Changes for NASA Leadership
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INTRODUCTION
It has become popular in recent years for technology-based organizations to advocate that they can "meet the challenges of the future" in their industry. Thus, these organizations are asserting that when the future gets here, they will be ready for it. The current leader of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) seems to have taken this idea to a new level. In his vision for NASA, expressed during a speech given last year, Administrator Sean O'Keefe noted: "in the end, NASA is about creating the future" (Administrator/Vision section of NASA web site).
Scholars on the subject of leadership have acknowledged that a fundamental part of leading an organization is having a vision for the organization's future (Bennis, 1994; Rainey, 1997). However, leadership means more than establishing a vision. Leaders must be able to move the organization toward that end, while managing the inevitable "bumps in the road" that arise during this journey.
Since Administrator O'Keefe's appointment to lead NASA in December of 2001, he has, in at least a general sense, outlined a vision for the space agency. The following sections will analyze the other qualities and skills that O'Keefe posses that make him the "leader" of NASA, rather than just the person at NASA with the most prominent title. Additionally, this analysis will consider qualities and skills that O'Keefe does not posses that may signal weaknesses in his leadership abilities...