This week, Women of Washington radio show hosts Aileen Black and Gigi Schumm talk to Karen Dahut, executive vice president and leader of the Strategic Innovation Group at Booz Allen Hamilton, about what companies need to do to embrace innovation, especially in the public sector.

“Embracing innovation does mean embracing change,” Dahut said of her work with Booz Allen. “The federal government is in a place where their budgets are declining and yet their need to continue to perform is extraordinary. So, the only way to get there is to close that gap between performance and budget by bringing new ideas, new tools, new mechanisms to bear on those missions.”

Dahut also discussed her history as a Navy dependent and then later a Naval officer, and how it affected her leadership style.

“I learned more in my short seven years with the Navy than I probably have in the last 20 with regard to leadership. Leadership is about role model behavior, but it’s also about being very clear in your expectations, asking for things, motivating others, and being very transparent in your leadership.”

When asked if she ever had to make a tough decision between her personal and professional life, Dahut shared a story about her mother.

“When I was first elected to the partnership at Booz Allen Hamilton my mom was diagnosed with very severe cancer, and she and my dad came to live with us for an extended period of time while she was going through treatment. She ended up unfortunately passing away from that cancer. It was a very, very tough time in my life, and it was a really important time in my professional life. I had just been elected to the executive level in the firm and I wasn’t sure how I was going to deal with this…”

“I reached out to two leaders with whom I worked very closely at the firm, and I shared with them what I was going through, and what was amazing to me is they embraced me, they helped me, they took things off my plate… And I think about that a lot because so many times, women won’t ask for that help or reveal that they’re going through something hard, and my experience is that when I did, it was absolutely uplifting to me that people carried me on their shoulders for that period of time.”

When it comes to her advice for young women entering the workforce, she encourages them to relax, to collect mentors along the way and stay close to them, and to have fun and enjoy their work.

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.