ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- (April 15, 2015) The U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command wants to share the stories of its extraordinary women leaders, military and civilian, who achieved career success despite obstacles in their path and challenges to overcome.
On October 1, 2014, ATEC launched a 24-month Leader Development Program to prepare military and civilian personnel to take on new leadership challenges in light of the significant percentage of ATEC's supervisory workforce who are now eligible for retirement. The development of future leaders is critical to the future of the Army and current and past leaders are in a unique position to pass on lessons learned and share keys to success. ATEC hopes these inspirational stories will empower, motivate, and help light the way ahead for the next generation of Army leaders.
Although women have made significant advances in the workplace and major gains in equal pay and career opportunities, women still hold only 4% of chief executive officer positions in America. Making it to the corner office takes more than a lucky break -- it takes skill, commitment, and determination.
One woman who made it to the corner office and joined the small percentage of women who do is Ms. Cindy Sheppard, former Chief Information Officer and Information Management Director at ATEC.
Sheppard retired from civilian service on April 3, 2015 after a distinguished 35-year career. Her path to leadership involved obstacles and triumphs; but through it all she remained resilient and focused on her goals. She learned valuable lessons on what it takes to get to the top -- even if you are starting at the bottom without a college degree.
Born and raised in Waynesboro, a small town in Pennsylvania not far from Gettysburg, Sheppard's origins are humble ones. She grew up in a household with not much money and one of six children who fought for their parent's attention, for new clothes, or a new toy. She quickly learned to look out for herself and knew if she wanted something, she would have to work hard to earn it.
From a very young age, Sheppard was expected to help her mother with all of the household chores. At age 12, she started babysitting, and by age 16, she was working as a waitress. Sheppard said she didn't appreciate it at the time, but she credits her mother for instilling the work ethic that has benefitted her throughout her personal and professional life.
During her junior year in high school, a guidance counselor told Sheppard she was wasting her time taking college preparatory courses when her family couldn't afford college. She was advised to focus on earning a living instead and was transferred into typing and shorthand classes. To this day, Sheppard said she isn't sure if he hurt her or helped her.
Sheppard took the civil service exam in her senior year and scored well enough to land a job immediately following graduation. Less than a week after her graduation in 1973, Sheppard was working for the Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. as a clerk typist.
While in high school, Sheppard said she dreamed of going to college to become a social worker and later, joining the Peace Corps. She had not, however, considered what the requirements were for either. Growing up, she said she didn't have anyone in her family to tell her how to get where she wanted to go. Sheppard is the first person in her family to attend college.
After only four months in the typing pool, Sheppard moved back home to be closer to family and friends and found work as a secretary with a local manufacturing company. After a year, she quit her job and moved to George Air Force Base, California with an uncle. While working at George, she inched her way up from a GS-2 clerk typist to a GS-5 secretarial position. After two years, she returned home and took a secretarial job at Fort Ritchie, Maryland.
While at Fort Ritchie, Sheppard recalls watching the type of work being performed by senior action officers in her office and thinking to herself, "I can do that." But even though she knew she was capable of handling more responsibility, she soon learned there wasn't much farther she could go without a college education.
Sheppard began taking college courses after work. For the next seven years she worked full-time by day and attended school full-time at night. By 1984 she had earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Troy State University. Now that she had finally gotten started, she said she wasn't ready to quit. Sheppard went on to earn a Master of Science in Information Management from the University of Central Texas, and a Master of Science in Strategic Studies from the Army War College.
Looking back, Sheppard believes she would have never made it to where she is had she not gone back to school. Later on in her career she said she recognized how important planning, prioritizing, and setting professional goals were to achieving career success. When people don't make a decision to take action, she said they are essentially making a decision to stay exactly where they are and to continue doing what they have been doing.
Sheppard believes in working hard and said that work is a character builder. "Always put forth the extra effort needed to do a great job instead of settling for a good job," Sheppard said. "Work above your pay grade -- work to the grade you want to achieve."
Prior to becoming director, Sheppard was G5's Continuous Process Improvement division chief and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt practitioner. She admits to being very competitive and said she's always had a keen interest in finding better, more efficient ways of doing things. As G6 director, Sheppard was able to utilize her Lean Six Sigma skills to eliminate redundant tasks, cut operating costs, and reduce expenses associated with information technology hardware and software operations.
Throughout her career, Sheppard watched and learned from the different leadership styles of senior leaders in her organizations. She credits the examples of both the good and the bad leaders for shaping her into the leader she became.
"I admire leaders who take the high road, lead by example, and have the personal courage to do the right thing even when the right thing is not popular," Sheppard said. She added that bad leaders taught her the things she never wanted to be caught doing, as well as how she never wanted to treat her employees.
According to Sheppard, it's important to have outstanding leaders to learn from as well as mentors to help guide and nudge you in the right direction. Although she said she never had an "official mentor," she knows she didn't get here on her steam alone. Along the way she said she received help and guidance from exceptional senior leaders who she's grateful to for taking an interest in her career development.
During her retirement ceremony on April 3, Sheppard was awarded the Meritorious Civilian Service Award by ATEC Commanding General, Maj. Gen. Peter D. Utley, who presided over the ceremony. Utley praised Sheppard for her innovation, her energy, and her commitment to excellence.
"Cindy is the consummate professional and the ultimate team-focused director," Utley said. "A leader who is committed to soldiers and civilians, committed to our Army, and committed to our Nation." Utley thanked Sheppard for the work she had done and the challenges she had conquered.
During her retirement speech, Sheppard told the story of a photograph given to her by Paul Treat, her former boss and G5 director, when she left G5 for the G6 director's position.
It was a Norman Rockwell photo of a child kneeling on a high dive peering down at the water. Sheppard says it was evident from the look on the child's face he was scared about jumping.
For Sheppard, the photo spoke to her the moment she saw it and occupied a special place in her office during her three years as director. Over the years, she said it served to remind her she could easily have been that same child the day Karen Taylor, chief of staff at ATEC, offered her the director's job.
Sheppard recalls calling her mother afterwards and telling her, "The good news is I got the job! The bad news is I got the job!"
After she had been in the position for a few years, Treat told her to do something she considered odd. He told her to open the photo frame and look at the back of the picture.
Sheppard said on the back was a picture almost identical to the one on front -- it had the same scene with the same diving board -- but in this picture, the frightened child was no longer there.
It made her think, "Did the child chicken out and go back down the steps, or did the child jump?"
When she announced her retirement, she flipped the photo to the picture on back and hung it back on her wall.
"I left the picture hanging on my wall with the empty diving board to symbolize I was that child three years ago," Sheppard said. "I took the plunge into the pool and now I am swimming away to go play with my friends!"
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