Elon Musk and the Falcon 9 Rocket Ship Leads with Intention

Elon Musk and SpaceX made history today. Musk's commercially built Falcon 9 rocket ship thundered away from Earth with two Americans aboard. An American achievement not seen since NASA retired the space shuttle in 2011. It was quite a leadership feat.

National leadership is what many American's are seriously thinking about these days.

It's what I have being thinking and writing about for decades. It appears that today, the need to be authoritarian, loud, controlling and "right" is dominating the airways and byways. While... as we all know..."right" is one of the most "relative" words in the English language.

Well, from leading scores of teams and projects over the past thirty years and having experimented with various leadership styles, I have come to believe that leading with intention, versus depending on your authority, gets far better results...and I believe that most people who really understand what effective leadership is all about would agree.

Leading with intention means establishing a clear vision of where you are taking your team and creating an effective method to communicate that vision both “upward” and “downward.” 

Here’s an anecdote from my first book on Leadership Development titled "Focused Leadership: What You Can Do Today to Become a More Effective Leader" --- which just happen to be published in 2011.

Take a break from today's headlines and enjoy a little 20th century American history on learning to lead.

FIRST CLASSIFIED DOD SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION

At 4:23 p.m. EST on January 27, 1985 the Space Shuttle Discovery appeared to touch down without a hitch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after successfully completing its mission and traveling a total of 1.3 million miles.

None of the tens of thousands observing the magnificent landing of this space ship were aware that during the planned external tank separation, the backup flight system (BFS) did not automatically proceed to the proper landing mode. The crew of five astronauts, including the Commander, Thomas Mattingly and Pilot Loren Shriver, had to quickly react and perform the necessary manual procedures to resume normal landing operations. The BFS operated satisfactorily until the Shuttle’s final deorbit maneuver. For some reason, the BFS deorbit maneuver ignition was 8 seconds late. Fortunately, the BFS miraculously operated satisfactorily from that point for a safe touch down and landing.

There were many other significant behind the scene maneuvers that contributed to the successful mission of what was called STS-51-C. However, without one much larger behind the scene maneuver that started several years earlier, STS-51-C’s mission would not have been possible.

This mission critical maneuver involved a well-coordinated and massive effort to retrofit the Space Shuttle with a special capability required in order for STS-51-C to accomplish its sensitive mission. This complicated project would eventually consist of hundreds of trained professionals, millions of contract-related dollars, a magnificent technology deployment and a remarkable leadership feat.

STS-51-C was the first classified Department of Defense (DoD) mission of the Space Shuttle. The U.S. National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) Space Transportation System (STS) vehicle was rolled out in 1981. The STS, more commonly known as the Space Shuttle, was the first operational orbital spacecraft designed for reuse.

It carried different payloads into low earth orbit. It provided crew rotation for the International Space Station (ISS). It also performed servicing missions. The orbiter could recover satellites and other payloads from orbit and return them to Earth. Each Shuttle was designed for a projected lifespan of 100 launches or ten years of operational life, although this was later extended. The crucial factor in the size and shape of the Shuttle Orbiter was the requirement that it be able to accommodate the largest planned commercial and military satellites. The Shuttle’s cross-range recovery capability also met all of the requirements for classified USAF missions.

However, the original design of the Shuttle’s sophisticated communications system did not include a strategic security capability required to support all DoD missions. This capability would provide a classified level of encryption for all voice, data and telemetry communications.

The development of the complex ground-based and space-borne equipment required to accomplish the retrofit of the Space Shuttle with this capability was started in the late 1970’s and code named Project Elwell.

The Elwell development and initial production contract was competitively awarded to the Government Electronics Division of Motorola, Inc. The technical challenge involved the design & development of the ground-based and space-borne encryption equipment as well as the monumental task of coordinating the effort with the associated tri-service (Army, Navy and Air Force) projects. The Elwell project team would also have to design the equipment such that it could be physically and electronically retrofitted into a “fixed-footprint” or form factor which was dictated by the original design of the Space Shuttle vehicle.

A couple of years prior to the planned launch of STS-51-C, the difficult development effort was successfully completed and tested. By 1982, the focus had shifted to the critical delivery of the production grade equipment required to retrofit the Space Shuttle fleet and ensure that the first planned DoD mission could be accomplished on schedule.

The Elwell production contract was also awarded to Motorola’s Government Electronics Division. Motorola would organize the project into a matrix-managed program team to accomplish the contract’s objectives. That is, a team comprised of hundreds of engineering, manufacturing, materials procurement, quality management and production professionals reporting to a single Elwell Production Program Manager, but only on a dotted-line basis. The production team members would get their direction from the Program Manager for the execution of the Elwell Production contract but still report to their respective functional departments for performance and salary reviews.

This Elwell production team would eventually manufacture and deliver a large number of highly reliable ground-based and space-borne units on multiple contracts exceeding $100 million over several years. This would include, of course, the successful delivery of the equipment required to enable the January 24, 1985 launch of Space Shuttle Discovery and the STS-51-C mission.

The Elwell Production Program team also succeeded in establishing itself as a high performance team within Motorola. The team exceeded all internal quality goals despite difficult material procurement challenges. The Elwell Production team was one of the first production teams to be awarded over a million dollars in special performance bonuses based on exceeding pre-determined quality and cost reduction targets.

I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to serve as the Elwell Production Program Manager and to lead the Elwell Production team during this momentous period. As a relatively new program manager, this was my first major experience in leading a multifaceted mix of professional talent in a true matrix management environment. At its peak, my expanded Elwell Production team numbered over 300 team members.

We were able to maintain an intense focus on executing a complex project under intense schedule pressure and design constraints. I quickly learned that leading this type of team, without the authority of a “solid line” reporting relationship, required me to prepare myself for every turn along the way. After some initial “ego bruising” and unexpected disappointments, I realized that in order to be successful in this particular leadership role, I would have to build the team’s trust in my ability to articulate the “big picture” as well as the details surrounding the technical and production challenges. I would also have to confidently lead with enduring intention.

With a peer leadership team spanning much of NASA, DoD (including the Army, Air Force, Navy) and the National Security Agency, keeping a flawless focus on the project’s purpose was a must. Just as important was the need for me to envision, from the start, how the project would end and keep a laser focus on the path to success.

I made it a point during every morning “stand-up” meeting with the Elwell Production team to clearly update everyone on our purpose, our goals, our status and our daily & monthly objectives. At 30 years of age, I found myself regularly engaging with talented engineers and skilled production assembly team members as well as three-star military Generals. I was fully cognizant of and respected the fact that I was viewed, at all levels, as the final decision-maker regarding critical performance requirements and delivery commitments. I realized that I was not just the Production Program Manager. I was the designated leader of a passionate, cross-functional team that was depending on me and my leadership to ensure the project’s success.

When the Space Shuttle Discovery touched down at 4:23 p.m. EST on January 27, 1985, it also brought home 385 special Elwell badges that traveled the complete 1.3 million miles of the mission. A few months after the successful STS-51-C mission, I was proud to be a part of a recognition ceremony where each of the Elwell Production team members were given one of these special badges.

To this day, I place extraordinary value on the badge I received that day and on the lessons in leadership I learned during that stage of my management career.

Ervin (Earl) Cobb is an accomplished corporate executive, entrepreneur, author, leadership development coach and speaker. He is the author of eleven published books. Five of his books provide practical and unique insights into how to prepare yourself to effectively lead and win within any organization. Learn More About Earl Cobb and His Work,