“You must want it mentally and you must show it physically, giving it your all.”

As an aspiring high school football player, Joe David received this advice from his father.

“What makes a good leader within the military has come a long way, and the rise of emotional intelligence is a much-needed addition to a leader’s toolbelt,” said Maj. Marjorie Masias, assistant product manager for Global Enterprise Network Modernization – Americas (GENM-A) within the Integrated Enterprise Network (IEN) portfolio at PEO EIS.

In her six-and-a-half years with PEO EIS, Linda Jones has made the move from contractor to civilian, served in three different portfolios (Army Data and Analytics Platforms, Integrated Enterprise Network and Defensive Cyber Operations) and become known for her mentoring skills and expertise in Scrum, which is an Agile framework that helps teams deliver value collaboratively in an incremental way.

Maj. Cliff Parry got his first taste of acquisitions while serving as a civil affairs requirements officer for the Army Special Operations Command. “I was a civil affairs officer surrounded by a slew of acquistion officers,“ Parry said about his decision to join the Acquisition Corps. “Anything that gets into the hands of a Soldier goes through an acquisition officer. No other job offers that opportunity.“ Parry, assistant product manager for the Army Training Information System (ATIS), is leading a team developing the Army's future training management system.

After graduating magna cum laude from Langston University with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, Lee James III received job offers from the Army Chief Information Officer (CIO)/G-6, Federal Aviation Administration and JCPenney. He answered eight questions about his career and life.

As an Army budget officer, there are few finance challenges that Adam Bross hasn’t resolved. He is adept at managing uncertainty, including long-term continuing resolutions and shifting Army priorities. “After 12 years at PEO EIS, I have seen a lot of people come and go,” Bross said. “Most people don’t enter PEO EIS as an expert, but a lot of people leave as one.” Bross, a recent headquarters Star of the Quarter awardee, answered questions about his career and life.

There is a saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” Lt. Col. Scott Davis has always kept mischief at bay by tinkering in his garage. Some of his favorite tinkering hobbies include woodworking, home repair and auto repair; however, they are difficult to partake in at his current house because it does not have a garage. To keep his hands from going idle, Davis has reorganized the kitchen cabinets multiple times, causing his family to not know where the utensils, seasonings, plates, cups, and more have been moved to. “Tinkering is a great hobby because you learn many practical skills, how to improve on outcomes or even just to escape the world for a few minutes,” said Davis. “However, my tinkering hobby can drive my wife nuts because I’m always doing something. The next house needs a garage or I may never be allowed in the kitchen again.”

Adam Rothschild was six years old when he saw a Gregory Hines tap-dancing routine on television. “I loved the rhythm Hines could produce from his movements,” Rothschild said. After taking tap-dancing lessons for 12 years, Rothschild was part of a duo that nabbed second place at a national high school tap-dancing competition. “Tap dancing appealed to me because I enjoyed breaking up a full routine into little components and steps that you can explain and teach,” Rothschild said. “I’ve applied that to my current role supporting Virtual Contracting Enterprise (VCE) users. I break up a process into little steps that enable users to get from one point to the other. There is skill in understanding that process so well that you can look outside those steps to see where something in them is wrong.”