Metronome’s Quarterly NewsletterJanuary 2016

Issue No. 6

PURPOSEdiscover ing our WHY

Robotics, Music, & 50 years in the IC

Get to know your fellow Pulsers!

What’s important to you?

Exercises to discover your core values

Tips & TricksFrom HR, IT, and on Leadership

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Happy 2016, Pulsers! I had a wonderful time seeing so many of you at the holiday parties in the D.C. and St. Louis areas. It’s incredible how much our Metronome family has grown. In 2015, we doubled our number of Pulsers and the majority of that was done last quarter alone!

We were able to achieve those numbers largely because of ESAS, our prime contract. Our goal and full intent is to win another prime contract in 2016 so get ready for another year of lots of growth!

Our numbers aren’t the only way we’ve grown. We have initiatives throughout Metronome that are taking hold and matur-ing including philanthropy and our Purpose Campaign.

Our Holiday Food Drive was such a success. Together, we collected 327 food items and over $1,000 for Food for Others. Early this year, we will adopt another organization to support. We will send out more information on the organization so stay tuned!

We’re also embarking on a journey to dis-cover our purpose. Turn to page two for more information on this important and exciting initiative.

The Pulse Checks we completed through-out December provided a lot of insight into what’s important to you and how we can improve as a company to better support you. We listened and take steps every day to improve!

2016 promises to be an amazing year and I look forward to seeing what we accomplish together!

1 A Message from Jen by Jennifer VirgaChief Executive Officer Jen Virga reflects on 2015 and looks ahead to Metronome in 2016.

2 The Why by Fatima AbarcaA look into our Purpose Campaign and our journey to discover Metronome’s WHY.

4 What are Your Core Values? by Anne LoehrUnderstanding our personal core values can lead us to find our purpose. Try these exercises to discover yours.

6 Book ClubDetails on our next Book Club meeting and selection, The Nightingale.

7 The Music in My Life by Silvano MelgarIn his essay, Silvano shares with us what music means to him.

19 Roar by Virgil VirgaChief Operations Officer Virgil Virga’s quarterly anthem: Katy Perry, Roar

11 All You Need is Love...and Paychex by Evelyna AvanesianA message from HR. Paychex is a great resource for all your employment-related questions. Learn more.

12 CTRL+ALT+ESC by Christopher DemarestA message from IT. Task Manager is like your computer’s Twitter feed. Learn more.

15 Robotics by Ed Tushar FIRST Robotics Team 1094 Mentor and Pulser, Ed Tushar shares with us his adventures with the Channel Cats.

16 Quarterly Celebrations by Sarah SoltisCelebrate this quarter’s upcoming birthdays and last quarter’s anniversaries and new Pulsers!

17 Hugh by Nick HamillPulser spotlight on Lead Database Processor and master of fun, Hugh Masters.

8 Insider Threat by Charles HindsA message from our FSO. Awareness tips on one of the greatest risks in security today.

9 ARCYBER Program spotlight on the U.S. Army Cyber program.

10 Open PositionsPositions available for you, your friends, or family mem-bers to apply to.

20 CelebrationsPhotos of fun and celebrations from last quarter.

13 Describing the Gap by Matt MazarowskiA lesson in leadership. Leadership can be practiced anywhere, even with your kids.

14 Can’t We All Just Get Along? by Matt MazarowskiTips on how to deal with challenging personalities in the workplace.

a message from

JenMetronome’s Quarterly NewsletterJanuary 2016

Issue No. 6

cover illustration: stock.adobe.com © Yurok Aleksandrovichimage: stock.adobe.com © Avantgarde

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When I was first asked, “What is your purpose?” I wasn’t sure how to answer. I thought about it and became a little worried. I felt as if I didn’t know something everyone else did. So, I thought about it some more, and I realized, it’s okay to not know exactly what my purpose is because that means my purpose is evolving.

My purpose has always been grounded in finding happiness. I’ve attained this through being a loyal friend, a compassion-ate caretaker, a problem solver, and an engaged student. Now, I want to continue growing and explore what fulfills me. I want to find what makes me wake up every morning. With this, I believe my purpose is to grow, learn, and live life. And when I say live, what I mean is that I don’t want to just have a pulse, I want to be the pulse.

I hope my purpose inspires you to define, evolve, and find yours.

Simon Sinek’s concept of the Golden Circle, explains why some organizations and leaders are able to inspire where others are not. “The way we think, we act, the way we com-municate is from the outside in, it’s obvious. We go from the clearest thing to the fuzziest thing. But the inspired leaders and the inspired organizations -- regardless of their size, regardless of their industry -- all think, act and communicate from the inside out.”

Most leaders and organizations explain or market themselves beginning with what they do, how they do it, and rarely explain why they do it. In fact, scientifically, the message that most engages us as humans is the one that begins by ex-plaining the WHY. Sinek explains that if you take a cross-sec-tion of the human brain, it breaks down into three major cortexes that correspond with the Golden Circle (see page 3). The neocortex is responsible for our rational and analytical thought and language — this corresponds with the WHAT. The middle two sections are our limbic brains which are responsi-ble for our feelings, behavior, and decision-making. When we communicate from the outside in, we take in and understand information. When we communicate inside out, we talk di-rectly to the parts of our brains that control behavior and then provide the facts to allow rationalization.

We officially kicked off The Purpose Campaign at our D.C. area Holiday Party in December and asked a few Pulsers to talk about their individual purpose. To help prompt the discussion, we asked them what type of legacy they want to leave behind. Words of loyalty, compassion, mentorship, friendship, and leadership were some shared amongst the group. Sarah Soltis was one of the Pulsers that spoke. Her speech is below.

