Michael D. Bristol Sr.

Position: Senior vice president, network solutions, TeleCommunication Systems, an Annapolis company that produces reliable wireless data communications technology solutions.

Career Highlights: Senior practice director, Navy and Marine Corps business, Oracle; practice director, Navy and Marine Corps business, Oracle; practice manager, Navy and Marine Corps business, Oracle; vice president and chief operating officer, Infocus Communications; director, Tempest programs and projects, Atlantic Research; program manager, Tempest programs and projects, Atlantic Research; and captain, U.S. Army Military Intelligence.

Age: 48

Education: BS, engineering, U.S. Military Academy (West Point); graduate course work in business administration and information systems, George Mason University.

Personal: Lives in Chantilly with wife Victoria and their eight children, Michelle, 20; Abba, 18; Michael, 17; Nick, 16; Cortlyn, 15; Andrew, 14; Jonah, 14, and Irma, 13.

How did you get to where you are?

It's been through a series of unpredicted forks in the road. I feel like I have a good sense of recognizing opportunities because I'm an entrepreneur at heart. So far I've made the right turns in the road. But at the core of all this is that I work hard; maybe because I want to succeed, but probably because I can't afford to fail with eight kids, all of whom have dreams of going to college. So, that's been my biggest motivation.

My break came very early in my career. I had a traditional Army officer role and I was getting ready to take an administrative job. I was at a Christmas party talking to another West Pointer about information technology. Three days later, I had a job setting up a computer automation for Army intelligence, which got me exposure to information systems development and Department of Defense-level programs.

I have a general engineering background and so I've kind of stayed down that thread in the types of jobs I've taken. And because of my military background, I've also stayed close to businesses that service the DOD. I love information technology. Most of my skills have been self-taught.

Almost all of my roles have been in general management, but my passion is on the sales side. I believe it is one of the most critical job functions that a senior executive can have. I have a phrase and a belief in my core that "nothing happens until the cash register rings." I recognize the importance of effectively delivering on the sale. But most of my personal focus is on the supply side of the business -- getting customers and getting bookings for customers. So in every job I've been in, I try to hire people who can focus their time on the delivery of the business, while I focus my time on the getting of the business.

An ongoing challenge is to be able to expand the delivery side of the business while you're growing. The way I've handled that is by making sure that I've had distinct swim lanes of responsibility and telling my sales and marketing team not to get sidetracked. I keep separate organizations -- sales focused on selling and delivery focused on delivering. I try to avoid the phenomenon of everyone turning inwards when they get overwhelmed with new sales, to keep their eyeballs focused on continuing to press the momentum while we're getting sales.

My greatest strength is relationship-building. And being an entrepreneur, I'm able to see opportunities and I'm willing to take risks on those opportunities, and willing to recognize failure and stop investment on an opportunity when I find out something is not working as planned. You've got to have relationships with your employers, managers, vendors -- and you've got to have integrity.

-- Judith Mbuya