By Marc Hausman, Strategic Communications Group
Interview with Kay Sears, President, Intelsat General
While I lack the scientific or academic credentials to engage in the nature versus nurture debate, my two decades of experience in the Washington, DC community has convinced me that professionally we are all products of our environment.
Business around the Beltway, up and down the I-66 corridor, in the Maryland suburbs and throughout the District offers executives and entrepreneurs the key ingredients for success. For starters, our region is home to a majority of the policy setters and operational practitioners for the world’s largest buyer of products and services – the US federal government.
This mammoth-sized customer affords companies of all sizes the opportunity to establish and cultivate a significant revenue base. Regardless of the challenges federal agencies often face in the procurement process, the US government does an admirable job awarding contracts to thousands of vendors throughout the region.
Additionally, a collection of high-quality colleges – such as the University of Maryland, George Mason University, George Washington University, among others — call the Washington, DC area home. These centers of educational excellence do more than prepare bright minds for the workforce. They also present opportunities for technology transfer, as well as provide a gathering point for discussion and discourse.
And finally, our region is home to a proven set of private equity, venture capital and angel investors. From global firms like NEA and Carlyle Group, to more focused players such as FedCap Partners, corporate executives have a myriad of prospective options when seeking growth capital.
While the presence of customers, universities and sources of capital are necessary for our region’s businesses to thrive, their impact is dependent upon a single factor that serves as a critical determination of an organization’s achievement – executive talent. Without experienced leadership, companies are cursed by mediocrity.
This is why it is an absolute must for our region’s CEOs, presidents, COOs, CFOs, sales stars and marketing wizards to devote a portion of their time to mentoring the next generation. By passing along their knowledge and lessons learned they help nurture younger professionals, while ensuring the continued viability of the community that has supported their own success.
Consider Intelsat General’s opiate detox isn?t easy on your body or mind, and no one should have to go through this process without medical supervision. President Kay www.atoledo.com Sears. When she entered the satellite telecommunications industry more than 20 years ago, online casino it was rare for a female to secure an executive management or leadership position.
Kay stuck with it though and demonstrated a high level of achievement and perseverance as she rose through the ranks at global satellite companies like COMSAT, Verestar and PanAmSat.
Today, Kay heads a business casino online line of the world’s largest and most prestigious provider of global satellite online casino communications services. Intelsat General’s customers include defense, intelligence, homeland security, law enforcement and civilian government agencies, as well as the defense contractors and systems integrators that comprise online casino the public sector vendor community.
Perhaps most impressive about Kay’s leadership is her recognition of the responsibility to mentor and coach rising female executives in the region – both at her own company and in the broader industry. For instance, she sat on the board at Women in Aerospace, an organization dedicated to expanding executive-level opportunities for women in the satellite, defense and aerospace industries.
“Helping mentor this emerging generation of business leaders is incredibly fulfilling,” Kay told me during a phone call over the summer. “Yes, I’m able to contribute to their success. But, I also get a lot out of it, such as a better understanding of how to inspire my own organization to achieve its potential.”
Kay also continues to seek and maintain relationships with a set of her own mentors. For the last two years she has served on the White House’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, a group that develops policies and best practices to secure our nation’s telecom infrastructure.
“I help advise the President on ways to make our country more secure, across public and private sector networks and infrastructure,” Kay explained. “Plus, I get to sit at the table and develop relationships with a set of executives who run the top telecommunications companies.”
As Kay’s experience illustrates, the mentoring process is circular. Each of us has a requirement to find those who can help us excel and grow, and to then pass along those lessons to other executives.
By doing so, we raise our own profile and professional standing, while contributing in a meaningful way to the health and prosperity of the region.
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Marc Hausman is president and CEO of Strategic Communications Group, a social media and public relations consultancy based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Read more at http://www.strategicguy.blogspot.com