Shelli Brunswick: On leadership qualities at Arizona State University

Shelli Brunswick, the COO of Space Foundation, talked about stories and case studies that
demonstrate the skills and traits required for successful leadership in the current landscape during a speech at Arizona State University.

The event, organized by the Space Business Association at ASU, was held on Sept.7, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU. Students joined the conversation in person as well as through Zoom.

Brunswick’s speech aimed to provide the audience with insight and how to apply these traits to their own leadership style to create real and lasting change. It consisted of numerous case studies of successful leaders in various fields and important traits one can embody in order to excel as a leader. She talked about three major qualities of a leader: being inspirational, authentic, and grateful.

Besides being the COO of Space Foundation, Brunswick also holds numerous roles including being an official Forbes Council member, Chair for Women in Aerospace Foundation, mentor for the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs Space4Women Network, and a mentor for the Global Policy, Diplomacy, and Sustainability Fellowship program.

Brunswick, a highly sought-after keynote speaker, delivered a remarkable series of more than 100 lectures and presentations on managing professional success, leadership, and workforce development in 2022.

To explain the importance of being inspirational as a leader, Brunswick gave the example of Machiko Gozen, a 13th-generation samurai woman and president of JANET TEA. Brunswick shared a quote by Machiko, “My main purpose in life is to empower women.”

“I had support from people of both genders, I would say, coming up, but for me the meaningful mentorship were all women who could see and understand what we were experiencing, and like, thoughtfully trying to lift up,” Irene McKisson, the co-founder of AZ Luminaria, a news publication based in Tucson, said.

McKisson started her career as a designer in the sports department at Arizona Daily Star. Throughout her 18 years with the publication, she climbed up the editorial positions through the support of her mentor and editor of the publication, who was also a woman. McKisson now runs AZ Luminaria alongside two other women, Becky Pallack and Dianna Náñez.

Brunswick also talked about the importance of kindness and mindfulness as a leader. Kindness and mindfulness are essential qualities for effective leadership. They not only contribute to a positive workplace culture but also enhance a leader's ability to make informed decisions and build strong, productive teams.

She advised the audience to be mindful of the mentors they select and the paths they take. “All roads will take you somewhere but it may not be where you want to go,” Brunswick said.

To be the leader that she is today, McKisson chose the path that she wanted to go on.
“There aren't that many jobs and leadership. And so if you can't get one, you have to make one for yourself. Which was the thing that I learned, as I, you know, from these other women, as I was coming up to the newspaper,” McKisson said.

Although at AZ Luminaria today women are all in leadership positions, McKisson shared how they still get a lot of skepticism that they understand how to run a business and how they have to extensively explain their bona fides and experiences to people - something that she’s seen men don’t have to do.

Brunswick emphasized how such skepticism can be tackled by a simple mantra “Listen, Learn and Lead.” She recommended that women leaders establish a reliable and trustworthy support team that will steadfastly support them through any challenges they may face.

She also noted the potential challenges women may encounter in networking compared to men but emphasized that putting in the effort is still significant.

Lastly, while talking about being grateful, Brunswick mentioned how gratitude towards one’s team, mentors, and audience can help them unlock new levels of success.

“Prior to becoming the COO of Space Foundation, I was an officer in the U.S. Air Force. I was often the only female voice in the room, but I owned the position within a culture that I understood. My experience in the Air Force is one that I remain grateful for, especially because I received support and mentorship that I still rely on today,” Brunswick wrote in an article for Forbes Magazine.

Brunswick has been an advocate for women in leadership for quite a while. In an interview with March8 magazine, Brunswick talked about the changing landscape of the space industry.

“It’s not just important for us to encourage more women to pursue space careers, but we need to make it a more diverse environment too. In the 1960s, the United States was focused on sending the first man to the moon. Now, countries are focused on putting the first woman and person of color on the moon,” Brunswick said.

“The biggest takeaway from talking to a leader is the ability to manage and she [Brunswick] was talking about ‘If you say yes to one person, you might be saying no to yourself’, and I feel like that is something that really lingered with me,” Megan Miller, a second-year student at Arizona State University commented on the speech.