Set your sights on the destination and the journey.

Always Game for a New Challenge

Margaret Walthall has no intention of slowing down.

A lifelong Marylander, Margaret enjoys keeping a full schedule. When she’s not busy adding her expertise to the robust consulting services at CI International, she’s spending time by the ocean, enjoying the outdoors, or cheering on Washington sports teams. She’s also actively involved in the day-to-day lives of her two grandchildren and spends time volunteering with organizations in her area.”My husband is retired, but even when I have two weeks off from work, I keep thinking ‘I’ve got to do something’ which tells me I’m not ready to retire,” she said.

Margaret’s active lifestyle shows up in her professional life too, serving as an adjunct human resource management professor with the University of Maryland Global Campus. Her natural desire to take on new challenges is part of what makes Margaret such an important member of the CI International team.

Early Career in Human Resources

When Margaret enrolled at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County as an undergraduate, psychology was her degree of choice. But even though she loved the courses and exploring how different people think, she lost interest once the coursework delved into the deeper science.

“Little did I know, though, I would circle back to it,” she said.

She ultimately finished with a degree in economics , and later landed an entry-level job at a small 8(a) contracting company in Alexandria, Virginia. Margaret’s potential showed almost immediately, and she was promoted twice within the first year. “The company was small when I joined them, about 35 people,” she said. “Soon after, we won several new contracts, and within a month or two we literally grew from 35-40 people to several hundred. It was great, but we had no HR department. I had the opportunity to build out all aspects of their HR department. So, I decided to go back and get my master’s with a focus in HR management.”

Margaret said the 10+ years she spent with the company gave her the chance to work in all areas of the business, which allowed her to gain a greater understanding of the operation as a whole.
“This macro or holistic understanding/awareness of the business really gave the company a ‘value add’ in my dual role of human resources manager and operations manager,” she said.

Margaret said she became the “go-to” for everything, which she believes is a strength she brings to her current role today.

“The lens through which I see my role/contribution is not limited to one area,” Margaret said. “Rather, it’s a blend of multiple capabilities, including leadership development, training, consulting, business development, and so forth.”

New Opportunities, New Challenges

After a decade working with and growing her previous company, Margaret’s next challenge was a dual position with Booz Allen Hamilton. In this new role, she spent half her time focused on HR and the other half on corporate training, which she discovered she really liked because it gave her the opportunity to learn, deliver to a wide range of audiences, and become certified in multiple assessment instruments.

When Booz Allen decided to focus more on technical training, Margaret moved to Grant Thorton and to what would become a dream role: providing learning and development services for NASA.

“It was right in my sweet spot with leadership development focused on HR responsibilities,” she said.

While Margaret’s time with NASA was cut short by COVID, it was through this experience she was propelled forward to working in leadership.

The Importance of Training Leaders

Leadership has come naturally to Margaret throughout her life. Even as a child, Margaret said she was in positions of authority and taking responsibility for the group.

“In some sense, it’s been ingrained through my life experiences,” she said.
Margaret said she had made peace with her role at Grant Thorton but was still hoping for an opportunity to continue being challenged with work as in her role with NASA. When she was approached by a recruiter for CI International, she was intrigued.

“I was really drawn into this company,” Margaret said of CI. “Even the interview process was enjoyable. And they were also doing what I was groomed to do. Their leadership development, their cohort programs that last a year or more, I thought, ‘This is what I’ve wanted to do but haven’t been able to.’”

With CI, Margaret said she’s able to empower leaders with the skills that are often overlooked in traditional training.

“I feel like people advance in their careers based on their subject matter expertise versus their leadership capabilities. I do think there are some innate aspects for people that make them better leaders, but for most people it’s such a critical skill that they need to grow and to be effective.”

“Leadership is the critical foundation for all organizational or business endeavors. Strong leadership provides the culture of the organization,” she added.

As a principal consultant, Margaret said she’s now doing work she loves.

“I love working with managers and leaders to help them to identify their strengths and opportunities which allow them to flourish,” she said. “It’s always intriguing, understanding how behavior and personalities all mesh together. I love it.”