WashingtonExec has awarded SMX Chief Administrative Officer Laurell Aiton with the Longevity Award, which recognizes executives who made outstanding contributions to their companies throughout the years.
Aiton has been with SMX for just over 20 years. As CAO, she works with the executive leadership team to develop strategies that support SMX’s mission of accelerating clients’ impact on the world. She leverages her 30 years of experience in leadership, management and internal business functions focused on growth to contribute to SMX’ strategic operational planning activities for enterprisewide functions.
Below, Aiton shares how she got started with SMX, the impact the company and her role has had on her and vice versa, reflective moments and more.
Why did you join in the first place?
My search for a new opportunity occurred after my immediate leadership changed as my former company underwent an organizational realignment. As a result of the realignment, I became open to exploring new opportunities. I took this transition as an opening to join a smaller company where I could continue to develop and make a substantial impact faster.
What made you stay?
I continue to choose SMX for many reasons. Initially, I felt very connected to the SMX mission, to provide innovative, secure, and agile solutions in support of the DOD, and the culture established by the founding owners. The resulting impact of the mission on our clients and employees still resonates with me daily. As the company transitioned to new ownership, what could have been an unsettling time proved to be very positive and instead helped propel us into continued growth. I have connected well with the changes, which is very satisfying. I have proven to myself that I demonstrate one of our core values which is to Adapt Deliberately.
The various growth opportunities during my tenure allowed me to expand my knowledge in areas both inside and outside of my foundational, functional expertise increasing my knowledge, responsibilities, and role.
On a more personal note, the flexible working arrangements SMX offered even prior to COVID allowed me to balance the needs of the company with my family commitments. I will always be grateful for the support SMX provided as a working mother and a military spouse, helping me excel in all of my roles both personally and professionally.
What’s the best part about staying with a company for as long as you have?
The best part about choosing SMX is that I am part of the growth story. It’s fascinating and rewarding to be part of the strategic development of new programs and initiatives, seeing them move from resourcing to roll out and getting to witness the positive impact they have on the company. My tenure has also enabled me to know just enough about anything and turn it into an opportunity to connect others for support and partnership.
What are some myths you’ve come across relating to long tenures in organizations?
A couple of myths I’ve come across relating to long tenures in organizations is there is a lack of flexibility and disinterest in process improvement, resorting to “we’ve always done it this way” so let’s continue to do it this way.
As SMX openly embraced new ownership and brought together several legacy companies, these myths were broken. We demonstrated new flexibility as we seamlessly transitioned to a remote work environment and continue to embrace process enhancement by challenging ourselves to continuously improve and not just replicate legacy processes. We celebrate when outdated ways of doing business are removed and new efficiencies are established.
How have you changed as a professional from your first years to today?
I’ve transitioned from hyper type A personality to regular type A personality.
In all seriousness, I learned the importance of EQ over IQ in that combining intellect with the strong ability to understand and manage emotions is highly impactful. I understand everyone has a different way of working and unique perspectives to bring to the discussion. By recognizing and embracing those differences, I have been able to quickly build trust and respect to more easily collaborate across the company and have a greater impact.
What’s the most significant impact you’ve had on your company?
As the structure of the executive team has changed over the years, I am proud to always have been the first woman on our executive team. Paving the way and being a role model and mentor for future woman leaders is very rewarding.
What do you wish you could tell your younger self in that first year?
During the first year, I would tell my younger self to be patient before you judge your new role or your performance in the new role. Allow yourself the opportunity to fully experience everything the first year. Looking back, one thing I did tell myself is that hard work, smart work, kindness, and humility are critical to success and being rewarded. That advice to myself has proven to be right.
How do you share your institutional knowledge?
I share my institutional knowledge through relationship building. I understand the importance of being transparent and honestly sharing experiences to enable greater connection.
What has been your most significant mentorship moment?
One of my most significant mentorship moments was learning the impact I had on an employee who joined SMX 16 years ago. I recognized and welcomed the opportunity to develop an innate skillset through mentoring and coaching. I was committed to their success, supporting work flexibility to ensure they were able to keep family first. As my area of responsibility has expanded over the years, I still maintain a mentoring relationship with the employee.
Recently, the employee shared: “Laurell challenged me to take on a new role. It was a role that I was NOT thrilled about doing. Laurell kept saying but you are great at it. She saw something in me that I couldn’t even see in myself.”
WashingtonExec is honored to present this award to Aiton to celebrate her decades of career excellence. Congratulations, Laurell!