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Shaped Growing Up at Home

1. Mom’s Smile

Growing up, I had parents and grandparents who loved me and shaped the man I became.  One of the many things that stood out to me about Mom was her smile.  In fact, whether I was at church or in the community, people would often recognize me as “Judy’s son” when I smiled.

I appreciate that about Mom (check out my previous post, honoring Mom on her birthday). As Proverbs 13:13 puts it, “A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face.”  That is definitely the case with Mom, as her cheerful heart is on display for all to see. 

Maybe you can compare her smile with one of mine from my early days.

Thank you, Mom, for your smile and for teaching me the love of chocolate!

2. Mano’s Optimism

My Dad’s mother’s name—Margarete—was too hard to pronounce as I was learning to talk.  So, I shortened it to “Mano”; and that name stuck over the years.  Previously, I posted about her Perseverance and provided a tribute to her upon her death in 2019.

Now, I want to focus on her Optimism.  Mano always had a positive outlook on life, which contributed to her Perseverance, and shared it with everyone she met.  Her kindness and positivity were often recognized by others. 

It certainly shaped me as Optimism was my One Word focus in 2018; and I’ve incorporated other posts about Optimism more recently:

• Lenny Ravich’s Everlasting Optimism: 9 Principles for Success, Happiness and Powerful Relationships
• Optimism: A 1903 Essay By Helen Keller
• Jon Gordon’s The Power of Positive Leadership
• My One Word for 2018 – Optimism

Thank you, Mano, for inspiring Optimism in my life!

Shaped as a Husband & Father

3. Jennifer’s Excellence

In whatever she does—at home, at work, or at church—Jennifer takes Ecclesiastes 9:10 to heart.  She definitely practices, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…”

And her commitment to hard word gets great results.  People around her recognize her excellence…in her attitude, in her abilities, and in her achievements.  Now, that’s triple-A excellence—and “out of this world” leadership! 

I’m thrilled that I found a wife of excellence, who is A Leader After God’s Own Heart. She also provides at least these 4 Leadership Jewels.

Thank you, Jennifer, for your commitment to Excellence—one of my core values!

4. Katy’s Discipline

From early on, Katy was a quiet leader.  On her 16^th birthday, I wrote about “Katy: Leading from the Lockers.”

Her Senior Year of High School was filled with a number of highlights.

Since Katy finished the First Grade, she wanted to be an Elementary Teacher.  Katy demonstrated the discipline and commitment to reach that goal, finishing a combination Bachelor & Master Degree in Education from Dallas Baptist University and starting in the Fall of 2023 as a 5^th Grade Teacher in the Plano, Texas school district.

Katy has always lived a disciplined life—in her walk with God, in her study habits, in her running (when she was on the track team in high school), and in eating choices, which became more critical when she needed to go on a gluten-free diet.  She found a similarly-disciplined husband in Evan Albright, and they are nearing their 2-year anniversary.

I’m thankful for the Discipline Katy’s life has shown and how that inspires me!

Shaped as an Employee

5. Alignment from Susan Braymer

Susan Braymer was my first-line supervisor when I started working at NASA Johnson Space Center’s Human Resources Office in 1995. 

When you work for Susan, one of the big things that stands out is her red pen.  No matter what you write for dissemination beyond the office or what presentation you prepare, Susan was sure to mark it up and have you improve it.  While the red pen was frustrating for many of us, what I came to appreciate about Susan and her red pen was how she was creating alignment for us with the leadership and culture of the Johnson Space Center.

Susan had a good handle on how our HR Executive leadership wanted to say and do things, so her red pen was a means of creating that alignment.  She was a master of watching the details and crafting messages in the “JSC HR voice.”  Before I even knew about the importance of “branding,” I was learning it from Susan!

Thank you, Susan, for your lessons in the importance of alignment.

6. Relationships from Natalie Saiz

When I joined NASA’s Johnson Space Center HR Office in 1995, Natalie was assigned as my Cooperative Education mentor.  I could not have asked for a better navigator, who later became my champion and sponsor.  Many of my leadership opportunities and achievements over the next twenty years were directly tied to mentoring I received from Natalie.

When she was HR Director, Natalie would start each year, looking at the customer relationships she needed to cultivate or improve.  She would focus on two to three senior leaders in the organization, where she would devote a little extra time and energy.  When we were in meetings together, Natalie would help me observe the dynamics of the room and understand key relationships between leaders.

This approach and guidance proved invaluable as I moved forward in my Executive career.  For me, Natalie was a “Lid Lifter” that I wrote about here.

Thank you, Natalie, for emphasizing the importance of Relationships to leadership!

Shaped as a NASA Leader

7. Perspective from Melanie Saunders

When I was serving as Acting HR Director at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in 2015, Melanie Saunders was the Associate Center Director.  I previously worked with Melanie when she was in the International Space Station Program’s International Partners Office.  As an attorney, Melanie’s career was marked by key negotiations with the Russians for the construction of the space station. 

Melanie brought great perspective to the Center Director’s Office; and coming from the organization she did, she offered great advice to me in my early days.  When I was approached for my first international speaking opportunity—a HR Conference in Dubai—Melanie told me to look at a few things:  “Will they pay your travel expenses? Will the learning at the conference justify the time away from NASA?  If so, consider 2-3 opportunities like that per year.”

