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Reflections on Leadership: Leesa Papier
How do shoes relate to leadership?
Leesa Papier, executive director of the Office of National Security Programs and Incident Response (AXE), reflects on life lessons learned and shares her leadership philosophy – and it all starts with your shoes.
“Have you ever heard the saying – 'walk a mile in someone’s shoes'? Well, I believe it is a very important tenet of leadership," Papier said. "To be a good leader, you must be able to get into someone else’s shoes – understand their motivations and see things from their perspective.”
Papier's team safeguards the FAA via agency-level emergency readiness, crisis management, intelligence threat identification and analysis, and national security support that promotes and ensures national airspace and aviation safety and security. Leesa has been with ASH for four years and at the AXE helm for three years.
On her team, this empathetic perspective is vital, “At the basest level, understanding your teammates’ perspectives informs how to communicate with them, what their triggers are, and how to motivate them. This knowledge also informs when you should step in to protect your teammates and when to step in and lighten their load.”
But Papier stresses that a good leader isn’t always trying on other people’s shoes for size, “I believe to be a good leader you need to understand your own motivations and where you want to go. Be honest with yourself. Take the time to reflect on how you are walking in your own shoes,” she said. “Review your day and think through what you did, how people reacted, what the outcome was. What could you have done better? What did you do well? You should strive to understand why you did what you did, said what you said; otherwise, you are doomed to make the same mistakes.”
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Bill Perkins' Unique Expertise
Bill Perkins retired from the 177th Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard where he served as Command Chief Master Sergeant and made the move to start a second career with the FAA after almost 30 years in service. Perkins found his way to the Tech Center through the Veterans’ Transition Program in 2021, bringing his veteran skill set to the Center Operations Division as an emergency operations specialist. Soon after arriving at the Tech Center, he joined in the Employee Engagement Team. “The EET has been a great opportunity for me to utilize the knowledge and skills I have developed from years of working in strategy development and process improvement,” he said. “...working with my talented EET teammates on strategies that improve the climate, build resilience, and bolster everyone’s sense of purpose is intrinsic for me.”
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 Jim Hatt and Sabrina Jawed from the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) were awarded the Employee Support of Guard and Reserve Patriot Award by their colleague Amrit Singh. This honor recognizes supervisors for supporting a member of the National Guard or Reserve, or the spouse of a Guard or Reserve member. Hatt, a former Colonel in the US Air Force and member of the USAF Reserve, was presented the award for providing guidance and mentorship. Jawed was recognized for offering flexibility and care for employees. “Truly the greater honor is the opportunity to work with military service members dedicated to serving their nation in both civilian and military capacities,” she said. “I could not ask for a more ambitious, organized, optimistic and capable colleague than Amrit Singh. I wish him all the best during his extended military leave and AST anxiously awaits his return!”
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December 8, 2010: A Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) Dragon space capsule launched atop the Falcon 9 rocket was the first FAA licensed operation permitting the reentry to earth of a privately developed spacecraft. The successful operation from Cape Canaveral, FL sent the capsule into orbit aboard the Falcon 9 rocket return to earth three hours later. The unmanned flight was a precursor to NASA and SpaceX efforts to provide commercial trips to the International Space Station with cargo and crew. |
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