ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- Placing the spotlight on leadership in today's work environment helped shed brighter light on various developmental concerns some employees have regarding their careers. The opportunity came during an Emerging Leader session held June 9, 2016 at the Mallette Training Facility (MTF) on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Mr. Gary P. Martin, executive officer for Army PEO Command Control Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T) was guest speaker for the two-hour session, which was open only to those who had completed Emerging Leader II.
According to Isela Toepfer, Organizational Development Specialist, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM), G-1/HRDD, "The Emerging Leader Board invited Martin, to come in and share his thoughts with a small group of employees on leading in today's changing and challenging work environment. A large part of career development as emerging leaders is to observe leadership in others."
The session allowed a small group of about 20 individuals to hear Martin speak of some of his personal career decisions and opportunities, as well as an opportunity to ask questions of him that might be helpful in guiding their own careers.
Martin began his exchange by pointing out the mix of participants assembled. Many were previously assigned to Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey, some from the Aberdeen area, some from a military background, and others who had been hired into Federal government in the last five years. Using his more than 30 years with the U.S. Army and civil service as an example, Martin told the group that he hoped the session and discussions would help them as they prepare to move forward along their career paths.
He said, "Most of you have been around long enough to know that a lot of what you do in your career, has a lot to do with what you want to do. The government's pretty bureaucratic. You don't always get to do what you want to do, when you want to do it. But I think there's a fairly significant breadth of opportunity for folks -- particularly in a place like Aberdeen."
Martin shared with the group a little bit about how his journey began with a stint in the U.S. Army, and later his decision to go from there into civil service. He said, "Looking back in time, I'm not sure that I really knew what I expected out of a civil service job --other than I liked the work I was doing. I didn't have any aspirations of being the SES in any place. In fact, I never really thought it was going to happen, until about the time that it did. What I did do however, was I had the attitude that I was willing to try it."
The stillness in the room was only accentuated by the stirring information imparted by Martin regarding his own career choices. "I wanted to do something that was meaningful, I wanted to be challenged. I wanted to be given an opportunity to do stuff that I've had satisfaction in -- which is not in every job. People tend to gravitate toward certain kinds of work. Some of that's based on their inherent skills. If you're an engineer you like to do technical work. If you're great with money and numbers, then you tend to gravitate toward fields that compliment these skills. So, I had an opportunity when I first came back in to do a number of things. This was mostly because of situations somewhat similar to what we have going on today. We had come off the Iraq War, the Gulf War--the Army was getting reduced in size considerably. We had freezes in hiring. So, what was happening around everywhere was people were retiring, and you could back up. There were plenty of opportunities for you to raise your hand and offer to be acting for a while," he said.
The former CECOM deputy to the commanding general went on to say, "I found it amazing at the time, when these opportunities came. Some folks had the attitude that I'll try, and then others had the perspective that I'll do it, but if there's nothing in it for me, then I'm not interested. If I don't get temporary promotion. In other words, they had conditions set on their willingness to take some of these opportunities. Many of them lost out, in my opinion. I took them because they were a great way to learn something new -- to be challenged a little bit more than I was able to do. So, I went for a period of time from grade 13, 14, and quite frankly, the grade of 15 where for a period of about 10 or 15 years where I was acting, more than I was ever the official person who was holding the job -- because of these circumstances that were going on in the personnel system. I grew up in satellite communications most of my career up through the grades of 14, but I kept applying for positions everywhere, but I could never even get an interview. You've been there before. You apply to a place, you think you've got the skills they need, you're ready to do the job, and no one ever calls."
Even so, regardless of how gloomy or disappointing the situation may have appeared, Martin was quick to express that giving up was not an option. He said, "Sometimes we need a nudge." In his view, that meant embracing the experience, guidance and expertise of leaders, coaches and mentors. He said he made a connection with such people and they pointed out to him the importance of taking on jobs or positions that might take him out of his comfort zone, and having and maintaining a positive attitude that helps in your ability to work well with others. It became a matter of whether I wanted to look at the challenge as one would view a glass as being half empty or half full." Martin went on to say that while many years have passed, he still calls on these individuals from time to time -- seeking their advice and counsel.
Closing out his presentation, Martin asked the group, "What are your biggest challenges from where you sit." Responded one attendee, "Constant leadership change. One comes in and then three months or six months later, he goes out and another one comes in. It's at all levels, PM's, branch chiefs, division chiefs and so on. It's because of a number of things -- promotion, retirement or their just moving on to something else. The change is constant."
Directing his response to the attendee's concern, and the group as a whole, Martin said, "Your biggest role and contribution that you are going to make is how you can build relationships with other people. How you can get people to rally around a problem. How you're going to build collaboration." He went on to address the matter of how to grow leaders in an organization and said, "How do you grow leaders in an organization -- and not necessarily supervisors? In my view, leaders are characteristics. The position is not the definition of a leader. So, the challenge that we have is how do we grow leadership capacity in the Army, regardless of where we sit in an organization. That's our ongoing challenge."
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