ring positively regardless of where I am or what I’m doing.”
He said the example his parents set provided him with a blueprint for success.
“My parents always encouraged me to engage myself in whatever work or schooling I was undertaking. Having integrity was always a major characteristic that they lived by and practiced, so that has stuck with me. I consider that to be most important because I strive for consistency in my career and my life, so I figured that going about my life in the same way as I’ve watched my parents would ultimately lead me to where I want to be.
Look ahead, both hope to have positive impacts on their communities.
“In 15 years, I hope to be heavily volunteering my services to those less fortunate and in need as well as enjoying my three sons, and perhaps, their grandchildren,” Al said. “[As] a parent of three boys, my wife and I continually look for ways to discuss and model for our guys what is expected of a responsible family member, worker and friend. In today’s fast paced culture and the hyper-competitive community of Northern Virginia, I believe that one cannot overemphasize the fundamentals of taking the time to treat others the way you would want to be treated.”
“In 15 years, I want to be able to say that I am happy with my career choices and that I feel as if I’m in a role where I can continue to grow and develop, while continuing to have a positive impact in my field,” Alex said. “There is nothing impending to suggest that I would work with my dad, but who knows what opportunities may lay ahead for both us!”
