Articles Authored or Coauthored by Christine R. Williams

A Behavioral Framework for Developing Highly Effective Technical Executives

This paper provides a deeper understanding of the behaviors effective technical managers executives use to lead complex projects, programs and organizations. The study surfaced 225 observable behaviors clustered into 54 elements, within six broad themes: leadership, attitudes and attributes (including executive presence), communication, problem solving and systems thinking, political savvy and strategic thinking.

Applying Neuroscience to Leadership Development: Designing Learning with the Brain in Mind

A discussion of how Chris applied an understanding of Neuroscience to improve the success of Leadership Development Programs at NASA.

Changing the Formula to Change Thinking At NASA

This article describes how Systems Thinking was applied to enable a large, complex system at NASA, the Earth Sciences Enterprise, to make the changes needed to become successful.

Executive Behavior Validation Study

This is the third behavior study in the sequence undertaken with executives outside NASA to confirm, in a quantitative and large scale manner, the behavioral framework developed by NASA.   The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to assess in a quantitative manner the structure of the six dimensions constructed from observed behaviors, and (2) to identify and prioritize the original list of behaviors of highly successful technical executives. 

Mapping leadership behaviors to NeuroLeadership models: a NASA case study

The purpose of this case study is to illustrate the way NASA’s leadership behaviors were mapped to current neuroscience of leadership models. The aim is to better understand the impact of what leaders do in terms of either enabling or inhibiting employee performance.  

NASA’s System Behind the System: Developing Systems Engineers

The purpose of this paper is to share NASA’s model for developing high-potential, mid-level systems engineers and the results achieved.   It describes the complex system approach to technical leadership development and factors that contributed to the program’s success.  Findings show that identifying, training, and developing the entire learning system—not just program participants—significantly affected the participants’ ability to make a greater contribution to the organization. 

Executive Leadership at NASA: A Behavioral Framework

This was the second of two studies Chris led for NASA that identified the behaviors frequently observed in highly regarded technical executives. This study was conducted in 2010 and the finding helped develop a shared understanding and agreement across the Agency regarding the behaviors and attributes that enable highly regarded executives to be successful.

How NASA Integrated Coaching Throughout the Learning Process

This article described how Chris integrated five different types of coaching methods into a leadership development program at NASA and achieved an unprecedented initial 80 percent success rate.  Which later increased to 90 percent success.  Coaching methods used included one-on-one coaching, group, classroom, peer and transition.

NASA Systems Engineering Behavior Study

Conducted in 2008 this study was conducted to identify the behaviors frequently observed in highly regarded Systems Engineers at NASA. The findings of this study provided the basis on which NASA built systems engineering competencies to support individual development and program and project needs across the Agency. The awareness and understanding of these specific behaviors also helped advance the field of systems engineering development outside NASA by providing greater focus on the human dynamics that, when combined with technical knowledge and abilities, contribute to successful engineering projects and mission success.

Developing talent for organisational leadership

This article describes a study conducted between NASA and and the Imperial College of London.  It explains the experience engineers and scientists experience when transitioning from a subject specialists, or subject matter expert to a leadership position within the organization.  The article provides specific recommendations for training and supporting these technical experts as part of that transition