The finalists for WashingtonExec’s Pinnacle Awards were announced Oct. 13, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place virtually Dec. 8.
Next is Cybersecurity Industry Executive of the Year (Public Company) finalist John Mandell, managing director and national security practice leader at Maximus. Here, he talks key achievements, learning from failures, proud career moments and more.
What key achievements did you have in 2020/2021?
One of my key achievements was developing trust with Maximus’ national security customers. By successfully delivering cyber, advanced analytics and IT modernization solutions, our portfolio at Maximus has greatly expanded over the past couple of years. The ability to understand the specific challenges facing national security agencies and identifying ways to solve their critical issues has driven that expansion and earned the trust of our customers.
Our work accelerated last year when agencies began to grow concerned with their current set of cyber tools and practices, even before COVID-19 introduced the wave of workers performing their jobs from home. In mid-2020, my team and I stepped up and offered new solutions to agencies that focused on improving cyber offering across the board with higher levels of automation, the addition of emerging technologies and overall process improvement.
The resulting approach included advancing their cyber capabilities, such as reduced time to identify threats and the amount of effort needed to respond to attacks. In the past 18 months, this new cyber approach from Maximus has received high marks from our customers. This has led to a growth of more than 20% across the national security practice last year.
What has made you successful in your current role?
My team has always made me successful in this role. When you build a team with the right people, those who are smart and talented technologists, the hard part is over. It’s also critical to make sure that the people you’ve hired are in the right positions so they can grow to their full potential.
Likewise, my success has been buoyed by the culture at Maximus. We encourage employees to thrive and to take on new and challenging technological opportunities. These two pieces together have helped bring cutting-edge technology to our clients and enabled Maximus to grow to where it is today.
What are your primary focus areas going forward, and why are those so important to the future of the nation?
I have three primary areas that I believe will only become more vital as time goes on: the first is cybersecurity, the second is advancing the use of AI and the third is improving the customer journey and experience.
Cybersecurity is the most important and will always be front and center to our nation. Adversaries have attacked and continue to attack our networks and critical infrastructure and we must always be ready to protect it. As part of this, we must protect our customers and advance their detection capabilities which will be critical in protecting our citizens and our country going forward.
The second area is advancing the use of AI, including grasping how to properly use it. AI can be a great force for good, but it is vital to use it smartly and above all else, safely. We have made great strides on both fronts but the nation, and industry in general, have a long way to go.
The final area is improving the customer journey by increasing the focus on positively impacting how the citizen interacts with the government. The crucial steps are to create better and more efficient customer service that brings in digital innovation and improving on our public facing web applications.
Looking back at your career, what are you most proud of?
I am most proud of diving into technology consulting early on and being given opportunities to work with amazing leaders and mentors throughout my career. Technology consulting is a fast-paced environment that is not like a normal 9-5 job. Instead, the job pushes you and sharpens you as a person which results in you expanding your knowledge faster than in other industries.
I learn something new every day, whether that’s about a new industry or a new technology, it’s always exciting. Technology is constantly changing and improving, the future is bright, and I can’t wait to see the new challenges and directions we are going in. This is not an easy field, but it is a fascinating and rewarding one.
What’s your best career advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps?
Have a vision for where you want to be in the next 1-3 years and outline what steps, even if they are small, are needed to reach those goals. The first step is always the hardest. As long as you take that first step, even if your goal is getting into an entirely new industry, then you can achieve it.
I would also tell people to not be afraid to take risks early in their career. Learn from the risks, whether successful or not, and you will grow as a person. In the end, if you are passionate about the mission, you will be more successful in delivering positive results. You have to enjoy what you do and taking steps to shift your career towards one you love is always a good plan.