NASA CIO Blog
- General Leadership
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Here is the list of entries for NASA CIO Blog based on the selected criteria.
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The Leadership of the Horse Holder
Sep 10, 2011 07:23:08 PM | Linda Cureton
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- We can learn a lot about leadership from horse holders. They show us the importance of leading from behind.
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Reaching for the Stars
May 22, 2011 05:50:57 PM | Linda Cureton
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- While leaning forward to pick up my chips on the crap table, I thought how this is like leaning forward and reaching for the stars.
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The Five People You Meet in CIO Leadership Heaven
Apr 17, 2011 04:23:02 PM | Linda Cureton
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- The movie of a similar title is about an old man who dies and meets five people in heaven who affected his life though he didn’t necessarily realize it at the time. In our personal and professional lives, we meet these people all the time. Here are some of mine from an IT perspective – names have been fictionalized.
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Women in History: Holding Up Half the Sky
Mar 26, 2011 08:26:59 PM | Linda Cureton
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- There’s nothing like getting yelled at by an 8-year old after you just gave them a dose of inspiration to cause you to examine your self beliefs about your own limitations.
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Women in History: A Girl’s World
Mar 12, 2011 08:56:09 PM | Linda Cureton
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- Yeah, I was proud of my new cute pink leather jacket that I got 40% off plus an additional 30% off with a coupon. And yeah, I talked about it during a meeting and apologized. But, maybe Womens' History Month is a good time to stop apologizing for being a woman!
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Cliff Makes His Move: Planting Leadership Seeds
Jan 15, 2011 07:08:47 PM | Linda Cureton
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- Our beloved integration manager and NASA’s universally-acknowledged expert on the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is moving on to better position. He got a fine send-off that would be the envy of most geeks – submarine sandwiches, cookies, and soda. Napkins are for wimps, that’s what shirts are for. But Cliff is no wimp.
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Impossible Leadership
Dec 12, 2010 05:45:53 PM | Linda Cureton
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- Have you ever seen anyone perform the impossible? We’ve all heard stories about the impossible; about superhuman strength during time of duress; about Cinderella stories; and of course, leaders that accomplish the improbable and the impossible. What can leaders learn from this? How do we harness this magic?
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Grateful Leadership
Nov 21, 2010 09:14:26 PM | Linda Cureton
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- Leaders should always remember the value of expressing gratitude. Now is the time to go on a rampage of appreciation for all you have, all that you are, and all that you observe.
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Leadership of the Owl
Mar 19, 2011 09:11:18 PM | Linda Cureton
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- Giving a hoot about leadership and learning about the vision, insight, and wisdom of the Owl.
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Leading Through the Tears
Aug 20, 2010 05:22:45 PM | Linda Cureton
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- I was mortified this week when I cried in front of a big crowd. But, in the end, I learned a valuable leadership lesson.
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The Summit
Aug 15, 2010 02:18:15 AM | Linda Cureton
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- We all need our summits … places we must climb, heights we must reach. Furthermore, the purpose of leadership is to help others reach their summit. We must nurture within ourselves and our organizations the courage, confidence, and stamina needed to reach our peak and wrestle the mighty Titans of life.
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Resilience!
Aug 07, 2010 05:42:26 PM | Linda Cureton
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- My trip to Stennis meant more than getting my fix from high-fat, low glycemic index carbohydrates from the Rocketeria. It meant being reminded by The Mighty that getting their way isn’t as important as knowing which way to go; that clouds have silver linings; and that potential set backs are prospective opportunities. Indeed, I got my leadership fix of Resilience!
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Breakthrough Leadership
Jul 24, 2010 04:08:37 PM | Linda Cureton
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- So now I’m grateful for July, for my runny nose, and for my low grade fever. I know why now. I saw it this month. I saw it this week. And I saw its reflection in my mirror this morning. It looked like Breakthrough Leadership.
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Yin and Yang Leadership
Mar 19, 2011 09:08:58 PM | Linda Cureton
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- Yin and Yang describes opposing forces which flow in a natural way and always seek balance. The two opposing forces flow in such a way that they become merely two aspects of a single reality. Sometimes the two opposing forces move you to where the problems get solved and where the impossible becomes possible.
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Creating a CIO Team That Rocks!
Jun 13, 2010 02:21:05 PM | Linda Cureton
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- Had a meeting with NASA CIOs which by my own self-imposed performance measures was good – that means I didn’t cry (though I got close) and I didn’t have a headache (though I had a sore throat from a 15-minute agenda item that turned into 2 hours). I found myself spitting out some words that I would later eat myself – they tasted Sweet.
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No Stupid Ideas
Mar 19, 2011 09:08:02 PM | Linda Cureton
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- Well, I thought a lot about this and have concluded that there are no stupid ideas, just stupid people.
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The Bossy CIO
May 04, 2010 01:26:08 PM | Linda Cureton
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- Everyone is asking me about the latest reorganization in NASA. In particular, the Center CIOs now report to me. They ask, so it must be great that all the Center CIOs all belong to you. The reality is that there’s not much truth to that. The reality is that I now belong to all of THEM.
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The Connected CIO
Apr 17, 2010 11:20:19 PM | Linda Cureton
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- This is a scary blog to write. We marvel at the amazing capabilities that these Web 2.0 tools give us. As the so-called “social CIO” I lamented that blogging wasn’t as interactive as I thought. I found the reason why in a mirror.