Between 2016-2019, I traveled to Dubai, Johannesburg, Amsterdam, Barcelona, London, and Vancouver.  Then, after a 4-year hiatus from international travel, I just returned earlier this month from a 2-week trip covering two Global HR Conferences—in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). What rich experiences!

Thank you, Melanie, for your Perspective and encouragement to take advantage of opportunities to see the world and learn from the best HR leaders across the globe!

8. Improvement from Ellen Ochoa

I was fortunate to support Dr. Ellen Ochoa—the first Hispanic woman to fly in space!—when she was Mark Geyer’s Deputy Center Director (pictured above at a presentation of my Center Director Commendation Award).  In 2013, Ellen became the second woman appointed as Director of the Johnson Space Center. 

In 2015, I spent nearly a year as her Acting HR Director then applied for the HR Executive position and was thrilled to be promoted to the role in 2016.

I appreciated Ellen’s focus on Improvement.  When she emphasized changing Center culture under “JSC 2.0” branding.  JSC 2.0’s goal was to advance human spaceflight by being lean, agile, and adaptive to change. 

As Ellen explained, only by doing that will we be able to make future exploration missions, leading to a mission to Mars, possible — and possible not just because we solve the many exciting technical and operational challenges, but because we’ve figured out how to do it in a way that: fits a reasonable budget and makes the best use of every person we have.

Consider what a 2.0 software release does. It keeps the best of what’s working and makes improvements to the original design.  That was her emphasis for JSC 2.0.

That emphasis was particularly helpful, as we sought Improvement across JSC’s HR Office.

Thank you, Ellen, for your focus on Improvement!

9. Poise from Jane Datta

When Jane was named NASA’s Chief Human Capital Officer in January 2020, she selected me as her Deputy.  We started the year with great hopes and dreams for the future.  We had less than 90 days before the pandemic hit. 

Jane demonstrated great leadership during the pandemic, leading with grace & empathy for employees—ensuring we put People First at NASA.  Previously, our motto was “Mission First. People Always.”  Largely because of Jane’s leadership and influence over Senior Leadership, our motto became “People First. Mission Always.”

Jane was an elegant leader, who helped extend my vocabulary (sometimes, I had to use a dictionary to make sure I understood what she was asking me to do!).  I was proud to work alongside her and support her over the three years we worked together.

Thank you, Jane, for demonstrating Poise in leadership as you navigated a significant crisis and rose to the occasion!

Shaped by Those on My Leadership Teams

When I was HR Director at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, I was surrounded by an excellent team.  One of my leadership principles has always been to hire and select people that you would be comfortable working for…and all of the leaders pictured fit those criteria!

10. Anne Roemer: A People-Driven Leader

When I had an opportunity to select a Deputy, I chose Anne Roemer.  Anne had a track record of leadership results and was a respected supervisor and mentor in our HR team.  She had strong relationships with customers, was calm under pressure, a good communicator, and got results.

Anne always provided me with a focus on the people and the team.  As an Extroverted leader, she balanced my Introverted (Quiet) Leadership style and always had the right advice at the right time.  Specifically, Anne helped me focus on team celebrations & recognition. 

Anne later succeeded me as JSC HR Director (depicted below with her peers in my MS Teams background of “Brady’s Bunch”—my direct reports of HR Executives).

Thank you, Anne, for always demonstrating People-Driven Leadership!  That continues to serve NASA well!

11. Casey Swails: A Strategic Partner

Casey Swails started her NASA career in 2006 when I was a front-line leader.  Casey was definitely one of those “can’t miss hires that you’d want to work for one day.”  Casey steadily built her reputation for excellence and developed strategic partnerships with our Executives and always had ideas on how to get the right people in the right jobs…

She leveraged that strength in her role to lead the first-ever Executive Services Division for NASA’s Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer.  She continued to develop strategic partnerships at the highest level of the Agency, so it was no surprise that Colonel Bob Cabana named her his Deputy Associate Administrator in 2021.

I was pleased to see Casey at my retirement celebration last year, and she had some fun memories and said some kind words about my leadership as her front-line supervisor many years ago.

Thank you, Casey, for demonstrating how to be a Strategic Partner!  You’re a living example of my Master’s Degree presentation on “Achieving Strategic Partnership as a HR Representative at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.”  And you’ve taken Strategic Partnership to the next level, as you make a positive impact on NASA’s future!

12. Kelly Elliott: Human Capital Leadership

Kelly was a key member of my HR leadership team (pictured here, second from right) because she was always customer-focused, knowing NASA’s business and how HR could impact the business.  She always achieved results with creativity and innovation; and I was pleased to see how she broadened her organization development expertise by leading our HR Management team.

Prior to joining NASA, Kelly was a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a management consultant with Mercer.  She definitely brought a unique business perspective to our HR team as we advanced to “Human Capital” themes; and she always brought the strategic view of the organization.

I couldn’t be more pleased to pass the baton for leadership of the Agency’s human capital function to Kelly as the Chief Human Capital Officer (and she chose Anne as her Deputy)!

I knew when I was HR Director at JSC with this talented team that I needed to quickly get out of their way, and it’s so gratifying to see them being such key players in the future of NASA.

There you have it–twelve extraordinary women, who have shaped me personally and professionally.  Happy Women’s History Month 2024!