Employee Spotlight: Steve Baker

Steve Baker is a program manager supporting the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Facilities and Asset Management within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS CBP OFAM). He leads several teams providing essential engineering, real estate, environmental, energy, sustainability, and planning support for CBP’s facilities and infrastructure.

1. What has been your experience with LMI and its culture? 

   LMI cultivates an enjoyable and satisfying workplace by putting people first. When I joined LMI nearly 10 years ago, the organization had an engrained, but informal, employee-oriented culture. As LMI has grown, more formal structures and processes have been established. While predominantly business-oriented, these processes have led to additional growth and learning venues, affinity groups, showcases, and networking events. These opportunities, combined with LMI’s leadership outreach, reflect a company that has successfully formalized its people-oriented culture and truly cares about its employees.

2. What’s the most unique part about working here?

   Through my position as an LMI project manager, I am involved in all aspects of LMI’s business, including customer delivery and interaction, program oversight and team management, and opportunity identification and pursuit. Balancing the various types of work keeps my workday interesting and fulfilling.

3. What skills are essential to your daily work?

   As with most professional positions, I rely on a long list of necessary skills, two of which are time management and empathy. However, these skill sets are often in conflict; when scrambling with meetings and to-do lists, it is challenging to take the time to really listen to coworkers, customers, staff, etc. Empathy requires slowing down to listen and make meaningful connections with others.

   The project management role also requires the agility to pivot quickly during the day from being customer- or task-focused to having a team- or LMI-oriented mindset. I enjoy how the continuously shifting nature of my work allows me to be immersed in both LMI and customer workspaces.

4. How have you grown professionally while on our team? 

   While at LMI, my most significant professional growth took place through my role in business development (BD) and capture. During that time, I connected with individuals across LMI and gained an appreciation for the challenging process of pursuing and winning work. As a result of that experience, I highly encourage my team to take on BD assignments and responsibilities.

5. What do you enjoy doing in your free time? 

   In my free time, I like to garden, work on the house, and enjoy outdoor recreational activities. We recently moved from DC to Charlottesville, VA; our family needed a change of scenery, plus our oldest son is a graduate student at UVA. While the drive up to DC is a trek, we’re enjoying the small city vibe of Charlottesville with its numerous wineries, great mountain views, and little traffic.