What’s your purpose?

WHATEvery organization on the planet knows WHAT they do. These are products they sell of the services they offer.

HOWSome organizations know HOW they do it. These are the things that make them special or set them apart from their competition.

WHY Very few organizations know WHY they do what they do. WHY is not about making money. That’s a result. WHY is a purpose, cause or belief. It’s the very reason your organization exists.

Source: https://www.startwithwhy.com/Tools.aspx

The Golden Circle

whyhowwhat

What is Metronome’s why? This year, we embark on our Purpose Campaign to discover the answers. Last fall, our leadership team got together for their quarterly strategy session and were presented with a video, Simon Sinek’s TED Talk on How Great Leaders Inspire Action. The video spurred a conversation that we are now having as individuals and as a company.

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. If you talk about what you believe, you will attract those who believe what you believe,” says Sinek. When beliefs align individuals and organizations are moved by emotion and passion. When one knows the WHY or one’s purpose, they are able to share it and tap into the emotions of others. When people are aligned, they can unite to act or to effect change.

“There are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or authority, but those who lead inspire us,” says Sinek. “Whether they’re individuals or organiza-tions, we follow those who lead, not because we have to, but because we want to...And it’s those who start with “why” that have the ability to inspire those around them or find others who inspire them.”

We realize that for Metronome, everyone’s individual purpose is going to help us shape and define ours. In 2016, our aim is to help each Pulser realize their own purpose and for us to do so as an organization. Our Purpose Campaign will be a part of our dialogue throughout the year. We hope you join us on our journey!

To learn more about our Purpose Campaign contact Fatima Abarca at fatima.a@metronomeusa.com.

BY FATIMA ABARCA

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Values are like a compass that points us to our “true north.” Understanding our personal values helps us navigate decisions, make more fulfilling choices, and live in a way that is satisfying and meaningful. It is the road to finding our purpose. As a leader, personal values pass down to all levels of the organization, creating a cohesive mission and team, and informing the direction, deci-sions and culture of the company.

In my last post on how values and purpose create better leaders, I discussed what values are and why it’s beneficial to identify your own core values. In this post, I will present some exercises to help you clearly identify those core values.

Here are two tips to consider before starting the exercises:

• Start with exercise number one and see if you are able to identify your values from this one exercise. Don’t feel that you need to complete all of the exercises to define your core values.

• It’s best to do this with someone else who can listen, take notes and help you see what you may not see about yourself.

Understanding our personal

values...is the road to finding

our purpose.

WHAT ARE YOUR CORE VALUES?

Original post: http://www.anneloehr.com/2014/03/27/how-values-and-purpose-create-better-leaders-part-two-find-your-values/illustration: stock.adobe.com © MSA

Exercise Three: Think of a time when you were angry or frustratedTake a look at Exercise One listed above and flip the script. Identify a particularly difficult moment in your life and follow the steps below.

This time we will use the example of Jonathan, a senior leader at a technology firm.

1. Describe this frustrating moment in detail. If you are working on this exercise alone, write the description. If you are doing this with someone, talk about this moment for 2-3 minutes while the other person takes notes.Two months ago, Jon was meeting with multiple company department heads. A colleague of higher rank either spoke over Jon when he tried to share his ideas or shot down Jon’s ideas. As Jon grew increasingly frustrated, this higher ranked colleague accused him of being intentionally difficult in front of the group. Jon’s frustration turned into anger, and he sat in silence for the duration of the meeting.

2. Think about what values you have that were not being honored in this situation.When examining the scenario detailed above, Jon realized that he felt disrespected, unappreciated, and discounted. He also began to wonder if his ideas weren’t innovative or helpful to the team.

What do these feelings say about Jonathan’s values? He may say that he values respect, appreciation, acknowledgment, inno-vation, and being a positive contribution to the people in his life.

3. Pick the values that you’ve identified which are most important to you. (Remember that your values apply to both your personal and professional worlds.)When looking at the list he made of values that were compromised in this frustrating scenario, Jonathan identified that he values innovation the most.

4. Define what the value or values mean to YOU.To Jonathan, innovation means thinking outside the box, being open to new ideas, offering unique ideas and solutions to any situation, and being distinguished from the pack.

5. Choose a value name that resonates with YOU.Jonathan can simply name this value “innovative.” However, he may want to name it “change agent,” or “different from the pack.” The most important thing is that the value resonates with him.

6. Continue the process until you define approx. 5 core values.Take note of what values you discover with each exercise you complete. They will be the beginning of your compass for clear decision making at work and home.

Exercise Two: Take a look at your obsessionsHave you ever heard someone say, “All you care about is work,” or “You take on all of your friend’s problems, but you never take care of yourself,” or “You’d miss your own birthday party to go to the gym?” These external observations about your behavior can give you clues about your core values. If “all you do is work,” then one of your core values may be achievement or perseverance. If you take care of those around you, maybe one of your values is loyalty, service or compassion. Accused of being a gym rat? Physical health or opportunities for competition may be one of your values.

Start listening to these comments with curiosity. Can you match up this obsessive behavior to its root cause? That root may hold the key to your values. Start listing them out one by one and then go to #4-6 in Exercise One.

