On Jan. 28, the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship welcomed astronaut Paul S. Hill to talk to students and faculty about teamwork, in an event sponsored by BankUnited. Around 140 people attended.
Hill is the Director of Mission Operations at Johnson Space Center and is responsible for all aspects of manned spaceflight mission planning. He has served as a Space Shuttle and International Space Station Flight Director, leading the flight control team in flight preparation and execution from mission control.
Before Hill began his presentation, Preston Jones, dean of the Huizenga School, said “NSU sharks lead. We are not led.”
During his speech, Hill portrayed many leadership characteristics, which he embraced by explaining situations when NASA failed and still had the strength to recover. Hill encouraged the crowd to always push themselves past their comfort zone and speak out against situations that don’t seem right, even if they are afraid. Hill encourages individuals to delve deep into their personal missions to accomplish tasks.
Hill began his presentation by stating a question people who work for him frequently ask: “What is it that keeps you awake at night?” His answer is “What have I missed? What is it that I have done wrong to mislead my people?”
“If I just asked a question differently or told them what was on my mind, the outcome would have changed, in a positive way,” Hill said.
Jade Chen, events manager of Huizenga said, “[Hill] is worth listening to, not just for academic purposes, but also for life lessons.”
David Lynch, MBA in finance student, attended this event to learn how to mirror Hill’s successful achievements. The moment in the presentation that had the strongest effect on Lynch was when Hill discussed technical truth.
“In some situations, you will have to make a split decision to decide what is right, not based off your opinion, but, what is technically right” Lynch said.
Throughout the presentation, Hill explained the type of risks NASA undergoes every day. The workers of NASA must constantly remain paranoid about the safety of the universe because they must always make sure the shuttles, astronauts and the entire solar system itself is stable. Hill expressed the frightening idea that constantly crosses the minds behind NASA of whether or not the task being deliberated is worth risking the lives of the astronauts. Ultimately, the most dangerous risks we don’t take eventually become the most important.
“The right answer is always honesty” Hill said.
