I learned early on how important it is to connect with your clients and see their challenges firsthand. Those experiences taught me the value of taking the time to understand what motivates other people.
Now I’m an executive vice president leading the firm’s National Security business. As a leader, it’s important to create an environment where everyone has a fair and equitable chance to make their voice heard and drive our success.
Judi Dotson leads our National Security business and is a member of the firm’s leadership team. With more than 31 years of experience in consulting services, Judi is well-versed in leading diverse teams with deep mission understanding. She currently oversees teams that provide our nation’s preeminent security agencies with functional expertise in cybersecurity; engineering and science; analytics; digital services and mobility; and strategy, organizational development, and workforce management.
Prior to her current role, Judi led the Joint Combatant Commands (JCC). Her clients included the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), the Chief Information Officer (CIO), the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), the Combatant Commands, and more. She developed market strategies, led business and contract capture activities, and oversaw delivery. She was also responsible for recruiting, developing, and delivering talented teams that consistently exceeded customer expectations.
Over her career, Judi has worked across both civilian and defense clients, with her teams delivering critical programs for Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Education, Environmental Protection Agency, Army, Air Force, Navy, Defense Acquisition University, and other clients.
Judi has held several internal leadership roles including serving as a member of the Booz Allen Excellence Awards Committee, the Partnership for Public Service Executive Committee, the Facilities Governance Board, and the Women's Golf Network Sponsor.
Judi has also served on the board of directors for the public sector division of TechAmerica (formerly the Information Technology Association of America) and was a member of the board of directors for the Nature Generation, a not-for-profit that inspires and empowers youth to make a difference through innovative environmental stewardship programs in literature, science, and the arts.
She received a B.S. in computer science from the University of Maryland.
What has been the common thread as your career progressed and you worked with different clients? In my journey at Booz Allen, I stayed with the EPA and other environmental clients for a good 15 years. Then I moved to working in the defense business, then in military health, then to our Finance, Energy, Economic Development business, and then to our Joint Combatant Command business and now, to our National Security business. While systems development is my background, along the way I listened and developed deep client relationships and an understanding of how to operate a business. That dynamic combination has been the common thread throughout my career.
What excites you about the work that you do? Every day we have the opportunity to help our clients and the people on our team to be successful—to be positioned for their own success as well as the firm’s success. To me, that’s pretty exciting.
Why are you passionate about the work Booz Allen does? The work we do is key to the mission of our clients, and ultimately, to protect and defend our national security interests and build a better world for the next generation.
You’ve always gotten out there and been with your clients. What kind of a difference does that make? It makes all the difference. I didn’t realize it at the time, but getting sent directly to the client site for my first 6 years at Booz Allen was the best thing that could have happened to me. I saw what clients had to deal with, I learned their missions, I understood the pace at which they needed to move and the kinds of services they needed. The relationships you develop when you’re onsite are very different than when you’re just visiting from time to time.
How do you help your clients prepare for the future? Our job is not to just answer the question that they’re asking us but to step back and to think more broadly, to bring all of Booz Allen together to think about: What’s the question, and what’s the answer, not just for today but for the future. That’s how we can truly build that loyalty with our clients as well as differentiate ourselves in the market. We do that by building solutions in advance of the ask—there are prototypes to show them the possibilities—and really trying to shape their thinking around our thinking as it makes sense for them.
What are your three tips for managing and motivating people? Clearly define the role. Make sure that role has some stretch opportunities. And give your people the autonomy to execute but stay close enough so you can guide them along the way as they’re learning.
What mentorship advice would you give someone who took on a new leadership role? Listen carefully to the people around you. Accept help from those people. And when it’s time to decide, make the decision.
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