Doing Things Differently

Spring is here and we are starting to see more and more events as we all crawl out from the past two years.  Conferences and networking events are back, proposal season is just around the corner, and there is a new federal budget proposed to consider.  There is continued uncertainty around Europe and war in Ukraine, cyber risk is at an all-time high and it’s a midterm election year, so we can expect literally nothing out of congress.

Ah, GovCon… We are back!  Everything is different, yet so many things are the same.  And while it’s easy to slip back into the familiar, I believe that’s a missed opportunity for growth and amounts to nothing learned over the past few years.  

What is different now?  What pandemic habits have you built that you want to continue in the new world (excuse me…I cannot stand the term “new normal”)?  What habits do you wish to shed? 

On a personal note, are you spending even more time at work over-zooming/teaming yourself with endless back-to-back calls?  Are you incorporating exercise into your day?  Are you spending more time with loved ones?  Are you never putting on another pair of pantyhose again?  Are you reconnecting with friends (or perhaps ditching the toxic or self-absorbed ones)? 

Conferences for GovCons

This goes to your professional world as well.  Are you back on the road in endless coffee meetings and networking events?  Are you motivated by quantity over quality?  Is what you spend your time on accomplishing anything?  It’s easy to get back to “I’m super busy” status…but is it revenue-generating? Are you tackling your proposals with the exact same intro sentence and management plan that you’ve used for the past 4 years? Are you continuing to not have the right people on the team?  Are you motivated to sell your company but haven’t done the hard work to prep it?  Are you going to the same customer without exploring other avenues? Are your offerings the same as they’ve always been?

Spring is always a time of growth and exploration. Coming out from your hole after two years is also an excellent reason to reevaluate your status quo and figure out what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what needs tweaking.  If not after a global pandemic, when?  What would hold you back from changing your organization?  Yourself?

GovCon Networking Event

We’ll address some of the professional topics at the next govmates Institute on April 26, in-person in the DC metro area.  If you would like to learn more or attend, click here.