Adrienne Sommerville is an acquisition group head director at Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers. Fleet readiness centers work with Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) program managers to provide life-cycle support of naval aviation aircraft, weapons, and systems operated by Sailors and Marines.

During her 26 years at NAVAIR, Adrienne has served as a Naval Reserves Supply Corps Officer and led contracts, program, and acquisition teams. She made history when she created a relationship with Apple and Google, designing NAVAIR's first Mobile Career Guidebook. The NAVAIR workforce of about 36,000 people now has career roadmaps, shadow assignments, and training information available online.

Earlier this year, Adrienne shared her thoughts about the art and science of identifying, growing, and leveraging science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) talent on Career Communications Group's High-Tech Sunday podcast. Read the excerpts below and take a listen to the podcast.

When it comes to identifying their ideal space in the workforce, many people ask themselves, “What do I want to do?” or “What excites me?” While these are data points that definitely should be considered, my challenge is to ask what it is that you want to deliver. What final products do you want to create?

Hundreds of thousands of people are unemployed right now; yet, so many professionals are unfulfilled in their careers and debating whether to change career paths.

I have not been a professional who has second-guessed my value to an organization, but I can imagine it would be extremely disheartening and discouraging. All of this made me consider what the professional landscape would look like if every professional was 100 percent engaged in their occupation.

What could happen if every member of an organization was fully operational, aligned with the culture and speaking the language, and assessing their performance with relevant metrics and analytics? How exciting it would be to have that kind of leadership from an entire team. Moreover, how rewarding it would be for each person!

Working in talent management, I’ve begun implementing an action plan to create that dynamic for organizations. It starts with a complete paradigm shift in how companies see their employees. Businesses often view their personnel through a quantitative lens. In other words, their overarching philosophy is that more workers should equate to more productivity.

However, I suggest a different focus. I think companies should consider their teams from a qualitative perspective. Employees are more than numbers. They encompass passions, interests, and curiosities. Companies must understand the importance of this rich information, recognize it, and infuse it into usable data for the collective enterprise.

Likewise, individuals have a role to play in affecting their professional outlook and, hopefully as a result, their work environment. When it comes to identifying their ideal space in the workforce, many people ask themselves, “What do I want to do?” or “What excites me?”

While these are data points that definitely should be considered, my challenge is to ask what it is that you want to deliver. What final products do you want to create? Do you want to work on aircraft or ships? How about cars? Do you want to be in fashion, or maybe music?

Professionals should worry less about what they want to get out of a job and consider what they want to contribute or produce. Whatever the “product” is, that will be the legacy and landmark of an individual’s talent. With the end product realized, the next step in maximizing one’s position is to determine what knowledge, skills, and abilities are needed to create that product.

This will involve knowing what can be done well, but it also involves what I call the “lonely work.”

The process involves writing down where you are, what you like, and what you know. It will also require you to highlight your shortcomings. It is imperative that you acknowledge what you don’t know; this is where you will need to focus in order to get the resources needed to close any gaps and identify exactly what you need to know to deliver what you want to produce. This is growth that should be celebrated. Having a particular goal and knowing exactly how to achieve it can be powerful for any individual. Possessing both will allow you to leverage your competence in almost any professional arena.

Don’t be afraid to be assertive—not aggressive—with that power.

When challenging or high-risk opportunities arise, accept the challenge.

Show that not only have you grown in your skills and talent, but you’re willing to step forward and use them to break barriers and create new solutions.

Constantly be the person who goes to the supervisor to let them know you’re ready to do what others will not.

Your career is yours to own, so be your best advocate in this regard. The few who step out as go-getters are the ones who will ultimately gain corporate dominance.

These strategies will position professionals to be much more than a success. Rather, they will position people to be extremely significant. Being significant to an enterprise will more quickly bring advancement to higher positions. And, these ideals will stand well after “success” and its trappings wither away in value.

When talents are used to pour into others versus self, they become gifts that will support and grow generations for years to come.