Team Blue is Building the Future

Leadership Principles

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  Passion for our Mission

  Our mission is bold – to radically reduce the cost of access to space, harness in space resources, and inspire the next generation to enable millions of people to live and work in space for the benefit of Earth. Blue leaders are, above all else, mission-driven. Mission-driven leaders create and communicate a direction that inspires results, and their actions and attitudes are guided by “mission first.”

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  Customer Focus

  Leaders start with their customers and work backward. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust.

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  Deliver Results

  Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver on their customer commitments with the right quality in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle. Leaders convey optimism without naiveté. They say, “let’s figure it out.” They take setbacks in stride and know it’s not about how they start, but how they finish. They display grit by refusing to stop at the first barrier and constantly looking for ways to move forward.

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  Embrace Team Blue

  Going to space requires a team, and leaders know this. Leaders derive energy from pulling people together and moving in the same direction while leaving room for healthy tension and dissent. Leaders develop their teams by giving timely, critical feedback in the spirit of helping others and strengthening Blue.

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  Resourceful

  Leaders are frugal and accomplish more with less, recognizing that constraints breed self-sufficiency, invention, and innovation.

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  Bias for Action

  Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk-taking.

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  Ownership

  Leaders are owners. They think long-term and don't sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team, and never compromise safety. They never say, "that's not my job."

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  Operational Excellence

  Leaders have a habitual drive to quickly correct errors at the root. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed. They have incredible attention to detail. They replace good intentions with mechanisms and never rely on “we’ll do better next time.” They demand that processes exist to serve them; they don’t exist to serve processes.

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  Earn the Trust of Others

  Leaders are sincerely open-minded, genuinely listen, and examine their own strongest convictions with humility. They value diversity in all its forms because different viewpoints result in novel ideas. Their openness enables them to trust those around them – and to earn the trust of others in turn.

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  Hire and Develop the Best

  Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They value diversity, recognize exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders, invent mechanisms for people development, and take seriously their role in coaching others.

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  Insist on the Highest Standards

  Leaders have relentlessly high standards and always keep safety front and center. Many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and driving their teams to hire great people and produce high-quality products, services, and processes.

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  Technical Ambition and Simplicity

  Leaders push for high-performance architectures and are willing to break new ground with novel inventions. They look everywhere for new ideas and are not limited by “not invented here.” They always find ways to simplify. They do not accept requirements at face value and are willing to push back. They understand that medium-performing variants of high-performance architectures can meet mission needs and provide a path to higher-performing upgrades.

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  Practice Humility

  Leaders are bold in their mission and humble in their execution. They look to the past for inspiration and knowledge. They know that there are many future lessons to be discovered and – more importantly – lessons to be truly learned. They know when to ask for help and embrace that help when given. Leaders are slow to take credit for their own contributions but are quick to point out the value of others.

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  Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit

  Leaders are obligated to challenge decisions respectfully when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.