Executive Mosaic is honored to announce Mike Stolarik as the newest inductee into the Wash 100, the premier group of leaders who create value for the American public and execute strategic vision at the intersection of the public and private sectors.

Through his GovCon Exec experience, Mike Stolarik says he has found one constant: “real understanding of the customer’s mission is absolutely vital.”

“We are in the business of understanding what the customer really wants and needs, and to be successful we have to continue to focus on helping our customers succeed in their mission,” Stolarik told ExecutiveBiz.

Stolarik stresses that clear lines of communication is a necessary component of business, and it is a lesson that the self-described “open and direct” leader has applied in a number of contexts.

Stolarik joined QinetiQ in 2007 North America after it acquired Analex, a company he had worked for for three years. “In the first two years as part of QNA we nearly doubled in size, and the growth continued as we became QNA’s Mission Solutions Group, reaching an annual revenue run rate of almost $600 million when I left to become the QNA president and COO,” he told ExecutiveBiz.

That position required Stolarik to put his ability to communicate in a complex environment to the test, as he worked to help integrate QinetiQ’s 15 U.S. acquisitions into “a strong integrated company.”

“Making that happen is a very interesting process,” he noted.

Stolarik has worked across the GovCon industry, and spent 20 years rising through the executive ranks at BDM International, Inc., where he ultimately attained the position of Corporate Vice President.

He has also held various management and executive positions at INSIGHT Consulting Group, the technical resources sector at Titan Corp., GRC International Inc., and Space Applications Corporation.

That deep industry background has given him some perspective on tough market conditions. “To be in this business there are going to be concerns,” Stolarik told ExecutiveBiz.

“People watch the budgets… In-sourcing is a concern. People that have been in this industry for a long time know that this comes in cycles, and the good companies survive.”