Name: Michael Philbert

Title: Senior Cybersecurity Analyst and Deputy Site Lead

Organisation: General Dynamics IT

I am a 20 Year retired U.S. Army Veteran. During my time in the Army I have had the honor to serve some of the top Commanding Generals and contribute to pivotal movements in history. I was featured in a book called “African American Warrant Officers: Their Remarkable History” by Farrell J. Chiles. I am the recipient of the Legion of Merit award which is the 6th highest award that can be given in the Military. I currently work as a Senior Cybersecurity Analyst and Deputy Site Lead for General Dynamics Information Technology. I hold a Masters degree in Cyber Security Technology and a Batchelor of Science in Cybersecurity Policy and Management, both from the University of Maryland. I am a serial entrepreneur and currently working on two social impact startups around cryptocurrency education and personal security to address increasing violence around the world. I have been married for 14 years to my very supportive Selina. Our son Dayshaun is a highly charismatic and skilled young man which aspirations to play basketball and pursue a career as a business entrepreneur.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Michael's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

I believe that the biggest challenge I find as a leader is the constant effort of deconstructing the complex walls that each individual uniquely establishes through personal experiences. There is no one size fits all to a leadership engagement; each individual requires a customized approach. I have learned over the years that you must invest upfront in people to see the returns on the backend. One of these investments is to understand the cultural or emotional lens through which your employees see the world so you know which style of engagement they will be most responsive to. When you first start leading a new person you must establish trust and it takes time to understand the invisible barriers to achieving real influence. I always ask myself, are they executing because they want to or because they feel obligated to. I always want to lead in a way where people feel compelled to achieve a shared goal; I want to know I inspired them to get the job done. This undertaking requires effort and most leader skip this step.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

Becoming a leader was inherit to my developmental journey as Soldier in the United States Army. Although leadership is baked into the plan for each service member, not everyone becomes leaders, some simply become managers. I believe that my ascent into leadership started in 2006 when I was stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. When I arrived at this duty station I was supposed to report to the Network Command (NETCOM) which was a high level organization. I reported to the headquarters building which had access controls in place so I could not simply walk through the front door. I rang a bell and a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) met me at the door and told me that regrettably I was redirected to the 86th Signal Battalion which would be deploying to Iraq because my rank was too junior to work at such level; this is when I became very aware of the weakest level of leadership, position. In the 86th I did not always agree with decisions my leaders made and I would always hear the comment, “if you don’t like my rules, get promoted”. Once we deployed I was sent out to Baghdad and put in charge of a small team of four soldiers who where of equal rank to me. I knew I had to do something different to earn their respect but I wasn’t sure what would differentiate me from them. I quickly realized that when I prioritized their needs before asking them to execute tasks I gradually earned their respect; I learned servant leadership. While on that deployment I earned the rank of E-5 Sergeant and the reputation I established leading my team made the transition to leading from influence seamless.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

When I wake up I start my day with a thought of gratitude. Sometimes I might play music while I get ready or I will make jokes with my son as he prepares for school. Essentially what I am doing is super charging with positivity. On my ride to work I active “Automobile University” which is my practice of listening to developmental audio books during my 30 minute drive. I love books on leadership, skill development and non-fiction books on the mysteries of life. Once I get to work I make a deliberate effort to give my team an energetic greeting because I know some folks didn't super charge with positivity like I did; I’m there to share. On my drive home I often call distant family to ensure I use my time to stay grounded and connected with loved ones. I think this is important because life is not about conforming to the social structures we were born into, it’s about people. It’s easy to get lost in chasing money or becoming over focused on work objectives. Connecting with family is a great way to stay grounded. Once I get home I like to go for a run to decompress and get personal quite time; I usually go about 4-5 miles. My family and I have dinner together at the table this which is a great opportunity to share storied about the day and do double team parent coaching for our son; he is stuck until dinner is over. The last thing I do before going to sleep is prepare for the next day. I enjoy listening to sleep meditation YouTube videos to drift off.

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

A recent leadership lesson I’ve been reminded of is that people will only grow in the space you create for them. As leaders we are charged with achieve an overall strategic objective which we break into smaller tactical goals. Depending on the demonstrated competency of our team we may only entrust people with tasks we know they can predictably achieve well. This approach ensure that those individuals will remain at the same level of performance indefinitely. The goal of leadership is to build a better version of you by investing in people. If we do not achieve this we will increasingly find ourselves doing all the work or overwhelming top performers. We need to give people space to grow by entrusting them with increased responsibility and coaching them along the way.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

John Maxwell’s 5 Levels of Leadership had an immense impact on my leadership approach. It made me aware of the roadmap that I needed to follow to increase my ability to influence and the appropriate measuring stick to determine if my approach was working. The ideas in the book are relatively simple if you present the high level summary but, so many leaders are not self aware and mistake management for leadership. In the Military we wore our position on our chest and many people use this as their superpower to control others. My understanding of this material helped me to develop a leadership approach that has proven effective even after the military.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

I would tell young leaders that if you have a new team, find out what they expect from you as their leader and what they need as people and to accomplish their missions. Servant leadership is truly the secret sauce of great leaders. Read as many books as you can on the topic until you get to the point where it becomes one of your core values and not the recital of concepts in a book. Leadership is a privilege and your opportunity to create the experience that someone has 8+ hours a day as a requirement to sustain life, don’t be the villain in someone’s story. Leadership is not something that can be packaged and given to you, it’s a journey. If you do not take the time to develop yourself you will do a disservice to yourself and those who you are charged to lead.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

I believe in life-long mentorship. In 2017 I was the Officer in Charge of the United States Army and Europe Communications Team. I met a young man named Chaz Gomes who was a senior in high school and asked if he could intern with my team. He had a passion for IT but wasn’t sure what he wanted to pursue after finishing high school. Chaz was a very quiet and reserved young man; I knew I had work to do, not only to build his technical experience, but to prepare his character for success. We spent about 3 months together where we had many developmental conversations. I treated him how I wanted him to be, not how he was, by giving him responsibilities and exposures where I knew he may feel uncomfortable. Following his graduation he enlisted into the Army and completed a four year contract. When he came home he was a totally different person and thanked me for the time I spent mentoring him. I had another opportunity to impact his life my providing my recommendation for him to obtain employment. The opportunity to continue contributing to his story is an achievement that I honor and embodies the meaning of leadership.