The Crooked Career Path and 10 Major Lessons I learned Along The Way Sheryl J' Boutte Deputy Associa

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The Crooked Career Path and10 Major Lessons I
learned Along The WaySheryl J. BoutteDeputy
Associate Director For Federal ServicesNNSA
Service Center
June
2003
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How I Startedin the 1970s

• Degree in English
• Management Intern at the Atomic Energy Commission
• Rotated through various divisions as a part of
  1 year intern training
• 1st permanent assignment
• Management Assistant, Office of Management
  Services

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• Lesson No. 1 In an agency populated with
  technical types, when people find out you have a
  degree in English they will ask you to type
  things
• You must resist this at all costs

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• The next steps on the path provided some key life
  long lessons ( mid-late 1970s)
• Program Coordinator, Affirmative Action Programs
• Very unpopular activity with the Labs
• I was finding major issues
• Lab director wanted me to stop my review
• Lesson 2 If you have personal integrity, and
  your work is solid, management will support you.

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• Early 1980s
• Program Manager, Solar In Federal Buildings
  Program
• 50 million dollars 750 projects
• Funding being curtailed by congress
• Needed criteria to determine which to finish
  which to close
• The Program Manager did not want an English major
  running the program
• By the mid-way point, HQ program manager
  threatened to pull work from office if I did not
  continue

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• Lesson 3 Know what you dont know. Utilize
  people who can fill in your gaps and give them
  credit.
• Lesson 4 Bring your life experience to your
  job. Fit it in and use it where it does the most
  good.
• Lesson 5 Empower people to do what they do
  best.

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• The mid 1980s took me to
• Branch Chief Human Resources
• Deputy Director Public Affairs
• Executive Officer to the Manager
• Downgraded through RIF twice during this period
• It was clear my career needed a jumpstart
• Lesson 6 Even when your career seems to
  stagnate, take the opportunity to learn new
  skills

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• In the late 1980s I took a voluntary downgrade
  to learn contracting
• Earned a coveted Contracting Officers Warrant
• Was C.O. for Leland Stanford University
• Lesson 7 The all too obvious sometimes you
  have to go backward to move forward

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• Late 1980s to early 1990s
• Energy Research Division
• Manager, Berkeley Site Office
• ESH/Tiger Team
• Institutional Management
• Technology Transfer
• Security
• Lab Appraisal process
• Took advantage of everything there was to learn .
  
• Had major successes
• Lesson 8 Accept the rewards your work can
  provide and use them to excel

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• Leaving the 1990s and entering the 2000s
• Acting Director, Financial Assistance Center
• Director Human Resources
• Deputy Associate Director, Office of Federal
  Services
• Lesson 9 There is value in a variety of
  experiences. Wisdom, clear vision, and informed
  decision-making are established over time

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• The
• Fork
• in
• the
• Road

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• December 19, 2002 Service Center Stand-up
• Employees Located in Albuquerque, Nevada,
  Oakland, and Headquarters
• August 2004 Service Center Office Closures
• Nevada and Oakland, Headquarters Component

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• Staffing Plan Establishes All Service Center
  Positions in Albuquerque
• Service Center Employees in Nevada, Oakland and
  Headquarters Will Be Reassigned to Albuquerque
• Positions Will Be Available For All Service
  Center Employees

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• September 2003 Survey Service Center Employees
  in Nevada, Oakland and Headquarters
• Determine Employees Interest in Relocating to
  Albuquerque
• Management Planning Purposes Only
• November 2003 Service Center Employees in
  Nevada, Oakland, and Headquarters Will Be
  Directed in Writing to Report to Albuquerque by a
  Certain Date
• All Employee Notices Will Be Issued at the Same
  Time
• Employees Will Be Provided All Relevant
  Employment Information Concerning What Will
  Happen Should They Decline the Assignment
• January 2004 Employees Elect to Accept or
  Decline Reassignment
• April August 2004 Reporting Dates Staggered
  by Function to Facilitate the Arrangement of
  Space and Office Moves

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• Accept Assignment
• Reporting Date Finalized
• Relocation Entitlements Provided
• Decline Assignment
• Notices of Proposed Removal, All to Be Effective
  August 2004 at the Same Time
• Employees Will Be Provided Information on Career
  Transition Assistance Entitlements and Other
  Separation Benefits

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• Lesson 10 There are still many roads to take
  and lessons to be learned.