That's Me!
Introduction
I’m a decorated United States Air Force veteran with over 20-years of service and worked as a civil engineer designing, building, and maintaining bases around the world. I have completed a multitude of jobs: running a small survey and mapping office, simultaneously managing an engineering department while becoming a GIS instructor, and administering an entire squadron. My greatest privilege in these roles has been to lead, develop, and mentor hundreds of individuals.
First year in service.
Retirement and my last day in uniform.
From my experience, here are four key ideas that help develop frame your career and develop as a professional.
Continuously Learn
There has been an incredible amount of technological growth and advancement over my career. When I started my GIS journey using ArcMap 8.8 there were a couple hundred geoprocessing tools and barely a handful of programs to use. Now ArcGIS Pro has thousands of tools and pairs with dozens of Esri applications, not to mention other software ecosystems like Microsoft or Autodesk.
This trend of change, adaptation, and improvement doesn’t seem to be stopping, but rather accelerating wherever you look. Likewise, the industry that you interact with will advance and evolve as well or can even change from location to location; construction practices in the frigid Arctic are completely different than the scorching Middle East.
Continuous learning is an absolute requirement as a professional and will pay dividends throughout your career.
At the 2026 FedGIS Conference with the amaztion John Nelson.
Here are a few resources to help you with your GIS career pathway and maintain being a lifelong learner:
Build Confidence through Challenges
Your career will challenge you; how you choose to respond will set your trajectory as a professional. Building technical skills are part of the profession, and something I think we naturally gravitate towards, but what happens when you’re faced with situations that leave you unsure?
Many people have the same hesitancy towards public speaking or making decisions because they don’t know what outcome will be and that leads to a simple lack of confidence. However, reverse the logic and ask how others have become so skilled. Simple: set a challenge and practice!
I told every single airman I supervised that it was acceptable to not be completely successful with a challenge the first time---provided they fixed any mistake and persistent to become successful. For me, public speaking was that challenge, and it took many events in front of dozens of people to feel comfortable.
Once you realize challenges are not a singular event and letting them control you won’t stop them from coming, your confidence will skyrocket as you continue to overcome them and you’ll start seeing new opportunities.
Far from home in Afghanistan.
These are a few strategies I've used, and you should too, to build your confidence:
- Find and tackle that project that seems just out of reach
- Practice soft skills before you need them such as at Toastmasters International
- Teach your technical skills to someone else
Find Opportunities for Success
What does success mean to you? Is it a position and title, income, roles and responsibilities, the impact you have on your community and environment, a combination of those, or something else?
There are many wrong ways to achieve success but not a single, best way to do so. I’ve found a simple, yet effective method are three nested sets of long-, medium-, and short-term goals. Long-term vision is something relatively static, be that personal or professional aspirations. Medium-term are the milestones, like skills, knowledge, and experiences, to achieve long-term goals that you should review and update every couple of years. Short-term goals are the individual steps that build towards everything else.
Achieving your goals takes deliberate effort and often you need to seek out different avenues that your job may not provide. Participating in professional organizations, volunteering, or simply expressing your desires to your supervisor are options that allow you to exercise different skills or build your network.
Birthday while deployed.
Cold Alaska
Hot Dubai
Here are a few professional organizations you can start getting involved:
Become the Leader You Want
There are many leadership styles and many opportunities for leadership at every level of an organization, although not a single style will work in all situations for all people. First, practice being a good teammate and contributor. Emulate what good leaders do such as being an active listener, responding appropriately to situations, and communicating effectively.
Second, learn from bad bosses and organizations what you do not want to do or how to act. Unfortunately, you’ll learn more from bad bosses than from a good one because a good leadership makes it look effortless---but don’t confuse someone that sets high standards and enforces good practices as bad. I know this firsthand as I opted to take a year-long combat tour to escape a terrible boss, but I’ve worked extra hard to meet expectations of those mentors that have guided and supported me.
Third, incorporate what you’ve learned from all our challenges, opportunities, and people who’ve interacted with you. Overall, you’ll either find that you’ve got the skills and experience needed for the situation, you can handle it with some help, or rarely you may need to step out of the way.
Finally, understand that real leadership is not just supervising someone. It’s challenging those around you to perform better, pointing out the path to success, and helping when they stumble---actions crucial to a profession. It is often messy and difficult but incredibly rewarding to see those around you achieve their success. The leadership that you once required is what you’ll end up providing.
Becoming and Senior Noncommisioned Officer
Stand tall and proud.
Here are some ways to build your leadership skills:
- Submit a paper or map to present at a conference
- Become a YPN Ambassador
- Sign up for the GPN Mentor Network
- Assist with organizing a workshop, committee, or volunteer event
- Finally, and simply enough, just take initiative, large or small
Putting it All Together
So, what does this all mean? Simply put, this is what I’ve learned from my experiences and what I can pass onto others. One day you’ll be in my shoes---older, more experienced, and wiser for your unique experience. You’ll be asked to frame your career…can you do it in four steps, will the same points hold true? In a profession as diverse but unifying as ours, how will you guide the next generation of young professionals when it’s your turn?
If you’d like to connect, please email me at matt.hotovec@pondco.com and connect on LinkedIn. Feel free to comment your thoughts below.