Exercise One: Identify a peak moment in your lifeCan you recall a moment where your life couldn’t get any better? When everything felt aligned? It may have even felt like the best day of your life. Take some time to remember a peak moment and follow the steps below:

1. Describe this peak moment in detail. If you are working on this exercise alone, write the descrip-tion. If you are doing this with someone, talk about this moment for 2-3 minutes while the other person takes notes.Here is an excerpt from my own peak moment:

One of my peak moments was taking leaders on Safaris for the Soul, African safaris that I co-created with Brian Emerson. I loved watching the leaders grow and develop during the two week program. I remember clearly the blue sky and green savannah, hearing the wildlife sounds, and smelling fresh nature.

2. Think about and discuss what values are recognizable in this particular peak moment.From the peak moment described above, you could say I value:

• Being outdoors• Working with people to develop their potential• Being adventurous

3. Pick the value or values that you’ve identified as most important to you. (Remember that your values apply to both your personal and professional worlds.)From the three potential values I identified above, I pick ‘adventurous’ as the one that is most important to me in both my career and personal life.

4. Define what the chosen value or values mean to YOU.To me, ‘adventurous’ means choosing an unconventional path, trying lots of new things, going to new places (literally and figuratively), exploring options and tinkering with ideas to find solutions.

5. Choose a value name that resonates with YOU.Most people would name the value I identified simply as “adventurous”. However, the word adventurous doesn’t resonate with me. Instead the name “wind in your face” is much more memorable for me as a core value.

6. Continue the process until you define approx. 5 core values.

Exercises Used to Identify Values and Purpose

How Values and Purpose Create Better Leaders, Part Two: Find Your Valuesby Anne Loehr

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Join us on 16 March at 5pmat HQ or on Google Hangoutto discuss...

The Music in My Life

Music to me is time travelWhenever I hear a song that I haven’t heard in a while it transports me back to the exact moment when I first heard it. Or a time in my life when somehow it enriched my life. It takes me back to the person I was at that moment. Sometimes it’s a person that I may not want to remember, sometimes it’s a person that I wish I were still. Sometimes during my musical time travel I may get homesick for a place that doesn’t exist anymore and sometimes, when I’m lost in the present moment, music helps me time travel back to a place when I knew my way. It doesn’t matter where I am, when I hear the Superman theme song I feel like a little kid again.

Music to me is a catalystMusic makes moments rawer. What does that mean? It makes road trips more fun. Some music needs air so roll down the windows. You can share a song with someone you’ve never met or someone you’re dating or someone that you’re

I believe in the sand beneath my toes The beach gives a feeling, an earthy feeling, I believe in the faith that grows And the four right chords can make me cryWhen I’m with you I feel like I could die And that would be alright, alright - Semi Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind Cover image and publisher’s summary courtesy of St. Martin’s Press

FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says good-bye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must make one terrible choice after another.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets the compelling and mysterious Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can...completely. When he betrays her, Isabelle races headlong into danger and joins the Resistance, never looking back or giving a thought to the real--and deadly--consequences.

With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah takes her talented pen to the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France--a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that cele-brates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.

“In love we find out who we want to be.In war we find out who we are.”

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

BOOKCLUB “Music is the only thing in this world, with the exception of

sneezing and looking at the sunset that takes you to a place that's above the mundane.”

Stephan Jenkins, Third Eye Blind

I’ll leave you with some of my favorite lyrics by my favorite band, Third Eye Blind. When you listen to it, I challenge you to let the freedom of this song wake up your soul. I can feel the heat of the summer sun beating through its verses and it reminds me to stay young. It’s a rebel yell, a refusal to lay down.

An essay by Silvano Melgar

How many times have you shared a song with someone or maybe someone has shared a song with you that has helped you mourn a little better? Has brought you a little more joy? Has inspired you to take a risk? Has summoned a little more compassion for something that you didn’t understand? It’s the perfect example of music’s ability to make sense of things that you may not understand.

beginning to know and give them a little piece of you. Music opens a door into who you are. Why do you pick a wedding song? It facilitates the bond between two souls and how they are feeling at that exact moment. It helps a know-it-all teenager actualize how they are feeling. You know that feeling you get when you hear a song and think to yourself…I have to dance to this song! You don’t care what you look like or who is watching you — it’s a powerful thing when controlled sound and silence makes you let go of your inhibition and just be free.

Music to me is a bridgeWhen I think about all the different types of music in the world it makes my heart explode. What makes my heart explode is how, at its basic foundation, it is all the same. Kind of like all of us. It’s amazing how something so simple can build the most powerful connections. How many of us have had that AHA! moment when you meet someone whose favorite band is your band! It’s like a light bulb going off, right?

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BY CHARLES HINDS, FSO

ARCYBERProgram Spotlight

Each quarter we will shine a spotlight on a different program we support. This quarter, we’ve selected ARCYBER.

In February 2015, the Director of National Intelligence, James R. Clapper, deliv-ered a Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Cyber was the first Global Threat listed in the assessment: “Cyber threats to U.S. national and economic security are increasing in frequency, scale, sophistication, and severity of impact. The ranges of cyber threat actors, methods of attack, targeted systems, and victims are also expanding.”1

As such, cyber security has become one of the fastest growing requirements of the IC. Metronome is proud to provide these services across the DoD and IC including for the U.S. Army, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Office of Naval Intelligence, and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

The U.S. Army Cyber program, or ARCYBER, was established on 1 October 2010 as the Army’s single focal point for cyberspace and information operations. The U.S. Army Cyber Command's breadth of responsibility spans the entire Army and the world — from the tactical edge to the strategic enterprise-level or national levels.