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Imagine a CIO
Feb 09, 2010 12:57:21 AM | Linda Cureton
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- I remember telling my grandmother about our adventures at Kennedy Playground in the Shaw Neigborhood of Washington, DC. She smiled and said, “Tootie Baby, imagination is the greatest nation in the world”. I didn’t really get it then. But, I get it now. Imagination.
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The Small But Mighty Stennis Space Center
Nov 08, 2009 01:27:50 PM | Linda Cureton
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- As leaders, we should never overlook the contributions of the small and humble. Leadership success relies on those contributions.
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California Dreaming NASA-Style
Jan 26, 2010 10:15:33 AM | Linda Cureton
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- Resilience, resourcefulness, and transitional leadership -- in California getting leadership lessons from a Joshua Tree.
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The Smell of Future
Sep 07, 2009 12:11:36 PM | Linda Cureton
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- I love the smell of September in Washington, DC, it smells like the future.
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In Search of the Lost Art of IT Management
Aug 20, 2009 06:14:08 PM | Linda Cureton
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- Today, just about everyone has a camera on their phone. So now anyone can be a photographer. With blogs, everyone is now a journalist. The same situation exists with IT. The proliferation, the ubiquitous nature of it, and the increased ease of use forces IT, as well as cameras, to be considered merely tools. It is because of the notion that IT is merely a tool that we have lost the Art of IT Management.
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The Betting CIO
Aug 09, 2009 02:36:12 PM | Linda Cureton
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- By some strange confluence in the universe, I found myself in a casino for two consecutive weekends. Leadership lessons in a casino? You bet!
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Inspire or Expire
Jul 31, 2009 04:13:47 PM | Linda Cureton
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- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center got an inspiring first visit from our new Administrator Charlie Bolden. One thing he said stuck in my mind and in my heart. He said that NASA should ... inspire. What do organizations need to do in order to inspire?
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Problem Solving and Personal Leadership
Jul 13, 2009 08:12:40 PM | Linda Cureton
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- Not surprisingly, some of the same characteristics of a good problem-solver can be found in a good leader. Courage, creativity, focus, tenacity.
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Leadership Lessons from a CIO’s Hairdresser
Jan 26, 2010 10:19:15 AM | Linda Cureton
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- I had to get a security clearance and the special agent doing my background investigation called me up and asked for the phone number of my hairdresser. I paused … and told him … that’s a low blow dude. He said you’d be surprised what you can learn from a person’s hairdresser. You’d be surprised indeed – even leadership lessons.
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Girl Power for CIOs
Jun 23, 2009 01:18:50 PM | Linda Cureton
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- So, I guess the conclusion is whether you are a male or female executive; or a CIO or regular person, you should focus on your strengths, be prepared to stand out in a crowd, and watch out for alligators.
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How Extraordinary Golf Leads to Extraordinary Leadership
May 23, 2009 02:25:37 PM | Linda Cureton
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- We all have our purpose for playing golf just as we have our purpose in life. We confuse performance with purpose. Are we committed to looking good with the perfect drive? Or to enjoying golf? We do this in the workplace as managers and leaders. Are we committed to the purpose of the project? Or have we lost sight of the organization’s target because we are overly focusing on performance? Now certainly performance is critical, but we don’t want a successful operation and a dead patient!
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CIO Time
Jan 26, 2010 10:33:05 AM | Linda Cureton
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- I must admit that I’ve always had a problem with time. I hate time actually. Colleagues who know me well will laugh out loud when they realize that I had the audacity to write about Time Management. I guess those who can … do; those who can’t … well, they blog about it.
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Transparency and Naked Leadership
Jan 26, 2010 10:41:30 AM | Linda Cureton
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- Transparency means more than just putting data up on static websites. Leading in a transparent way has the atomic advantage of being able to be exposed to a huge set of diverse ideas thus hastening innovation and creativity. However, the cultural challenges associated with leading in this environment requires a new kind of personal leadership – Naked Leadership.
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The Art of Change Followership
Mar 22, 2009 01:54:32 PM | Linda Cureton
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- These soft or people-centered skills may appear to be an inadequate substitute for outcome oriented leadership and followership behaviors – especially in an engineering culture as NASA. But it can make a real difference to outcomes and productivity during today’s turbulent times.
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Partnerships in Space
Mar 06, 2009 10:01:55 PM | Linda Cureton
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- I was excited about hearing from NOAA and from Department of Energy. We have a lot in common and have the potential of forming strong partnerships.
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108: Preparing for Glory in NASA’s Information Technology Program
Feb 21, 2009 05:55:02 PM | Linda Cureton
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- You may want to skip to the next item in your RSS Feed because this blog is for me – for my selfish purposes. Perhaps no purpose and perhaps no value to you … but of value to me and maybe to the 108 men and women of Goddard Space Flight Center's IT and Communications Directorate.
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Being Stung By Leading Organizational Change
Feb 17, 2009 12:15:32 AM | Linda Cureton
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- So, I’ve dried my tears, sobered up, and didn’t hit the jackpot, but I learned a lesson from bees and was reminded of something I learned about change leadership. It stings.
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The Learning Organization: CIO as Paleontologist
Feb 08, 2009 07:00:34 PM | Linda Cureton
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- I ran into someone who worked for one of my colleagues. He was a Paleontologist. I thought of the dinosaurs, and how we can learn from them and their inability to learn and adapt and subsequent extinction. Such is the future of organizations that fail to do likewise.
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The Transparent CIO
Jan 17, 2009 05:09:59 PM | Linda Cureton
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- Lately, many of us have been discussing transparency in government. But what is it really? Maybe it's time that I pushed the edges of it personally, to see if it's all it's cracked up to be.
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