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BUSINESS NEWS NASA NAMES JACOBS LARGE BUSINESS PRIME CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has been selected as NASA’s Agency-Level 2016 Small Business Industry Award Large Business Prime Contractor of the Year. This is the second time in six years that Jacobs has received the award. The award follows Jacobs’ 2016 SBIA Large Business Prime Contractor of the Year Award at four NASA Centers – Armstrong Flight Research Center, Johnson Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and Kennedy

Space Center. Jacobs also won NASA’s Mentor-Protégé Agreement of the Year at JSC. Jacobs was nominated for its most recent award by NASA KSC, where the company provides program management, engineering, flight hardware, logistics, and spaceport services. The KSC nomination acknowledged Jacobs for its ground and flight application software team efforts, supporting critical missions to resupply the International Space Station, as well as overall service to the Test and Operations Support Contract.

“We’re very proud to be the recipient of this SBIA Agency-Level award and all of our SBIA Awards, these are a testament to the commitment and knowledge of our people,” said Jacobs Aerospace and Technology Senior Vice President Ward Johnson. “As NASA’s largest services provider, Jacobs has made a significant contribution to our nation’s space exploration program, as well as various aeronautical research and development programs. We are committed to help NASA achieve mission success.”

GERRY SALONTAI, from page 11

are best developed by simply participating in the learning and sharing experience of your business. Informal mentoring, coaching, special company projects/assignments, providing promotional opportunities, and formal education all provide an opportunity to develop leaders. “The talent war has arrived. Building a bigger pipeline of leaders and doing it much earlier in their careers is critical for a sustainable company.” The first step with leadership development is to measure read- iness and, more importantly, the learning “gaps” that need to be filled. Essentially what qualities, experience, and skills will be needed for them to be successful. The best approach is also to look at each of these in a context of the future, not for today, using the “what got you here may not get you there” philosophy. A development program should be constructed at the highest level of the company to monitor and track prog- ress of all candidates in the company but can be administered very simply through the annual goal setting and review pro- cess. The key is to have “candid” dialogue of not only dreams and aspirations, but also those areas of improvement that are needed in their leadership journey. And after all efforts are made for development, if there are serious flaws that will not allow them to be successful, they should be told. ❚ ❚ How do you keep those that show the most promise? This is perhaps the most difficult part of this journey. A com- pany needs to certainly create an environment for leaders to continue to grow and prosper while rewarding them for their accomplishments. The key is to continually challenge them with new and varied assignments. It’s also important to bring them along in selected decision-making forums you may have in the company. Simply put, engaging them constantly in the business will keep them loyal and tied to the company. This article was not meant to be a comprehensive outline of a program for finding, developing and keeping leaders. Rather, it’s written to inspire those reading this to get a more formal program/approach in place, to get their programs back on track, or focus current efforts with greater intensity. The talent war has arrived. Building a bigger pipeline of leaders and doing it much earlier in their careers is critical for a sustainable company. GERRY SALONTAI is the founder of Salontai Consulting Group, LLC. Contact him at gerry@salontai.com.

leadership style within your company. Studies argue that the best type of leadership is determined by situational variables in an organization, which can vary between types of busi- nesses, companies in the same business, and over time. Iden- tifying the leadership style that best fits a company includes the assessment of the type of work, the complexity of the or- ganization, the qualifications of the followers, and the broad culture that exists. The assessment of the best style(s) that fit your company increases the chance you will find and develop the best candidates to lead. ❚ ❚ When do you begin this process and how do you recog- nize a good leader? Much earlier than we ever have before. One must look past the experience and rather focus on the characteristics of the individual while making judgements about their ability to lead. This initial step of finding leaders seems to be the most elusive. One must always be on the “prowl” for potential leaders that work for you now and those you could attract to your company to add strength to the “bench.” The ability to influence others, communicate well, deliver results, a positive attitude and resilience, vision, integ- rity, and a team player are just some of the traits to look for. You can usually spot them in action during everyday activi- ties. They tend to be good with clients, their peers, and sub- ordinates. Leaders participate well, ask good questions, and strive to make constructive contributions during the conduct of meetings. And leaders almost always accomplish the goals or tasks you give them and have a voracious appetite to take on more. “One must always be on the ‘prowl’ for potential leaders that work for you now and those you could attract to your company to add strength to the ‘bench.’ The ability to influence others, communicate well, deliver results, a positive attitude and resilience, vision, integrity, and a team player are just some of the traits to look for.” ❚ ❚ So now you’ve found potential leaders. What’s next? You need to invest the time and cost of developing them to realize their full potential. It’s a continuous process that takes full commitment. But it doesn’t take a sophisticated Harvard- type development program to be successful. Leadership development can be scaled for the size of a company – ac- complished through simple programs and activities. Leaders

THE ZWEIG LETTER April 24, 2017, ISSUE 1197

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