Metronome joined the U.S. Army Cyber program, or ARCYBER, in the Spring of 2015 and now have over 10 Pulsers supporting the mission of the dispersed Defensive Cyber Operations Divisions (DCODs) and Army Computer Emergency Response Team (ACERT).

The Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO) support services our team provide include: Penetration testing; computer network defense architecture, development, and maintenance; network damage assessment; intrusion detection; information assur-ance risk assessments; malware analysis; and administrative and logistics support.

Our ARCYBER Pulsers provide these mission critical cyber security services 40 hours a day, 7 days a week at Fort Belvoir, VA. ARCYBER’s other locations include Fort Gordon, GA, Arizona, and Hawaii.

We applaud and celebrate the success of our ARCYBER Pulsers for their great work and passion for our national security mission!

1 http://www.dni.gov/files/documents/Unclassified_2015_ATA_SFR_-_SASC_FINAL.pdfillustration: stock.adobe.com © Sashkin

“Cyber threats to U.S. national

and economic security are increasing

in frequency, scale,

sophistication, and severity of

impact.”

DNI James R. Clapper

Fortunately, Metronome has never fallen victim to an insider attack. However, organizations of all types and the Government are at risk of attack every day. Awareness is the first step we can take to ensure Metronome, our industry partners, and our Gov-ernment customers are safeguarded from insider threats.

The Defense Security Service (DSS) will soon release Conforming Change 2 of the NISPOM (National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual) which will include updated mandates related to insider threat.

DSS defines an insider threat as “Acts of commission or omission by an insider who intentionally or unintentionally compromises or potentially compromises DoD’s ability to accomplish its mission. These acts include, but are not lim-ited to, espionage, unauthorized disclosure of information and any other activity resulting in the loss or degradation of departmental resources or capabilities.”

Many organizations believe the biggest threat to corporate data comes from the outside. The sad reality is that “argu-ably, ‘insiders’ have caused more damage than trained professional intelligence officers working on behalf of their respective governments.”1

A 2015 release of Vormetric Insider Threat Report shows that insider threat awareness levels have increased to where 89% of organizations surveyed felt that they were somewhat vulnerable to insider attacks.2 Many of these attacks are from privileged users who have unfettered access to the organization most sensitive data either at organization or client sites.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation warns against a variety of personal factors and motivators that increases the likeli-hood someone will spy against their employer:

• Greed or financial need: A belief that money can fix anything. Excessive debt or overwhelming expenses.

INSIDER THREAT

• Anger/revenge: Disgruntlement to the point of want-ing to retaliate against the organization.

• Problems at work: Lack of recognition, disagreement with co-workers or managers, dissatisfaction with the job, a pending layoff.

• Ideology/identification: A desire to help the “under-dog” or a particular cause.

• Divided loyalty: Allegiance to another person or com-pany, or to a country besides the United States

• Adventure/thrill: Want to add excitement to their life, intrigued by the clandestine activity, “James Bond Wannabe.”

• Vulnerability to blackmail: Extra-marital affairs, gambling, fraud.

• Ego/Self-image: An “above the rules” attitude, or de-sire to repair wounds to their self-esteem. Vulnerability to flattery or the promise of a better job. Often coupled with anger/revenge or adventure/thrill.

• Ingratiation: A desire to please or win the approval of someone who could benefit from insider information with the expectation of returned favors.

• Compulsive and destructive behavior: Drug or alcohol abuse, or other addictive behaviors.

• Family problems: Marital conflicts or separation from loved ones.3

You and your colleagues are the first line of defense against espionage. Be aware and help protect our national security by reporting any suspicious behavior that may be related to a potential compromise of classified information to our Security Officer.

1 https://www.dss.mil/isp/count_intell/count_intell.html 2 http://enterprise-encryption.vormetric.com/rs/vormetric/images/CW_2015_Insid-er_threat_Executive_Summary_Report_Vormetric_R3_Single_Pages_010915.pdf3 https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/counterintelligence/the-insider-threat

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Paychex (https://myapps.paychex.com) is every Pulser’s personal treasure trove of information related to your employ-ment. Paychex Online now serves as Metronome's single sign on solution for on-boarding, payroll processing, status reports, and document repository.

By signing on to Paychex, you may access your pay stubs, PTO balance, W-2s, and information related to benefits enroll-ment. You can also sign up 401(k) for and manage your retire-ment services. We are also working on migrating periodic status reports and reviews to Paychex so you no longer have to sign in to PerformYard.

all you need is love...and paychex

BY EVELYNA AVANESIAN, HR

Additional resources accessible via Paychex include: the Metronome Employee Handbook; Yearly Pay Schedule, Tuition/Training Reimbursement Application, Expense Report Applica-tion, Advanced Paid Time Off Agreement, the Anthem Medical Enrollment Application, the Humana Dental/Vision Enrollment Application and the SunLife Short/Long Term Disability, and Life Insurance Application. There are also helpful links to our social media sites and to several tutorials including one on our timekeeping system, SpringAhead.

Paychex is the go-to resource for all things HR and employ-ment-related. We hope you find it useful! If you have any questions about Paychex, please get in touch with Human Resources at hr@metronomeusa.com or (703) 957-4082.

Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement

Most recent paystub

2016 payroll calendar Company directoryEmergency contactsEmployee Handbook

401(k) enrollmentRetirement services

PTO/time-off balanceCompensation, taxes, deductions

Bank accounts

Current and previous W-2s Current and previous paystubs

w w w . p a y c h e x o n l i n e . c o m

name ID no.

