What the Challenger disaster can teach leaders today

Leaders who overuse "I," saying things like "I want" or "I expect," are crushing the success of their direct reports who want to feel like their efforts and collaboration matter, writes Steve Keating. Remedy this by using "we" or "you," actively listening to the needs of your team and empathizing with the feelings of those around you, Keating recommends.

Put it into practice: Pay attention to how you speak to your team and whether you're overusing "I" and watch your tone "to avoid sounding self-centered," Keating warns. "Balance your statements with a mix of inclusive language. It'll help keep you from sounding like a jerk."

Watching her hospital administrator father make personal connections with everyone from the janitor on up instilled a sense of responsibility for people and their success in Jennifer Tejada, CEO of PagerDuty, who says she looks for team members who know how to adjust and work hard. "You need to be surrounded by people who embrace complexity and embrace problem-solving. Then you have to nourish your teams because crisis fatigue is real," Tejada says.

Korean artist Min Kyung-jin is mixing her love of food and animals by creating fish made from bok choy, a puppy created from heads of cabbage, a shaggy dog made of noodles complete with a black olive nose and a pink ribbon and even a hot dog that looks like a ... dog. Kyung-jin posts photos of her creations on Instagram and has released a recipe book.

When the Challenger tragedy happened in 1986, I was working my second radio job at a small AM station in northeast Georgia. I had gone home at lunch to grab a bite and watched the disaster unfold on CNN as I attempted to eat my sandwich.

The explosion of the shuttle was horrifying enough, but watching the faces of those in the crowd -- including family members of those onboard -- was heartbreaking. The reckoning for NASA and other government agencies over the next few years revealed the missteps that led to the tragedy, and we can still glean valuable leadership lessons today, as Jennifer Lotito notes.

Where were you when the Challenger tragedy occurred? Tell me.

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