The Team's Success Is Your Success: You Cannot Do This Alone, You Will Succeed or Fail as a Team

An organization’s goals are only obtainable if everyone on the team works together. Individual accomplishments are needed, but the success of the team is most important. In our complex world, not everyone can be good at everything. But by pooling our abilities, we can be good at everything as a team. Mike conveys how he and his colleagues worked together with a culture of admitting mistakes and bringing forward concerns without worry of embarrassment or finger pointing. Providing help to teammates was not considered to be a burden, but rather a way to make the team stronger. When Mike broke a critical piece of equipment while repairing the Hubble Space Telescope during his final spacewalk, his team was there to help. Rather than blaming Mike, the ground control team and the astronauts in space worked together with him to come up with an innovative solution that saved the day and the mission. Although not every problem has an obvious solution, teamwork can help us with overcoming unforeseen challenges. Mike communicates to audiences how the NASA models for teamwork and leadership can be applied to the business world and in life. When you need help, reach out to your own “Mission Control Center,” and be “Mission Control” for others.

An astronaut, the first person to tweet from space, a recurring character on The Big Bang Theory, and now a New York Times bestselling author, Mike grew up a working-class kid whose seemingly unreachable dream of becoming an astronaut and flying in space was realized in an unlikely journey that was driven by determination and commitment and accomplished with hard work and humor. After two missions to the Hubble Telescope and four space walks to make critical repairs to the telescope, Mike is now a Columbia University professor, the Senior Space Advisor to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, an author, a television host, a frequent guest on morning shows, news programs, talk shows, and late night television, and an in-demand speaker for audiences seeking a unique perspective on teamwork, innovation, and leadership from a down to earth spaceman.