OPEN POSITIONS

VirginiaAdministrative Secretary Springfield, VA

Application Virtualization Sequencer Springfield, VA

Audio Visual Technician Springfield, VA

Business Support Specialist McLean, Vienna, VA

Counterintelligence Support McLean, VA

Cyber Intel Analyst Fort Belvoir, VA

Data Analytics Officer/Statistician Level 3 Springfield, VA

Data Steward, GTS Springfield, VA

Database Analyst / Programmer I Springfield, VA

Database Analyst/Programmer IV McLean, VA

Enterprise Management Systems (EMS) Engineer Springfield, VA

Executive Administrative Support McLean, Vienna, VA

Executive Secretary Springfield, VA

HR Ops Support McLean, VA

Information System Security Engineer Springfield, VA

IT Strategy and Investments Officer Springfield, VA

IT Web and Multimedia - Level 4 Springfield, VA

IT/AV Support Associate Administrator Springfield, VA

IT/AV Support Associate Administrator Springfield, VA

Java Software Developer/Programmer IV Springfield, VA

Journeyman Source Performance Analyst Springfield, VA

Lead Systems Architect Springfield, VA

North CarolinaNetwork Analyst / Systems Administrator Fort Bragg, NC

Network/ System Engineer Fort Bragg, NC

MissouriGEOINT Technical Support (Linguist) Arnold, MO

Office Management-Staff Officer Arnold, MO

IT, Web & Multimedia Specialist Saint Louis, MO

Mission Support Administrator Reston, Dulles, Herndon, Tysons, VA

Multimedia Specialist - Full Performance McLean, VA

Network Analyst / Systems Administrator Fort Belvoir, VA

Network/ System Engineer II Fort Belvoir, VA

Network/ArcSight Administrator Fort Belvoir, VA

Principal Exchange Engineer Springfield, VA

Principal SAN/NAS Engineer Springfield, VA

Principal Systems Engineer (Active Directory) Springfield, VA

Principal VDI Engineer (XenDesktop) Springfield, VA

Principal Video Engineer Springfield, VA

SAR Imagery Scientist Springfield, VA

Secretary Springfield, VA

Security Support McLean, VA

Senior .Net Developer Springfield, VA

Senior HBSS Security Systems Engineer Springfield, VA

Senior Secretary Springfield, VA

Senior VoIP Engineer Springfield, VA

Software Developer/Programmer IV McLean, VA

Special Assistant - Level II Fairfax, VA

Sr. Principal Network Engineer Springfield, VA

Sr. Principal SQL Server DBA/Engineer (Tier III) Springfield, VA

Sr. Principal Systems Engineer (Project Integration) Springfield, VA

Sr. Principal Training Specialist Springfield, VA

Sr. Principal Unix/Linux Systems Engineer Springfield, VA

Sr. Principal VDI Engineer (XenDesktop) Springfield, VA

Sr. Systems Technician Springfield, VA

Sr. VDI Engineer (XenDesktop) Springfield, VA

Systems Administrator Springfield, VA

Systems Administrator (Linux Admin) Fort Belvoir, VA

Systems Engineer - Cloud Services Fort Belvoir, VA

Systems Engineer Springfield, VA

Ticket Management Springfield, VA

Web Developer Springfield, VA

Website Designer Staff Fort Belvoir, VA

MarylandExecutive Administrative Support (1), Bethesda, MD

West VirginiaApplication Performance Management (APM) Services Consultant,

Clarksburg, WV

Are you looking for a change? Contact your Operations Manager if you'd like to apply to a different position within Metronome. You can also refer a friend! Ask them to send their resume to SendYourFriends@metronomeu-sa.com. For each referral hired, you could receive a bonus between $500 and $3,000 (depending on clearance level and exemption status).

To see our most current list of open positions, please visit our Smart Recruiters page.

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APP HISTORYApp History (Windows 8 and later only) is only relevant to metro apps and basically nobody uses those as far as I’m aware. You can safely ignore that tab. The chances of needing to shut down a metro app because it’s using too much memory is minuscule. (My apologies to people who regularly use metro apps.)

STARTUPStartup lets you see what programs are assigned to start when Windows starts. It also shows how much each program impacts performance. From here, you can enable and disable any program. If you don’t recognize what you’re looking at, Google it.

USERSUsers tells you what users are currently logged in and how many resources are being used by each logged-in user. There’s usually only one user which makes this mostly irrelevant. But if programs running for another logged-in user are causing you performance problems, this will show you that.

DETAILS AND SERVICESIf you’re just discovering Task Manager today, you should leave Details and Services the heck alone. In fact, those rarely need to be touched. If you DO need those tabs, things have likely gone very wrong and you’re probably going to Google what you need to do.Details, is very similar to Processes, but the programs are broken down into their individual processes, making it tricky to know what each line-item truly does. Some versions of Windows break it down as Applications, Processes and Services tabs.

So that was a brief overview of Task Manager. Hopefully, you won’t really need to use it. Hopefully.

CTRL+SHIFT+ESC TASK MANAGER...BASICALLY, YOUR COMPUTER’S TWITTER FEED

BY CHRISTOPHER DEMAREST

DESCRIBING THE GAP

Computer running slow? Your Windows Task Man-ager lets you peek at what’s running and what’s eating-up the most resources.

The two easiest ways to get to Task Manager in Windows 7/8/10 are to:

1. Press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC, or2. Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager.

Once you click on the detailed view, you’ll see that task manager has seven tabs:

• Processes • Performance • App History• Startup

• Users • Details• Services

The three primary tabs that you will use are Processes, Perfor-mance, and Startup.

