Lt. Col. Scott Davis keeps his family wondering where the salt is

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.”

Davis grew up in Wellington, Ohio, a small town surrounded by corn and soybean fields just outside of Cleveland. He began his three-year term at PEO EIS’ Integrated Enterprise Network (IEN) in June 2020, assuming command as the product manager of Wideband Enterprise Satellite Systems (WESS) at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. In this role, Davis is responsible for the acquisition, development and modernization of the DOD strategic satellite terminals, associated baseband systems and payload control systems.

For today’s #PEOEISTeammateTuesday, Davis answered questions about his career and life.

Describe your leadership style.
I typically provide intent and guidance, then ask the experts to do their job. I want to empower them and not hover over them, but I’d also like their information to flow back up. A neighbor and good friend of mine once said, “I don’t want to micromanage you, but I want you to micro-inform me.” I think that’s a fair way of getting after it. The team is fantastic, and they know better than me.

Why is WESS the best office within IEN’s portfolio?
Beyond the people, we deliver! WESS is incredible at delivering timely, usable capabilities in close coordination with our stakeholders. I’ve never been part of an acquisition organization that is as communicative and supportive of the operational units as WESS is. We are here to provide anything those units require, whether through self-providing or coordination with another organization. That’s incredible, and that is what makes WESS the best!

What is the best advice you received?
I’ve never held a true mentor/mentee relationship. If I did, I would ask a lot of probing questions to expand my own mind as an asset. I ask people I admire, mostly senior leaders, out-of-the-box questions to get their perspectives. The goal isn’t always to get an answer but to get a direction on where I can go find the answer. I don’t mind doing the research — it’s a journey of its own.

How could a mentorship program best support the Army?
The most important part is personal growth — asking out-of-the-box questions to a mentee to get them to think differently and do more self-development and self-research to grow their own skills. I’ve seen this done through book clubs and face-to-face meetings. From my personal experience, you don’t always get the exposure needed in the job you’re in, and it’s a mentor’s job to create those exposure opportunities for their mentees.

What did your parents do?
My dad was an air traffic controller for the Federal Aviation Administration, and my mom jumped between working as a nurse at nursing homes and raising my siblings and me as a stay-at-home mom.

What random fact do you love?
I once heard that mosquitoes can’t fly under 64 degrees Fahrenheit. I hate mosquitoes and look forward to when temperatures drop, because then I don’t have to worry about them.

What advice do you have for vendors interested in working with WESS?
Stay in touch and pay attention to what is talked about at industry days, on social media and on other industry-facing webpages we host. For WESS, it is an understanding of how we integrate and work with commercial off-the-shelf products.

What is the mark of a good leader that you’d like to further develop?
I was unprepared for needing to have a virtual presence. A big part of leadership is extending influence. Most of my experience extending influence has always been in person — often when walking the barracks, motor pools or training sites. I am good at having conversations that extend influence when standing in front of formations and groups, but I’m not great at extending influence through social media or one-sided email exchanges. Once COVID occurred and we moved to a virtual environment, I recognized that my virtual presence — or lack thereof — is one of my greatest weaknesses that I need to further develop.

What advice do you want to share with PEO EIS employees?
From a mentoring perspective, my advice is a mantra that came from the Army a few years ago, “If you’re not uncomfortable, then you’re not doing it right.” If you’re not making yourself uncomfortable by exploring new ideas or new opinions, by expanding your reading or whom you communicate with, then you’re doing yourself a disservice. It’s breadth versus depth. If you are trying to expand your knowledge, then you need to go into areas you haven’t experienced before.

If you could thank one person for the role they played in your life, who would it be and why?
I can’t list just one. I’ve had numerous, incredible leaders who have shaped my leadership style — particularly in terms of applying common sense, speaking in layman’s terms and caring for people. I would be remiss in not thanking my parents for the positive influence they had on how my siblings and I grew up. They exhibited all the right traits, especially given some of today’s societal values and characteristics. They taught us about honesty, integrity and being the best person you can be.