The finalists for WashingtonExec’s Chief Officer Awards were announced March 25, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place live, in-person May 11 at the The Ritz-Carlton in McLean, Virginia.
Next is CEO (Private Company, Annual Revenue >$1B) finalist Terry Ryan, CEO of Constellis. Here, he talks proud career moments, career advice, primary focus areas going forward and more.
What has made you successful in your current role?
In my current role, there are daily considerations and decisions that require a deep level understanding of the technical, operational, political, financial and individual impacts of a particular course of direction. I am fortunate to have held several executive-level government and industry positions over the years that provide an anthology of related experiences that I can draw upon when making routine but consequential decisions.
It’s very easy to get bogged down on hard problems and let key business issues loom. My experiences across various government-related industries have provided me with the foundation for addressing various business challenges and working with the management team to quickly resolve tough problems and focus more energy on growth.
What are you most proud of having been part of in your current organization?
A couple of examples stand out. First, I am extremely proud of how our employees responded to the COVID-19 crisis and kept the business running, never jeopardizing the high level of security required by our customers across dozens of critical domestic and international facilities. Our security forces maintained a high operational tempo, especially over the past year under difficult staffing conditions. In many instances, our commercial and government customers acknowledged their dedication and superior service.
Second, our large contingent force in Afghanistan stayed with our customers to the very last day. I was extremely proud of how they responded to the increasingly dangerous environment, stayed on duty 24/7 and extended their services as needed to other government activities that had been left in vulnerable conditions.
This type of selflessness toward duty is the foundation of our culture and represents the type of character embedded in our employees. I am always extremely proud to be a member of their team.
What are your primary focus areas going forward, and why are those so important to the future of the nation?
We have multiple core competencies and are super focused on creating a safer world for our customers. Nevertheless, we are focusing on two areas that will have a profound, positive impact on our customers’ missions.
First, we are working with our various government customers to identify, test, evaluate, deploy and integrate next generation security/surveillance systems that sense across all levels of the electro-magnetic spectrum . . . from space to subsurface. Our objective is to provide multilayered level domestic and overseas security services to protect critical facilities and infrastructure.
We want to increase the distance to detect threats and speed mitigation timelines. As various new technologies emerge, they present new security challenges, and we are committed to lessen these new threats with more advanced technical offerings for our domestic and international clients. These new advanced security solutions are an operational necessity to protect lives and property in the near future.
We are also further developing our contingency response services for domestic and international incidents. We believe that there still is a need for quick reaction support services for manmade and natural disasters that can deliver food, water, medicine and other critical supplies at the right locations in time to save lives. We refer to it as precision humanitarian assistance.
We are adding core skills, capabilities and key partners to help build out our solutions. We are focused on finding ways to deliver these services with the same hyperspeed and accuracy that enable new kinetic weapons to be effective at extended distances.
Looking back at your career, what are you most proud of?
My professional career is almost evenly split between public service and industry. My parents’ professional careers were also evenly split. I enjoyed a great ride as a Marine Corps Officer, professional staff member for both congressional intelligence oversight committees and as a member of the Senior Executive Service.
I have also had the pleasure of leading commercial companies that have dedicated employees with a steadfast commitment to excellence. Throughout both careers, I have always had a deep-rooted belief in giving service to your country and community, with little regard to financial return on time invested. It is all about service to others before self.
I am most proud of the dozens of young college graduates that I had a hand in recruiting for my businesses and then watching over the years their decisions to become federal, state and local public employees. I am a big believer in the “revolving door” and how it is indeed a benefit and not a liability to our government.
I would like to think that many followed my advice and appreciated their time in public service knowing they made a difference. I hope I will be able to continue to encourage young professionals to make that transition to public service for a period of time in their lives.
What’s your best career advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps?
My best advice is to never stop being a student of your industry. Technology is evolving at a galactic pace, and to be a leader you need to be able to communicate with employees, customers and potential investors with credibility.
There are several things you can do to stay current: read industry journals; participate in forums; interact with peers at symposiums; sign up for an online class in an adjacent, emerging market or technical field; meet with customers; and work closely with line business units.
I believe that employees and customers have a deeper appreciation for you as a leader if you can stand up and identify options to overcome difficult technical or financial challenges in your industry.