WashingtonExec: Tell me about a time in your life when you had to really stretch yourself in order to learn and grow.
Bierweiler: I grew up heavily involved in sports and fitness, which is where I gained an appreciation for being pushed beyond previously established limits. There are countless examples in my life and career where I had to stretch, expand and learn, but one specific period comes to mind involved both personal and professional stressors. Professionally, I was working at Raytheon as the capture and business development lead for Navy Unmanned Programs. I was responsible for the development and execution of strategies to grow a vast business portfolio. Concurrently, I was also supporting a number of international engagements that required frequent travel overseas. Personally, my wife and I had just welcomed our daughter and on top of that, I was in the final semesters of the weekend MBA program at the University of Maryland.
To say the least, I was balancing three significant full-time jobs where the days were long and hours seemed scarce. My Raytheon team relied on my leadership and the results that we had committed. My family needed me present. And members of my MBA cohort were counting on my participation and contribution. I was certainly stretched, but it taught me so much about time management, leadership and balance. Below are the four key lessons I took away from this experience:
- Surround yourself with great people. There is absolutely no substitute for this.
- Start the day off with a win. For me, it was/is a morning workout. By getting that past me first thing in the morning, I have set a positive and productive tone for the rest of the day.
- Delegate and trust. With so many demands for my time, I found that I could no longer have my finger on every task. Instead, I had to delegate down to the lowest level, enable and support the team, and trust them to complete it. This decentralized command and control approach allowed my teams to perform and for the team members to grow.
- Listen and learn. Coming full circle back to the first lesson of surrounding yourself with great people, my mentors were instrumental in helping me survive –– and succeed –– through this challenging period. Through networking, mentoring and building real relationships, I was able to learn from the experiences and advice of those that I admire and respect.