Executive Seminar with CEO of Northrop Grumman

Wes Bush is the CEO of Northrop Grumman, an American aerospace and defense technology company. The company has achieved 24 billion in sales working for the US government allies around the world. Northrop’s 65,000 employees across 25 countries, most of whom work in STEM roles, pride themselves on contributing to the advanced research and development that position us at the front edge of defense technology. Though the role of personnel – the men and women who bravely give their lives for our country – should not be underestimated, this technology plays a vital role in ensuring our military’s success. After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering from MIT, Bush took a risk by taking a job in the aerospace and defense industry. Once he got security clearance, he instantly knew he was in the right place. In fact, Mr. Bush still greatly enjoys watching new employees first see the company’s confidential projects. Some of the projects Mr. Bush works on (at least the ones he can discuss) include developing unmanned systems that operate in space, in the air, on the water, and undersea – environments where you don’t want to put a human for an extended period of time. These vehicles allow for greater endurance, particularly in rough environments or dangerous conditions. For example, after the destruction of the Fukushima nuclear power plant in the Japanese Tsunami in 2011, Northrop sent an unmanned aircraft to measure the damage in an environment that was not safe for human occupancy due to possible radioactive fallout. The systems Mr. Bush creates are exceptionally advanced. The aircraft that they build are essentially robots that successfully fly themselves, take care of dangerous situations, and return autonomously. These robots range from the size of an insect to the size of a 737. Additionally, in terms of cyber security, Northrop Grumman must constantly update their systems to stay on the cutting edge. As cyber warfare has quickly transitioned from nation-states essentially poking each other to a nation-state carrying out an advanced attack on Sony, the ability to ensure that our critical infrastructure and government networks are secure is a tough problem that requires constant development. Another project Northrop Grumman has worked on is the James Webb Space Telescope. Using telescopes, we are able to look into the past – we see the light that distant bodies emitted many years ago finally reaching Earth. The more powerful the telescope, the farther away the stars we can look at, and the farther back in time we can see. The James Webb Space Telescope is a telescope one hundred times more powerful than the Hubble Telescope and aims to see into the beginning of the universe by picking up the photons that have been trudging along for the last 14 billion years. To do so, Northrop Grumman faced the task of building an exceptionally large mirror, one that is too large to be sent into space in one piece. Consequently, they designed a mechanism for folding this mirror for launch that required precision down to one billionth of an inch. To tackle these exceptionally complex problems, Mr. Bush values the input of diverse disciplines – scientists to carry out research, engineers to build structures, and business administrators to ensure the success of the company’s management. A company can only create new technology with a working business function that successfully manages its returns and serves its shareholders. However, at the very core, Mr. Bush believes the company is about the people: the talent, the leadership, and how you can bring everyone together to get things done. As a leader himself, Mr. Bush offers the following advice for productive management. First, you must be passionate about what you do. Passionate commitment to your enterprise’s work is something that everyone who works for a leader looks for. When bumps in the road arise, a great leader doubles down and fully commits themselves to their role, rather than being deterred by the struggle. These bumps often reveal whether or not you are working in the right place. Though it’s easy to achieve mediocrity, this passion is necessary to achieve excellence. Secondly, you must bring real expertise to what your enterprise is doing. Many folks who attempt to bring leadership with little background run out of opportunity and gas because they haven’t invested the time to achieve proper knowledge. This is particularly prevalent among those who have graduated from great universities; they quickly get great management positions, but stall midcareer because they do not have the knowledge early enough to dedicate themselves to their industry. As a leader it’s vital that you can engage with each level of the company and understand their issues. As CEO, it’s your job to set the course of action, and to do that effectively, you must know how much you can stretch your team to ensure the action plan is realizable. Though it takes time to gain this expertise, it will certainly pay off in the long run and can be done in a variety of ways. Grad school can be helpful; work experience is also extremely effective. However, the experience of building a base of knowledge is crucial. Thirdly, you must have an absolute commitment to integrity. Throughout our careers, we are constantly judged by our ethics and level of integrity. The confidential nature of Northrop Grumman’s work makes maintaining a level of trust within the company crucial. If we do not feel a sense of trust in our industry and we feel we are personally losing integrity, we are not in the right place. Integrity tests both us and the organizations we end up in. Another key issue Mr. Bush tackles is the transfer of knowledge from experienced workers to new hires. Currently, he sees millennials bringing an excited outlook to the industry: they value teamwork and integration in projects, as well as high energy with a lack of patience. To best harness this potential, Mr. Bush has had success using a mentorship program, which allows inexperienced workers to have a more seamless transition and the experienced workers to consider new approaches. When facing tough decisions, Mr. Bush uses three key guideposts. First, he values trust, and thus seeks to maximize trust in and within the company. Second is innovation. He firmly believes being open to new ideas is an important part of progressing as a company and maximizing efficiency. Third, finding which option will best lead to creation. The company must consider what will appease the shareholders, what will help individual employees, and what will allow the company to grow as a whole. Above all, although he works for a largely confidential company, Mr. Bush most encourages transparency in decision-making, as customers and employees will ultimately most respect enterprises that are clear about their intentions.