Jeannette King, a Navy Veteran from Martinsburg, West Virginia, has had the ability to provide jobs to 40 employees, many of whom are veterans and/or military spouses, in 10 states, including West Virginia, through her leadership in Strategic Resolution Experts, Inc. (SRE). SRE is a federal management consulting and IT service management contractor for the United States Department of Defense and Homeland Security.  

In this week’s Positively West Virginia podcast interview, King describes what steps she took to make sure she was effectively using her leadership skills to the best of her ability.

Realize that Your Mission is Bigger than Just You.

Sometimes, it is hard to not get caught up in the world around you. It’s hard to think about a global world.

King has not had that problem. One thing that King does everyday is to think about the SRE mission.

“We serve our country, and we help support the mission of the government, which serves the American people,” said King.

“I try to remember that the work we do is important,” said King. “While our company is small, our mission is global.”

Actively Seek Out Things That Will Help Your Leadership Skills.

Four years ago, King hired an executive coach because while she felt that she could get things done on her own, those things were not necessarily important to everyone else.

“It helped open my mind to how I need to communicate and what kind of rewards we need to present to employees,” explained King. “I’m still implementing programs that he recommended.”

King also initiated an annual employee development plan.

“We don’t call them reviews. For me, the folks we hire know how to do their jobs,” said King. “We try to develop their characters, traits and core values that are important to us at SRE.”

King asks her employees to do an employee development plan for her as well

Be True to Yourself.

“Stay true to yourself. Always do the right thing, even when no one is looking. Treat everyone how you want to be treated,” advised King.  

King believes that it is a small business world we live in, and people will remember how you have treated them

She acknowledges that treating people right has helped her achieve success with her business.

Write Everything Down.

With the technology that we have today, it’s easy to just input your notes into a computer, log them on your phone or even send yourself emails.

What would happen in you mistakenly delete your email? Your computer crashes? Or, you simply cannot get easy access to that information?

Your notes will be lost.

King advises to carry a notebook and write everything down.

“When I was in the Navy, I would carry around these green log books,” said King. “ I wrote down every single thing that I did. I still have them.”

“I carried it over to SRE. I have a historical record of every meeting I can always reference to,” continued King. “Keep an I Love Me log.”

Your Company Can Help More Than Just Your Employees.

To King, serving people and helping them is incredibly important. Her business provides 40 people with jobs that help them live. Most of her employees are veterans or spouses of men and women who are serving.

But, it’s not just about helping your employees.

One of the best moments for King was when she helped a community member and friend. Her friend was about to lose her house because her job cut back hours. King’s first instinct was to offer to just pay off the amount on her house; however, King’s philosophy is to teach people how to fish, not just hand them the fish.

Discussing the avenue that her friend could take helped this woman save her house.

Through these five steps, King has achieved success with her leadership skills at SRE.

King was a guest on Positively West Virginia, a podcast that is dedicated to telling positive, inspirational stories about West Virginia businesses.

Listen to the full podcast or to be a guest on the show, click here.

5 Key Takeaways from Federal Management Consulting Company

• Realize that your mission is bigger than just you.
• Actively seek out things that will help your leadership skills.
• Be true to yourself.
• Write everything down.
• Your company can help more than just your employees.