The finalists for WashingtonExec’s Chief Officer Awards were announced April 15, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place virtually May 27.
Next is Chief Operating Officer Award finalist Chris Bellios, who’s COO at Hexagon US Federal. Here, he talks key professional achievements, shaping the next generation of leaders, career advice and more.
What key achievements did you have in 2019/2020?
The most notable achievement for me over that period is the leadership required during our company’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which for me meant prioritizing the health and safety of our employees while also taking measures to ensure our company continued to provide uninterrupted support to our U.S. federal government customers and their mission.
Our work was instrumental in standing up a task force that focused on putting additional health and safety measures in place for our employees, including sourcing and providing personal protective equipment to all, expanding our remote work infrastructure and immediate transition to remote work for the majority of our workforce, and ensuring that our employees had the access to resources to continue to provide critical support to our customers across the federal government, especially those within the defense and intelligence community.
From a community perspective, the pandemic led to a key role serving in an industry working group supporting the COVID pandemic response. The Intelligence National Security Alliance requested that myself and four other industry leaders serve on a COVID working group.
This group would meet with the deputy directors of the major IC agencies to discuss progress and challenges in dealing with the pandemic and the return to work. We continue to meet and share government and industry best practices.
As a result of my involvement, I was interviewed and authored op-ed pieces that outlined a win-win approach that ultimately came to fruition. I was very proud of the entire community for finding collaborative solutions to ensure that IC mission goals were met while also addressing the needs of industry partners.
What has made you successful in your current role?
Surrounding yourself with people that are smarter than you and have the passion and commitment to make the company a great place to work. Another aspect is a strong focus on leadership development — not only choosing smart people to work around you, but choosing people that have the leadership qualities and the ability to develop great teams around themselves.
This approach has proven its merits as evidenced by Hexagon US Federal achieving a Great Place To Work certification for 2 years in a row. Metrics for the second certification period, that covered the majority of 2020, actually improved in key areas over previous results — with extremely high marks from employees indicating they felt that Hexagon leadership took appropriate measures to make them feel safe and supported during the pandemic.
Another aspect that has made me successful in my various roles is the passion to create a working environment where everyone has a sense of the company’s mission and an understanding of the role they play in helping our customers achieve their mission goals. I strive to create an environment where employees are proud to say that they are part of the organization.
How do you help shape the next generation of government leaders/industry leaders?
By implementing leadership training that is available to all employees across the organization, which requires in part drawing a distinction between management and leadership. In 2020, we identified a gap in our leadership training across our company, which drove the creation of a new leadership development program for all levels in the organization. We specifically saw the value of providing mid-level managers with a set of leadership training courses that focused on a number of key aspects, including staff management and delivery of professional services.
Good leadership training does not just benefit those taking the course, but all of those other coworkers and colleagues that surround that individual. The leadership workshop was recently completed and plans for future workshops are now underway.
What’s the biggest professional risk you’ve ever taken?
The biggest risk I’ve taken in my career was making the choice to leave my role as a government employee after 15 years and transition to the private sector. I started my career in the U.S. Marine Corps and then transitioned to a civilian government employee afterward. I have been in industry for 21 years now.
The greatest aspect to the risk was making the choice to leave guaranteed work, promotions and stable environment to go to industry with less assurances of those types. That transition, however, led to me diversifying and broadening my understanding of military, federal civilian and industry support to government organizations.
What’s your best career advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps?
I think there is a two-part answer to that question:
Having a genuinely positive attitude: We are in a people business. Having a good attitude about your work makes a big difference and helps overcome a significant number of challenges you deal with on a daily basis. It’s making a conscious choice on how you react to your circumstances and what you do to solve it instead of letting it become an obstacle.
It is especially important as a leader to have a positive attitude because you are in such a visible role. The way you visibly react to challenges and setbacks sets a powerful example to those around you, and can shape the entire culture of an organization. Positive attitudes are contagious and can spread throughout an organization.
Never stop learning: Personal development is a journey, not a destination. It’s about coming to a personal awareness that ultimate excellence is unattainable and knowing you won’t ever reach that goal, but that you can continue to learn exciting things at every step along the way.
This approach empowers you to be fulfilled throughout the journey and not be in a constant state of feeling that you have not achieved your ultimate goals, which can lead to disappointment. I think that philosophy translates across all types of careers and levels of experience. It is especially important if you strive to become a subject matter expert in your field or thought leader across your industry that you always remain open to learning and expose yourself to new methods of learning.