Paul Hill

Paul Hill

TX, US
Learn how to leverage the Mission Control leadership values, apply them in your management ranks, and bring a culture of highly reliable decision making to your team and your business.

Paul Sean Hill spent 25 years in NASA's iconic Mission Control, learning and living the values he now evangelizes. After a career leading human spaceflight operations – from the Mission Control Room to the executive level – he offers a candid and passionate insider's look at the leadership values and culture that have been critical for their "impossible" wins for decades.

As the executive who is credited with revolutionizing the leadership environment in Mission Control's management ranks, he can show leaders how to apply the same core ideas and values to their own challenges and boost team performance in any industry and business.

Beyond the rocket science and leadership theory, he shows how these deliberate values are the enablers in solving "impossible" problems at all levels. Through his book Leadership from the Mission Control Room to the Boardroom, leadership workshops, and keynote addresses, anyone can learn how Mission Control does it, and more importantly, how to enable a leadership environment that inherently strengthens team performance in in your own organization. Paul has inspired leaders across many industries, including: Shell, Texas A&M University, Google, Citi Group, J.P. Morgan Chase, The Conference Board of Canada, and Texas Education Service Center Regions 15 and 18.

As NASA's Director of Mission Operations from 2007 through 2014, Paul was responsible for all aspects of human spaceflight mission planning, training, and Mission Control. In this role, Paul led a critical leadership transformation, dramatically reduced costs, and increased capability, all while still conducting highly successful missions in space.

Before this, he held a number of senior leadership positions including Deputy Manager of the Extravehicular Activity Office, Manager of Shuttle Operations, and Deputy Director of Mission Operations. Paul served as a Space Shuttle and International Space Station Flight Director leading flight preparation and execution from Mission Control for 24 missions from 1996 through 2005, with his final assignment as the Lead Flight Director for the return-to-flight after the Space Shuttle Columbia accident. Prior to NASA, he was a U.S. Air Force Captain and satellite operations officer.

His professional awards include the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, NASA Exceptional Service Medal, two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals, Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive, Rotary National Award for Space Achievement - Stellar Award, and recognition as an Outstanding Aerospace Engineer by the Aerospace Alumni Academy of Texas A&M University.

Paul is a member of the Texas A&M University Aerospace Engineering Advisory Board and the Texas A&M University - Galveston Board of Visitors. He is also a member of Marshall Goldsmith's 100 Coaches.

Paul holds Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University where he was a member of the Corps of Cadets. He lives in League City, Texas where he and his wife raised two extraordinary, Texas Aggie daughters.

Paul Sean Hill spent 25 years in NASA's iconic Mission Control, learning and living the values he now evangelizes. After a career leading human spaceflight operations – from the Mission Control Room to the executive level – he offers a candid and passionate insider's look at the leadership values and culture that have been critical for their "impossible" wins for decades.

As the executive who is credited with revolutionizing the leadership environment in Mission Control's management ranks, he can show leaders how to apply the same core ideas and values to their own challenges and boost team performance in any industry and business.

Beyond the rocket science and leadership theory, he shows how these deliberate values are the enablers in solving "impossible" problems at all levels. Through his book Leadership from the Mission Control Room to the Boardroom, leadership workshops, and keynote addresses, anyone can learn how Mission Control does it, and more importantly, how to enable a leadership environment that inherently strengthens team performance in in your own organization. Paul has inspired leaders across many industries, including: Shell, Texas A&M University, Google, Citi Group, J.P. Morgan Chase, The Conference Board of Canada, and Texas Education Service Center Regions 15 and 18.

As NASA's Director of Mission Operations from 2007 through 2014, Paul was responsible for all aspects of human spaceflight mission planning, training, and Mission Control. In this role, Paul led a critical leadership transformation, dramatically reduced costs, and increased capability, all while still conducting highly successful missions in space.

Before this, he held a number of senior leadership positions including Deputy Manager of the Extravehicular Activity Office, Manager of Shuttle Operations, and Deputy Director of Mission Operations. Paul served as a Space Shuttle and International Space Station Flight Director leading flight preparation and execution from Mission Control for 24 missions from 1996 through 2005, with his final assignment as the Lead Flight Director for the return-to-flight after the Space Shuttle Columbia accident. Prior to NASA, he was a U.S. Air Force Captain and satellite operations officer.

His professional awards include the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, NASA Exceptional Service Medal, two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals, Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive, Rotary National Award for Space Achievement - Stellar Award, and recognition as an Outstanding Aerospace Engineer by the Aerospace Alumni Academy of Texas A&M University.

Paul is a member of the Texas A&M University Aerospace Engineering Advisory Board and the Texas A&M University - Galveston Board of Visitors. He is also a member of Marshall Goldsmith's 100 Coaches.

Paul holds Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University where he was a member of the Corps of Cadets. He lives in League City, Texas where he and his wife raised two extraordinary, Texas Aggie daughters.

Leadership from the Mission Control Room to the Boardroom

Format: ​One day workshop

This program is perfect for:
  • ​Senior managers and executives
  • Teams seeking to establish or regain alignment and improve performance
  • Teams who are struggling to make effective change
The audience will leave with:
  • ​An understanding of the detailed characteristics that are linked to strong technical performance, leadership development, management practices,...
Audience ActivityEducational / InformativeInspirational / Life-changing

From Top Performers to Lousy Leaders

Format: ​45 minute keynote

This program is perfect for:
  • ​I have tailored this program to be applicable to undergraduate students to senior managers.
  • Any leader or aspiring leader who seeks to avoid the traps so many fall into after they are promoted only to perform badly.
Learn how leaders lose connection to the values that deliver top performance, which can lead teams into avoidable failure in spite of the leader's...
Educational / InformativeInspirational / Life-changing

Critical Thinking

Format: ​40-60 minute keynote with audience participation

This program is perfect for:
  • ​Teams struggling to make change even when the challenge is apparent
This is a thought provoking, interactive demonstration of how our biases and emotion can introduce errors in our decision making and sometimes cause high-performing people and teams to make mistakes they could have - and sometimes did - see coming.
Audience ActivityEducational / InformativeInspirational / Life-changing

Who Do You Think I Am?

Format: ​45 minute keynote

This program is perfect for:
  • ​Teams that are taking on strategic change
  • Senior managers stuggling with team alignment
Many of us believe strongly that our actions match our intentions.  We are often unaware that we are perceived differently than we intend, either as individuals or as an organization.   That lack of awareness can limit opportunities and damage the organization.  
Educational / InformativeInspirational / Life-changing

Incident Management in Mission Control

Format: ​45-60 minute keynote

This program is perfect for teams that must perform well during crises and keep all levels of management engaged.

NASA's Mission Control prepares for crisis by first preparing very deliberately for normal operations.  
  • Learn how individuals and teams are developed to ensure strong alignment in purpose and decision making while conducting human spaceflight missions.  
  • See how that...
Educational / Informative

Is Failure an Option?

Format: ​30 minute keynote

This program is perfect for: students and new graduates

We are often reminded that we learn through failing and should not be afraid to fail.  When is failure really not an option?  How do we differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable failure? 

Educational / Informative