Robert Zitz (Chapter 12 of Leaders: Their Stories, Their Words) is retiring from the public service after more than 32 years of dedicated government service to his country. He held key positions as Deputy Director, Mission Support Directorate, The National Reconnaissance Office, Deputy Associate Director at the United States Secret Service, and Deputy Under Secretary of Preparedness and National Protection & Programs at Department of Homeland Security to name a few.
In the book, we discussed what's next for him and, as he's retiring from government (but not retiring completely), our conversation will continue. Stay tuned...
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In the article that was written about his retirement, (got goeint - Chronicling the future of geospacial intelligence http://www.gotgeoint.com/archives/geoint-visionary-rob-zitz-retires-from-government-service/), USGIF President Keith Masback said "With all of that said, there seemed to be universal agreement during the ceremony and in the discussion afterwards, that Rob’s most critical lasting legacy may well be his devotion to developing the next generation of Intelligence Community leaders. He continuously mentored and developed young minds and inspired everyone he has come in contact with. Rob Zitz is truly a leader among leaders in the GEOINT community."
Rob has joined the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in the company's Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Group as Senior Vice President and Chief Systems Architect. In this role, Zitz will help shape the group's solutions in airborne, maritime, national security space, and ground ISR programs, along with associated processing, exploitation, and dissemination systems.
He is a change agent in every sense of the word. In our conversation he spoke about what that means... "One of the lessons of a successful change agent is you've got to be good at visioning. You've got to be able to foresee the future and understand what the possibilities are. Visioning involves understanding the strategic changes that will irrevocably change your customers’ operating environment. These changes include threats, geopolitical shifts, economic trends, health issues, climate change, etc."
When I asked him what was next, Rob said "I'm talking now to the leadership of the intelligence community to see how I can continue to contribute. I expect to work on transformation, meaning helping to connect the dots inside the Intelligence community, the military community, the Homeland Security community, and law enforcement community. I expect I will continue to be in a position to help integrate and share information up, down, back and forth, and sideways."
We look forward to seeing how Rob writes this next chapter in his life.
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SAIC is a FORTUNE 500® scientific, engineering, and technology applications company that uses its deep domain knowledge to solve problems of vital importance to the nation and the world, in national security, energy and the environment, critical infrastructure, and health. The company's approximately 41,000 employees serve customers in the U.S. Department of Defense, the intelligence community, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, other U.S. Government civil agencies and selected commercial markets. It is headquartered in McLean, Va. (PR Newswire)
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