Paul Sean Hill

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.