This summer, WashingtonExec is reaching out to leaders in government and government contracting who’ve had success to learn more about their habits, experiences and perspectives.
Greg J. Baroni is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Attain LLC, a management, technology and strategy consulting firm specializing in the government, health care, education and nonprofit markets. Prior to founding Attain, Baroni held various leadership roles at Unisys Corporation, including corporate senior vice president and president of its federal systems and global public sector unit. He began his career at KPMG and KPMG Consulting, where he spent nearly 20 years advising numerous organizations on critical business areas and pioneered the spinoff of a distributed learning group that is now Blackboard Inc. The recipient of numerous industry leadership awards, Baroni is also an active leader in the professional association community and continues to serve the missions of local charitable and industry organizations.
WashingtonExec: What is on your summer reading list?
Baroni: I’m a strong believer in the merits of values-based leadership, so any book by author Jim Collins is going to be on my summer re-reading list. In fact, the founding principles of Attain are based on the evidenced-based research revealed in many of his books.
When I only have a few minutes to spare, I will turn to a couple of Harvard Business Review articles that helped guide my development as a leader. The first article is by Jim Collins (no surprise here!), “Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve,” and the second is “Discovering Your Authentic Leadership.”
Another fascinating read is “Leading by Leveraging Culture,” a report by authors Jennifer Chatman and Sandra Eunyoung Cha published by California Review Management. It talks about how a strong culture can positively impact employees and a company’s bottom line. This falls in line with Attain’s values and beliefs. We know our employees are our greatest asset and that their engagement is critical to our success. And I believe we’re on the right track as Attain was recently ranked number eight on Consulting Magazine’s Best Firms to Work For list.
Finally, coming full circle, I will read “From Values to Action: The Four Principles of Value-Based Leadership” by Harry Kraemer. Reflecting on the four principles –– self-reflection, balance, true self confidence, and genuine humility –– is for me a great way to spend an afternoon.