PROCESSESProcesses is where the most time is spent within Task Manager. It lists all running programs and how many resources they’re current-ly drawing from the CPU, RAM, hard drive, and network connection. You can click on the column headings to sort the programs by Name, CPU use, Memory use, Disk use, or Network use. From here, you can force-close any program by selecting it and pressing End Task. Make sure you know exactly what you’re turning off or search the internet to find out what it is, if you’re not sure.

PERFORMANCEPerformance gives you a series of real-time line-graphs that show you the performance of your CPU, RAM, Hard Drive, Ethernet, and

Wi-Fi. The graphs give a good at-a-glance gauge of whether you should be worried. Usually it’s fine, but if your CPU, Disk, or Mem-ory is stuck at the top, then they’re being worked pretty hard. Each category has its own set of steps to take to improve the usage which would improve overall per-formance of your computer.

A LESSON IN LEADERSHIPby Matt Mazarowski

We’ve been fortunate at Metronome to be part of an amazing leadership development program called the Leadership Tour. Through this training we learn how to be a better leader, coach, and to ensure we are maximizing our own potential while getting the best out of others.

One of the most valuable skills I’ve improved on is coaching. Coaching is something you can do in practically any setting: at work, with friends, with your kids. A key coaching lesson is how to describe the gap. The gap, in this case, is the difference between what’s expected to be done and what has actually happened.

This can be done in a number of ways; however, what’s been most successful for me is a simple three part process:

The approach here is NOT something like “I asked you to do this; you clearly didn’t; so now do you see the problems we are having?” It’s a more inquisitive approach which sounds more like “Hey, I know we talked about doing XYZ. I’ve observed that X was done but Y and Z weren’t. What happened...what am I missing?”

By being inquisitive, we soften the tone of our intent, which is to discover why things weren’t done as expected. We allow the other person to tell us why they struggled to complete a task. In many cases, the inquisitive approach alleviates someone’s need to defend themselves.

I’ve found coaching to be something I can use in all arenas of my life. For example, I recently asked our boys to take some time to clean their rooms which consisted of making their beds and putting away their toys. After 5 minutes I heard the sounds of a full blown nerf gun fight, chairs squeaking around, and what sounded like elbows and/or knees slamming on the floor.

I walked upstairs calmly to see two beds “made” (I use that term loosely) and clearly caught in a crossfire. Not only was there a surplus of nerf ammo scattered...stuffed animals served as grenades and the older boy had built an impressive towel bunker. Clearly, we had not quite arrived at “clean rooms.”

After we agreed to a truce, I said “We asked you to make your beds and put away your toys. I see more toys scattered all over the floor. Please help me understand...why is there more to clean up now than there was before?”

Once the obligatory blame game ended, we learned that once each boy had a nerf gun in hand it was game on and a race to the ammo. So we decided to put away the nerf guns first, alleviating the need to fire ammo. Then they walked around with their respective ammo buckets, picked up their stuffed animals and the rooms were “cleaned.”

There’s nothing quite like finding a way to apply lessons in leadership and coaching on a Sunday morning. Instead of losing patience and telling them what they did wrong and what to do next, I was able to describe the gap, let them tell me where things went awry, and together find a solution.

Next time things don’t go the way you expect, give coaching and describing the gap a try!

Want to share your lesson in leadership? Email rebecca.w@metronomeusa.com

DESCRIBE THE GAP IN 3 STEPS: 1. Describe what’s expected.2. Describe what you’ve observed.3. Ask an open-ended question.

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each. Alliances compete against each other to breach their opponents’ de-fenses, known as outer works, and capture their tower. They score points by crossing elements of their opponents’ outer works, scoring boulders in their opponents’ tower goals, and surrounding and scaling their opponents’ tower itself.1

In the FRC, performing your best and winning are important. It is a com-petition, after all. However, winning the right way and being proud of what the students accomplish and how they do it are far more important. The FRC combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and tech-nology. It’s as close to real-world business and engineering as a student can get. All of this is what keeps me returning year after year to mentor the Channel Cats and support the River City Robots organization.

Ed Tushar is a Pulser that supports the NGA St. Louis Geomatics Division. As President of the River City Ro-bots, he oversees several robotics clubs in St. Charles County including FIRST Robotics Team 1094, the Channel Cats, and a number of FIRST Lego Leagues (FLLs). He is a long time mentor for the Channel Cats of O’Fallon, MO and shares with us how this has become a passion of his and what the team is up to in the new year.

My son Peter and I were introduced to River City Robots and their team, the Channel Cats, back in the summer of 2006. I was immediately captivated by the program and its philosophy of promoting and encour-aging student interest in science and technology. As they prepared for that year’s competition, I found I couldn’t just stand by and watch so I gradually slipped into the role of Mentor. After my son graduated from high school in 2010 and left the team, I found I had made many good friends and decided to stay on and continue to mentor local kids.

The FIRST program’s strong emphasis and promotion of Gracious Profes-sionalism, an essential part of their ethos, is the undercurrent that drew me in. It is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, em-phasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community.

In addition to Gracious Professionalism, the FIRST program also has fierce competition. Gracious professionals learn and compete like crazy, while treating one another with respect and kindness. They avoid treating anyone like losers. While there isn’t chest-thumping tough talk, there are no sticky-sweet platitudes either. Knowledge, competition, and empathy are comfortably blended with FIRST.

