Pat Tamburrino serves as the vice president of the health and civilian market at LMI and is a Pinnacle Award finalist in the Healthcare Industry Executive of the Year category. Here, he shares a turning point in his career, how he helps shape the next generation of GovCon leaders, proud career moments, rules leaders should break more often and more.
What has made you successful in your current role?   
My career as a federal executive  gives me a good understanding of what the agencies I support are challenged with every day. I  have  seen a lot of these problems and realize the pressure executives face in the federal space.  I can use this knowledge to help executives in two ways.
First,  I can come up with solutions that are more tuned to their needs and more practical  for their positions. Second, I have an amazing  team at LMI, and each member has a superpower that I leverage to furnish the best consulting services to the client. I believe in empowering people and letting them work at their highest level of ability.
What was a turning point or inflection point in your career?   
As a career civil servant, I wanted to be a member of  senior executive service  by the time I was 40, which I achieved.  Something I  did not think of before was the  enormous amount of responsibility  I carried  for the agency. I had to learn how to operate at a totally new level of efficiency and effectiveness. It was a “ be careful what you wish for”  moment, but I loved every second of it.
I had  the ability to make decisions, influence how the agency ran, make meaningful government policy, interact at the congressional level and much more.  I would  not trade that  experience  for anything.
How do you help shape the next-generation  GovCon  leaders?   
I do a lot of mentoring and a tremendous amount of informal coaching,  which helps people find the answer from within themselves. This is  extremely  powerful. I did  not  have that  when I was starting out  because mentoring and coaching was  were not  common practices.  I try to share everything I learn and understand with those I work with to give them an edge and make them better at this craft.
What’s one key thing you learned from a failure you had?   
The biggest lesson I learned from a failure is  this:  when i t is going bad, you need to let the organization you  are a  part of  know  that things are going south and  be clear about  why they  went sideways.  Not acknowledging the challenge  or  error  is  wrong. You must  acknowledge it and be transparent.
In addition, I learned that no one person has the solution to the problem. It takes a whole  team  of people to get to a solution. You  must  get beyond  your own  point of view and sense of pride to leverage everyone on the team.
Which rules do you think you should break more as a leader?   
The rule that I  was  taught is that it  is better to ask for  forgiveness  than  for  permission. If you’re put in charge of something, the expectation is that  you’ll lead, lean forward and meet the challenge within all moral and ethical boundaries. No one expects you to ask permission for everything you are going to do. You just need to execute,  be bold and be  self-confident.
Looking back at your career, what are you most proud of?    
As a civil servant, I  had  the privilege to work directly for President Barack Obama to redesign the Veterans Transition Assistance Program, which helps service members transition from military service to civilian employment. John Gingrich (now a retired Veteran Affairs executive) and I reengineered the program, which was exciting for me.
By revamping the program, we had a hand in ensuring the men and women serving our country would receive all the benefits they were entitled to as they translated their military experience to the civilian environment. It was a  very  motivating and rewarding experience.
What’s your best advice for aspiring leaders who want to follow in your footsteps?   
Own the room. Go into a meeting and project confidence. Be prepared and be ready to defend your position.  Be a good student and ask good questions.  Be a good colleague. Be civil  and  lend a helping hand. Do  not stand on anyone’s shoulders to be successful.