On Oct. 4, the WashingtonExec Rising Stars of GovCon Committee came together at the KippsDeSanto headquarters in Tysons Corner to learn how to “manage up,” the secrets to negotiating a raise and how to have a leadership mindset. Keynote speaker Rick Dansey, senior vice president at Terathink, led the discussion.
“An important activity for setting yourself apart is communicating with your boss to understand what goals he or she is trying to reach and what you can do to help them reach those goals, rather than just focusing on your own,” Dansey said at the evening roundtable.
In addition to managing up, Dansey says it is just as important to manage relationships. Dansey credits his ability to maintaining relationships to setting goals for himself. His goals are to have professional conversations with someone at his organization, at another organization but his the same space, and someone in a completely different profession. Managing a wide network of connections is key to having an executive mindset, Dansey explained.
“Rick Dansey presented our group with a selection of ‘life hacks’ to be successful in leadership, strategy and entrepreneurship,” said Lisa Mundt, senior marketing and proposal specialist at AOC Key Solutions and chair of the Rising Stars Committee. “These hacks were about balancing competence and personality.”
“My favorite piece of advice was to make sure you are not being a ‘crutch’ to your team by reworking their deliverables when they’re sub-par,” she continued. “Rather, you should take the time to train them to produce materials that are up to your standards.”
The WashingtonExec Rising Stars of GovCon Committee is an exclusive group of young professionals in the government contracting industry. The committee is a one-of-a-kind group for young professionals aged 22-37. This invite-only group is for those who work in the government or government contracting industry in the Washington, D.C., area and who have one or both parents also in the business.