The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, high school students work with adult mentors during a six-week period to design, build, program, and test game-playing robots that weigh up to 120 pounds. Teams are set with an engineering challenge that has robots complete tasks such as scoring balls into goals, flying discs into goals, inner tubes onto racks, hanging on bars, and balance beams.

At the kickoff, the new game and playing field are unveiled and teams receive a Kickoff Kit made up of donated items and components worth tens of thousands of dollars. With only limited instructions, the young inventors build a robot and their teams participate in one or more of the Regional and District events. The teams are measured by the effective-ness of each robot, their level of collaboration, and the determination of the students.

On January 9th, the Channel Cats and FIRST Robotics teams around the world got together for the 2016 kickoff event. This year’s challenge is called FIRST STRONGHOLD and is played by two alliances of three teams

Ed Tushar and the FIRST Robotics Team 1094 gathered on Saturday, 9 January, to watch the FIRST 2016 Kickoff Event.

ROBOTICSby Ed Tushar

Click on the above picture to access the full video of the FIRST Robotics Challenge kickoff event.

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRST_Stronghold

Tips on how to deal with Challenging PersonalitiesBy Matt Mazarowski

For many people, one of the best parts of work is their teammates. At work, we encounter people from diverse backgrounds and experiences. We also encounter the full-range of personalities. So, what do you do when you encounter a challenging personality or one that just doesn’t sync up with yours?

Recently, one of our fellow Pulsers found herself in such a situation. It’s clear she subscribes to the old adage “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” Here, we share her story and some takeaway tips on how to deal with challenging personalities.

Our fun-loving and always smiling Pulser was asked to mentor a new teammate, a very knowledgeable and seasoned employee of the prime contractor. The gentleman was being groomed to become a team lead. As our Pulser mentored him, she observed that he would say things like, “You didn’t do this correctly” or “You’re not doing this how you’re supposed to,” etc.

After several of these instances, our Pulser reacted. Her reaction was paramount. One day, when her teammate sounded off for the umpteenth time, our Pulser stopped what she was doing and looked at him. Know-ing the people around her could not hear their conversation, she calmly asked “Could we talk for a minute?”

She firmly said to him, “If you do not agree with how I’ve done some-thing, please ask me why I approached it that way rather than tell me I didn’t do it correctly.” She reminded him that the most important thing they could do is work as a team. To be effective and achieve their mis-sion, they had to work as a team.

Immediately after that, the most important thing happened...rather than let the encounter ruin her day or put her in a bad mood, our Pulser bounced right back. She was her genuine, happy, smiling, fun-loving self with her teammates and with the gentleman she had just confronted.

Over the course of about a month, she firmly reminded him several more times that they were teammates and that their results and mission were shared. She held firm and after the fourth time, his communication style seemed to become more professional and friendly. Ever since, it has stayed that way — a whole lot less challenging.

can’t we all just get along?

“Kill them with kindness” our Pulser told me. “I move on and don’t make his problem my problem. I’m too much of my own person to worry about anyone else’s nonsense! If someone continues to belittle me, I’ll address it firmly when the time is right and will always immediately go back to being myself. If we have an issue, I let it go even if the other person doesn’t. Guess what it’s like now? He’s my best bud and we get along great!”

Our Pulser’s mindset is one that can transcend any environment...at work, home, the grocery store, wherever. When confronted with a challenging situation, it’s not about what happens to us, it’s how we react to it that matters most. Here are some takeaways from our Pulser’s story:

1. Keep your cool and take action.2. Keep your mind on the mission.3. Be true to who you are.4. Keep a positive attitude.

And as always, feel free to contact Human Resources for tips or help in dealing with any situation.

“It’s not what happens to you,

but how you react to it that matters.”

