Saturday 9 April 2011

Leadership thoughts from an astronaut

When I heard Tom Henricks speak at a conference, I was inspired in many ways. A few of the notes I captured all seemed to relate to leadership on the very edge of what is important; there is room for mistakes on a Shuttle.

He spent time talking about how leadership is also about teamwork; how you cannot be a leader unless you have a team. But this also means the leader needs to be an excellent team player. You cannot separate leadership from teamwork. I don't think this has been so clearly set out for me before. It is obvious when you think about it, but less obvious in action in the workplace.

He didn't equate leadership with a consensus, soft approach. He quite clearly explained how the buck did stop with him. On launch, he was the person who said the word"Go". His was the final decision. (mmm, now that is taking responsibility!)

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