Congratulations Everett H. Thomas, Major General, USAF (Ret), Vice President, Lockheed Martin, First Gen to College and
Inclusive Leader Award Winner for Space & Aerospace
I’m the second of five children born into a family where neither of my parents graduated high school. However, both parents understood the value of an education and demanded that all five children at least complete high school. While I was the first to graduate college, I wasn’t the first to attend. My older brother attended college before me but chose to experience co-ops which extended his time in college. I went on to graduate as the first with a BS, then later a MS & MA, with other professional education opportunities.
Upon graduation, I also became the first military officer in the family. I’d say my family’s encouragement to get an education, assistance from so many Allies that encouraged me to do as my family said, and my time in the military served as a foundation to who I am and where I am in this stage of my life. I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that the encouragement I received from my immediate family - wife Melody, and three children (Heather, Brian, & Everett, Jr.) wasn’t as impactful on my success. Because they are my greatest inspiration outside of mom and dad. They gave me permission to spend time in graduate school, remain in the military, and are still continually supporting me in my quest for a terminal degree. Maybe they should really be the award recipients.
The following questions were taken from an excerpt of an interview done by Ms. Catherine F. Thomas:
What was your career path to arrive at your current position?
Circuitous is the best description. I served in the United States Air Force, in multiple leadership positions and retired as a senior officer. In every position, I learned people skills, dedication to mission, and the importance of getting things done right for the benefit of the Nation, Allies, Friends, and Partners in National Security matters. My military positions led to be being selected as a director first, then promotion to vice president in my current position.
Describe some of the toughest situations you've faced in this job.
Many of the positions I led after my first 5-years in the military were units in need of leadership. Therefore, I honed my people/leadership skills to the point where my superiors noticed I had a knack for solving hard problems and reinvigorating a culture of success. My early success led to more challenging positions. Three tough situations I faced and succeeded were critical to my success.
A. I was chosen to lead a civil space mission whereby we launched a satellite to study the planet Saturn – Cassini. This was a tough situation in our team consisted of 17 mission partners (national and international members), $3.4 billion dollars for the mission, and a schedule that could not slip due to planet alignments and space gravitational pulls in order to reach the right orbit for satellite insertion. This was a tough situation in that teamwork, budget pressures, and schedule had everyone under a magnifying glass. Additionally, there was great media interest for two reasons – it was a mission to Saturn and the launch activity was hazardous. We launched within the schedule, stayed with the budget, and had magnificent teamwork throughout the mission. From my perspective, I kept everyone positive with a focus on what should happen versus what could happen – focused on the positive versus the negative. My education prepared me for the possibilities of the mission and the people skills I learned guided me in keeping the team focused and acting as one organization.
B. I had the honor of representing the United States as an international negotiator on a treaty to reduce operational strategic weapons between two countries: the USA and Russia Federation. We succeed in framing the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty of 2002 because of teamwork. My understanding of the offensive weapons and my education in National Security Strategy was foundational to the discussions. It was clearly a tough situation with the balance of the world’s most destructive weapons in focus.
C. Somewhere and time, the United States Air Force lost our way in taking care of strategic weapons. So, in April of 2008, it was an honor to be selected as the leader to revitalize an organization with responsibilities of logistics, maintenance, and sustainment of those critical, strategic weapons. This was a tough situation in that not only the USA was counting on our organization, but so were 30 other countries which fell under our strategic weapons umbrella. Again, I used all of my education and people skills to bring together multiple national agencies to fix what was broken, instill discipline in the military entrusted with the responsibilities, authorities, and accountability, and repair a damaged USA reputation.
Each and every situation was tackled with pride and enthusiasm because I knew my immediate supervisors and subordinates believed in me because of my competence, experience, and qualifications.
What aspect of your job has been most satisfying? Dissatisfying?
The most satisfying aspect of each job is seeing an employee that believes in themselves because I trusted them. In each of the tough situations described above, instilling confidence in employees was my first challenge that proved critical to the success of each mission. I learned early on, people don’t care what you know, they want to know you care.
Because I tend to focus on the positives, my most dissatisfying aspects have become my most challenging aspects to channel into a satisfying aspect.
What challenges do you face in balancing your work and your personal life?
The most constant challenge is not enough time in the day to do what is good for the personal life and good for the tough work situation. So, I block out two hours of each workday to focus on strategic things so that I don’t forget where the organization should be going in the future. As for personal, I put the electronic gadgets that tie us to work away for dinner each day and dedicate Saturdays to only personal objectives. That works most of the time, but when the mission/work calls, you respond. Keeping my spouse happy also helps so I have to know when she wants time or needs something done. What is the old saying…” happy wife, happy life?” Today that is still important… “Happy spouse, happy house.”
