Why NASA LEADS?

The NASA LEADS program will develop a cohort of effective, supportive, ethical, globally aware technical leaders.

NASA LEADS Program Objectives:

• 1. Strengthen Commitment to NASA’s Mission and Service to the Nation: Build trust, ownership, and humility by connecting participants more deeply to NASA’s mission, senior leaders, and peers across the Agency.
• 2. Increase Readiness for Technical Leadership: Develop the confidence and skills to lead with clear communication, urgency, and deepening accountability, including when formal authority is limited.
• 3. Expand Leadership Capacity: Broaden participants’ understanding of leadership from positional authority to the ability to plan, act, align others, and create conditions for others to succeed.
• 4. Break Organizational Silos: Strengthen unity across Centers, disciplines, career stages, and Mission Directorates through cross-Agency collaboration, debate, and shared execution.
• 5. Build Lasting Leadership Networks: Create enduring networks that strengthen trust, communication, collaboration, and mutual support as participants advance throughout NASA.

NASA LEADS participants will benefit from: 

• Honing their ability to lead high-performing teams for scientific innovations and breakthroughs
• Increasing their awareness of NASA as an organization and its culture
• Exploring their personal values and alignment with NASA’s core values
• Integrating and applying values to ethical leadership
• Broadening interactions with senior leaders
• Gaining or increasing their Agency-level project experience
• Joining a cohesive and dynamic cohort of leaders committed to excellence and innovation in the sciences