Marisa Daley, Chief Operating Officer of The MIL Corporation Profile

Marisa Daley
Chief Operating Officer of The MIL Corporation


Marisa Daley, Chief Operating Officer of The MIL Corporation Certificate

“Making a Difference for Our People”

The MIL Corporation’s COO, Marisa Daley, is a high-energy business professional who brings her dynamic personality and progressive leadership to the executive offices of MIL. Marisa uses her open and welcoming communication style to build strong personal and professional connections within and outside of the company. Her leadership approach is fueled by a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion as she champions initiatives to strengthen and enrich MIL’s corporate culture. These efforts have encouraged a free-flowing exchange of ideas among her colleagues and the freedom to be innovative, which has helped surface many creative ideas. Marisa focuses a sizable portion of her time and talent on strengthening MIL’s business development capability and cultivating cross-collaboration among teams.

Marisa started her career on Wall Street in a highly male-dominated environment. “To compete, I thought I had to adapt my style of dress and adopt a more masculine behavior to fit in. After years of adapting and adopting to create a persona that wasn’t truly authentic, I came to realize that I shouldn’t need to be other than who I am, and that I’m enough just as I am,” says Marisa. “I now believe that if you work diligently and produce exceptional results, you cannot and will not be denied. So ultimately, I think the most significant barrier in my career was man-made—or more accurately woman made—as I thought as a woman I had to act differently to compete and succeed. In truth, I really just needed to believe more in my own abilities and execute accordingly, and then let my performance be judged on its merits.”

Having worked and struggled a bit within a very patriarchal culture, Marisa understands the barriers women experience in traditionally male-dominated industries. Her personal story has informed her desire to help other women professionals excel and not allow themselves to be handicapped by perceived or even real obstacles to success. “My advice is usually pretty straightforward: believe in your own value and work to the level you are comfortable with; there really isn’t a right or wrong approach or outcome,” adds Marisa. “If you truly want to be a great leader, you have to believe in and be true to yourself. Your authenticity will drive your relationships, your ability to lead, and the belief others have in you.”

"Marisa uses her open and welcoming communication style to build strong personal and professional connections within and outside of the company."

For Marisa, the significant component of being a female leader is being a mom of three. Children want and expect their mom to be there for them. At the same time, a leader’s team and clients also expect them to be attentive to their needs. There’s a delicate balancing act that ensues to meet those competing interests. “The big lesson I’ve learned is that mistakes are inevitable; you’re going to make them so it’s vital that you learn from them. Recognize your errors and quickly figure out a remediation plan, and then use those lessons learned to inform your decisions further down the road,” says the steadfast leader, who armed with these qualities, is taking the company to new heights.

MIL was founded in 1980 by two industry veterans after careers spent at different levels within the government contracting field. After working at large and small companies and seeing the struggles and deficiencies at both ends of the spectrum, MIL’s founders wanted to create a company that could leverage large company resources and capabilities while maintaining the responsiveness, hands-on approach, and personal touch of a much smaller enterprise. Their mission statement at the time was People Making the Difference, as they recognized that a service company’s product is its people. “As current COO of that same company, which still operates under that same mandate, it’s up to me to carry it forward and deliver the quality services that matter most to our customers.”

MIL’s motto is People Making a Difference, and this is true. But internally, their unofficial motto is Making a Difference for Our People. “We value our employees because they dedicate themselves to making their clients successful. We set them up for success by keeping company demands to a minimum. We support them through our fully dedicated and fully staffed Corporate Service Center, and they, in turn, use their energies to support our customers.” IEWL


Company

The MIL Corporation

Management

Marisa Daley
Chief Operating Officer of The MIL Corporation

Description

Established in 1980, MIL provides innovative cyber, engineering, financial, and information technology services to the federal government. Creative, highly skilled professionals are what set us apart. Dedicated to excellence, service, and support, MIL recognizes that sustained high-quality service delivery is the most important contributor to our success.Our proven ability to retain existing customers (several for over 25 years) and build long-term relationships is proof of the MIL commitment and is a direct result of the outstanding performance of our team.


COOs Special Magazine