The finalists for WashingtonExec’s Pinnacle Awards were announced Oct. 11, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place live, in-person Nov. 30.
Next is Business Development Executive of the Year (Public Company) finalist Chris Reichert, who’s chief strategy officer at Hexagon US Federal. Here, he talks proud organizational moments, primary focus areas going forward, overcoming career struggles and more.
What are you most proud of having been a part of in your current organization?
We live in a complex and complicated world ⏤ each human on Earth faces their own micro- and macro-level challenges. From the perspective of the U.S defense and Intelligence Communities that we support, those complexities and challenges are continual, shifting and dynamic.
At Hexagon US Federal we have the honor and responsibility to provide solutions to mission critical needs supporting federal and civilian agencies and their constituents in the U.S.; enduring counterterrorism and intelligence problems, and great power military conflicts. Understanding the gravity of these missions and knowing the support that our entire organization provides to this diverse customer set is humbling.
What are your primary focus areas going forward, and why are those so important to the future of the nation?
Observable and measurable Light Detection and Ranging data is invaluable to a wide and diverse range of use cases across multiple government agencies, solving public safety problems, climate change challenges, disaster preparedness and recovery, and tactically relevant defense applications ⏤ to name a few. Hexagon US Federal is a leading provider of LiDAR sensor capabilities and that support will continue to grow over the next few years helping customers solve some of our nation’s, and world’s most pressing challenges.
Which rules do you think you should break more as a government/industry leader?
While I certainly don’t advocate for ‘breaking the rules,’ especially in support of the U.S. government, I feel very strongly that we (collectively) need to find better, faster, and easier ways to continue getting the best and brightest solutions ⏤ hardware, software, people, etc. ⏤ assigned to the nation’s most important topic areas.
Government and industry have been tackling this problem for over a decade and we have made large strides, but a continued and earnest focus on breaking down barriers to entry, barriers to acquisition, barriers to access and opportunity is necessary if we are to remain a vibrant, safe, and cutting-edge nation and world leader.
What was your biggest career struggle and how did you overcome it?
Putting it succinctly ⏤ the biggest struggle that I faced early in my career in the U.S. defense and intelligence industry community was simply being myself. Once I became comfortable being myself in this industry, I was able to devote my full self to the application of solving both government and industry challenges.
I sincerely felt a sea-change in my mental and physical attitude once I became comfortable bringing my full character to my professional career without feeling I was ‘faking it.’ I would not have been able to do this without the support from others around me to embrace this, and it is something that I would encourage and challenge my colleagues in the industry with: allow and encourage people in our industry to be themselves thus bringing forward the best talent this country has to offer.