Space exploration is as much a story of leadership and teamwork as it is a story of exploration and discovery. Leadership Moments from NASA delves into the culture of the famed organization and examines the leadership styles and insights of NASA senior executives spanning five decades of human spaceflight to share the lessons they learned from critical moments. How did they prioritize? How did they resolve differences? How did they decide what to do when no one had done it before? How did they build highly competent teams? How did they build organizational resilience? How did they fight complacency and rebuild a culture of safety and innovation?
Through the use of NASA oral histories and interviews, this book shows how NASA recovered from tragedy and adversity, and how it developed a culture of competency that continues to attract the best and brightest.
Dr. Dave Williams is an astronaut, aquanaut, jet pilot, ER doctor, scientist, CEO, and bestselling author. The former Director of Space & Life Sciences at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, he has flown in space twice. He holds the Canadian spacewalking record and was the first Canadian to live on the world’s only undersea research habitat. He is the recipient of six honorary degrees, the Order of Canada, and the Order of Ontario. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.
Elizabeth Howell, PhD, is a Canadian journalist focusing on space exploration. Her clients include CBC, SpaceQ, and Space.com. She has seen rocket launches in the United States and Kazakhstan, lived on a simulated Mars base, and interviewed dozens of astronauts. She teaches technical writing at Algonquin College and does consulting work for numerous institutions. She lives in Ottawa, Ontario.