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NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman Discusses Leadership with Mason Audience.
On Monday, March 31, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman delivered the Department of Public and International Affairs’ (PIA’s) seventh annual Harold Gortner Distinguished Speaker address to an audience of more than 100 students, faculty and community members in Mason Hall. Every year, the PIA honors a professional active in the field of public affairs and asks him or her to hsare insights with the Mason community. Chairman Hersman discussed leadership and her efforts to initiate organizational change while working to increase safety across all modes of transportation.
Using the analogy of a chess game, Hersman referred to herself as both the queen and the pawn, at different points in her career. She used this analogy to discuss her strategies to lead and inspire colleagues to put forth their best effort. She said, “Expecting people’s best is a way to honor their strengths.”
Starting as a Congressional summer intern, Hersman worked her way up, eventually becoming Senior Legislative Aide for the ranking Member of Congress on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. She moved from there to become the senior advisor on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, then a board member of the NTSB and finally the NTSB Chairman.
Remarking on her career path, Hersman said, “Lesson #1: Take heart if you are starting out as a pawn. Pawns do become queens. And starting as a pawn, you understand the organization from the ground up – a major advantage.”
During her talk, Hersman discussed leadership and the challenges of trying to initiate organizational change, and also cited many of the accidents she has seen that have energized her to push for policy changes in the transportation industry. Hersman highlighted critical safety upgrades, operator fatigue and distracted driving as the culprits behind many transportation accidents---all issues that can be addressed through policy change and an unyielding social pressure.
Hersman received a master’s degree from Mason’s School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution in 1999. The title of Hersman’s talk is “From Pawn to Queen: What Chess Can Teach Us About Leadership.” The full text is available on the Department of Public and International Affairs website.
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