Epictetus

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celebrationsQuarterly

NEW PULSERSJanuary

2: Tiffany Hawkins

5: Denise Peele

12: Richard Valencia

13: Hugh Masters

13: Cynthia Monagan

13: Jay Cox

13: Daniel Hughes

18: Chris Demarest

19: Craig Hunlen

20: Novell Farrow

22: Beverly Kennedy

23: Ryan Covington

24: Nechele Horton

28: Eugene Francis

February1: Juandella Williams-Gray

3: Audrey Kiefer

5: Geoffrey Crawley

11: Fannie Beasley

20: Denise Keemer

22: Christine Cox

23: Evelyna Avanesian

27: Andre Jenkins

BIRTHDAYS1 Year Anniversary

Mary-Ellen Sheehan

Evelyna Avanesian

Carlese Blakeney

Charles Hinds Lawrence Rush

Fatima Abarca

Ryan Covington

Barry Rimpsey

John Mastapeter

Chad Kuczka

Marquita Ransford

Vontia Perry

2 Year AnniversaryBelky Yanes

Murdock McCormick

Akillah Means

Kendra Coe

Derrick Johnson

Miles Simpson

Rodney Buie

Michael Durham

ANNIVERSARIESGail Nelson-George

Jason McConnell

Fannie Beasley

Regina Frazier

Lisa Robinson

Derek Johnson

Sarah Beasley

Scott Troen

Boone Constantindes

Ben Tsai

Nick Hamill

Maggie Haynes

James Linton

Sherita Hardy

Alexis Gleason

Sherry Trelow

Tiffany Carr

Sheena Miles

Tremayne Munger

Behnjamin Zib

March1: Leighann Vanover

6: William Ide

9: Thomas Snopik

9: Dwayne Bailey

14: Belinda Jones

14: Janice Jones

17: Javier Vazquez

18: Anthony Milton

25: Alexis Gleason

26: Babatunde Dina

29: Mary-Ellen Sheehan

29: Natavia Watkins

29: Ryan Peraro

April5: Marquita Ransford

7: John Mastapeter

11: Matthew Krause

11: Belkys Yanes

14: Robin Leonard

14: Richard Jimenez

14: Christina Ferrari

21: Marie Smith

21: Sarah Soltis

24: James Tucker

24: Shane Longhurst

25: Silvano Melgar

27: Dana Richardson

Javier Vazquez

Audrey Kiefer

Richard Valencia

Jay Cox

Elizabeth Malkin

Tiffany Hawkins

Martese Edwards

Beverly Reed

Elizabeth Dooley

Della Williams-Gray

Anthony Milton

Ryan Peraro

Don Queko Jordan

Peggy Lattion

Matt Krause

Ryan Swisher

Myra Brandon

Heinz Kiefer

Stacey Thomson

When Hugh Masters enters a room, he greets people with a smile on his face and with laughter in his eyes. His warmth and kindness spread over everyone he speaks with and soon enough they too have smiles on and are more likely than not to be laughing along with him. For the past several months, Hugh has been spreading his cheer as a Lead Data Processor and Pulser on the NGA ESMARTS Program. With over 50 years of experience, he is full of stories. Here’s a bit more about HUGH!

In 1964, Hugh was a starry-eyed young man who had just earned a B.S. degree in Mathematics and was dreaming of his future career. Within two weeks of graduation, however, he was drafted into the U.S. Air Force and put his plans on hold for the time being. Hugh was deployed to Vietnam where his orders were to be the lead data processor on base. Though he had little experience, he quickly mastered the duties of a military technical lead. After four years of service, Hugh departed the military with valuable experience, a Master’s degree in Computer Science, and a Bronze Star.

After his military life, Hugh settled in Northern Virginia and has been working as a contractor within the Intelligence Community ever since. Throughout his nearly fifty years in the IC, he has supported the missions of almost all the three letter agencies in the area, including 15 years with the NGA.

As successful as his career has been, Hugh pours just as much of himself into pursuits outside of work. His passion to improve has led him to teach classes at Northern Virginia Community College, learn to play the trombone and piano, become a certified electrician, and assist in reaparing homes for Native Americans. While he was out on the Lakota Indian Reservation he even took dancing lessons from the Chief! Hugh’s greatest joy and passion of all is his family. He spends all the time he can with his wife of many years, his two children, and four grandchildren.

Hugh has no intention of slowing down. He loves what he does and wish-es to do it for as long as possible. Which is wonderful for us because we love having such a passionate Pulser as part of the Metronome family! Hugh says he sees his job as artwork...even though he “can’t draw worth a damn.” All the same, it’s clear that for Hugh each day is a blank canvas which he fills with new opportunities and beautiful masterpieces.

“Live as if you were

to die tomorrow.

Learn as if you were to

live forever.”Gandhi

HughPulser SpotlightBy Nick Hamill

illustration: stock.adobe.com ©

kaktus2536

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2016...a year in which the U.S. will get a new president...Rio de Janiero will host the Summer Olympics...and Metronome will turn 5 years old, of course! As we begin 2016, our quar-terly anthem is Katy Perry’s song, Roar.

What a journey we’ve had so far. We’ve learned a ton, con-tinuously improved, and stayed true to our Core Values. Every day, we strive to live up to our Mantra: Be dependable to our partners and customers; add serious value at every turn; and be authentically inimitable.

We’ve grown from zero to 150 Pulsers in less than 5 years. We support eight IC agencies and have a major prime con-tract. We achieved all this by resolutely facing adversity, and at times opposition. It’s not been easy!

…used to bite my tongue and hold my breath / scared to rock the boat and make a mess…Metronome is unique in our industry and we are very proud of that fact. We hold our culture and our Core Values above all else. Some may say we’ve all had a bit of kool aid...in reality, as time has gone on, our values and culture have become so ingrained that we live them no matter where we are.

In our first 5 years, our voice has become clearer and more sure. We speak up for what is right and uplifting. Perhaps it’s a voice of encouragement to a teammate; a voice standing up to a bully; a voice of mentorship; perhaps the voice of a leader.

…You held me down, but I got up / Get ready ‘cause I’ve had enough / I see it all, I see it now...As we move into our fifth year, and as you read before, we are on a mission to define our purpose. Jen, Susan, and I had one of those “a-ha” moments when we watched Simon Sinek’s video. We realized defining out purpose was a critical part of Metronome’s voice that we had not yet found.

To discover our purpose, we must ask what do we stand for? Why do we do what we do every day?

Now I’m floating like a butterfly / Stinging like a bee I earned my stripes / I went from zero, to my own hero

This year, we will explore and discover our purpose as individ-uals and as a company. When we began the conversation, we kept asking what’s Metronome’s purpose. We realized that all our individual purposes add up to one great purpose.

It is not just about Metronome; it is about you, it is about us, our families and our communities. It is with our partners and consultants and one another that we will see our purpose come to light in the New Year.

As one team, our voices come together and make one sound. One purpose.

With a palpable voice and an ever strengthening sense of pur-pose, Metronome is poised to make 2016 our best year yet.

METRONOME’S QUARTERLY ANTHEM BY VIRGIL VIRGA

I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter / Dancing through the fire / ‘Cause I am the champion, and you’re gonna hear me roar /

Louder, louder than a lion / ‘Cause I am a champion, and you’re gonna hear me roar!

ROAR

illustration: stock.adobe.com ©

aroas

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