sea’s distinguished and meritorious sea thought rank ... · sea’s distinguished and meritorious...

May/June 2015 Volume 35 No. 5

Published Exclusively for Members of the Senior Executives Association

Inside This Issue: «Report from the Hill...3 «Presidential Proclamation...4 «Voters Want Reform...9 «Banquet Recap...11-19 «Rank Award Winners...18-19 «Member News...21-23

Senior Executives Association - The Voice of Career Federal Executives Since 1980

First Command Offers Exclusive Platinum Visa Card to SEA Members

See EXIT on pg. 10

See BANQUET on pg. 11

SEA’s Distinguished and Meritorious Rank Banquet Makes Public 2014 Awardees

See RECAP on pg. 5

NASA Administrator Bolden Addresses Event

OPM Report on SES Exit Surveys Cites Poor Recognition

See VISA on pg. 2

« «1980 201535th Anniversary

SEA Thought LeadershipRecap of Recent Policy/Legislative Issues

Government-wide• The draft charter for the Distin-

guished Executives Advisory Network (DEAN) was sent to all DEAN’s List members for comments, which were reviewed by the planning group. A meeting of List members will be called early in June to review plans and secure volunteers for committees necessary to continue implementation.

• President Bonosaro is scheduled to meet this month with chairs of the WH SES Advisory Group.

First Command Financial Services, a company committed to serving the finan-cial needs of military members, federal employees and their families, has recent-ly become a member of SEA’s Corporate Advisory Board. Now, First Command Bank, a member of the First Command family of companies, is pleased to offer an exceptional new credit card exclu-sively to SEA members.

Lots of credit cards promote low introductory rates or ask cardholders to choose between the value of low rates and the benefits of a robust rewards pro-gram. But with the SEA Platinum Visa card, you can have it all:

• Fee Friendly – Enjoy the economy

and flexibility of using a card with no annual fee, no balance transfer fees and, best of all, no foreign transaction fees.

• Great Rewards – Receive one point for every dollar you spend on your SEA Platinum Visa, with no minimum purchase amount. With the valuable ScoreCard Rewards program, you can redeem points for travel on all airlines, cruises, vacation packages, hotel rooms, rental cars, and merchandise.

• A Low Variable Rate – Benefit from a consistently low variable inter-est rate on purchases, cash advances and balance transfers. The variable rate is

Recipients of the nation’s highest civil service awards, the Presidential Ranks of Distinguished and Meritorious Ex-ecutive and Distin-guished and Merito-rious Professional, were announced and honored by the Se-nior Executives Asso-ciation’s Professional Development League (SEA PDL) at the group’s 29th annual black tie Presi-dential Rank Awards Banquet held on

April 23. A review of the accomplish-ments detailed in the 24 2014 Distinguished award winners’ nomi-nations reveals they have saved the federal government over $32 billion (A list of the winners can be found on page 18).

The banquet was held at the State De-

partment Diplomatic Reception Rooms

Just in time for Public Service Rec-ognition Week, a new government report suggests that a little more recognition could go a long way toward preventing top-level federal employees from leaving public service.

Seventy percent of federal senior ex-ecutives who left their positions said in response to an exit survey that no effort had been made to encourage them to stay. However, 37 percent said an increase in pay might have changed their minds, 24 percent said a performance-based

May/June 2015 11 Senior Executives Association

2015 SEA PDLPresidential Distinguished and Meritorious Rank Award Banquet

Continued BANQUET from pg. 1

and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Jr. delivered remarks (the text can be found on page 14).

Only one percent of the Senior Ex-ecutive Service (SES) is eligible to re-ceive the rank of Distinguished Execu-tive, and only one percent of executives in Senior Level and ST (Sc ien t i f i c and Profes-sional) po-sitions may receive the rank of Dis-t i n g u i s h e d Senior Pro-fessional. Five percent of the SES corps is eligible to receive the rank of Meritorious Ex-ecutive, and only five percent of those in Senior Level and ST (Scientific and Professional) positions may receive the rank of Meritorious Senior Profes-sional. After suspending the awards in

2013, the Administration awarded only 24 Distinguished Ranks and 89 Merito-rious Ranks in 2014.

Dignitaries in attendance to honor the winners included:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Stephen G. Burns, Direc-tor of the Office of Personnel Man-

agement Katherine Archuleta, Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration Carolyn K. Colvin, Deputy Secretary of Labor Chris Lu, Under Secretary of State for Manage-ment Patrick Kennedy, Under Secre-tary of Energy for Nuclear Security and Administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration Frank Klotz, Acting Under Secretary of the Air Force and Assistant Secretary for Financial Management and Comptrol-ler Lisa Disbrow, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment Katherine Hammack, Assistant Secretary for Management at the Department of Education Joseph Andrew Jackson, Principal Deputy As-sistant Secretary for Policy, Manage-ment and Budget at the Department of the Interior Kristen Sarri, Deputy Di-rector for Management at the Office of Management and Budget Beth Cobert, and Meg McLaughlin, Deputy Director, White House Presidential Personnel.

SEA President Carol A. Bonosaro

recognized some of the recipients’ no-table achievements in her remarks:

• Founding and directing the first and only national nanotechnology cen-ter focused on commerce, recognized internationally for its world-class de-velopment of new methods for na-noscale measurement and fabrication.

• Develop-ing and ex-ecuting over $14 billion of hurricane pro-tection sys-tem work in New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana fol-lowing Hurri-cane Katrina, which, when

Hurricane Isaac made land-fall in 2012, prevented cata-

strophic flooding, loss of life and mas-sive property damage. The system’s keystone, the Inner Harbor Naviga-tion Canal Surge Barrier, received the


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The Skivs a cappella group from the US Naval Academyprovided entertainment at the end of the evening

Distinguished Executive Kevin J. Haugrud, Department of the Interior (left), with SEA Board Secretary Ar-nold Layne

Distinguished Executive and SEA Board Treasurer Bonnie M. Hammersley, Office of the Secretary of Defense (right), with SEA Board member Linda Washington

A C T I O N12Senior Executives Association


American Society of Civil Engineers 2014 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award, the first time in the award’s 54 year history that it has been presented to the Army Corps of Engineers.

• Directing the collection and sub-mission of the DoD information tech-nology budget which is approximately 50% of the federal IT budget.

• Developing and overseeing the government’s legal strategy in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation with over 300 plaintiffs seeking dam-ages and naming the Department of the Interior as a defendant in addition to BP, with a settlement in which BP will

pay almost $8 billion. • Leading development of a revo-

lutionary, lightweight material with a self-adhesive backing that untrained soldiers can quickly apply to walls to increase blast resistance by a factor of 15. The X-Flex system has won three major awards including the “Top 50 In-ventions of 2010” from TIME/CNN.

• Being responsible for all internal auditing of the Army, its $168 billion budget and 1.2 million military and ci-vilian personnel.

• Developing – for an agency which manages the world’s largest adminis-trative review process – a data–driven approach to decision-making, which resulted in a 32% productivity gain despite a staffing decline, reduced pro-

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cessing time for the oldest cases by 300 days, increased to 50% the cases processed in less than 150 days, and reduced both administrative and court remands – while also developing new training methodologies to reduce the time needed to develop expertise in case adjudication from 18 to five months.

• Personally envisioning and devis-ing how to use PS3 gaming consoles for high performance computing by combining 1,800 consoles into a 500 trillion operation/second computer 12 times less costly and 10 times more power efficient than all other super computers.

• Leading the achievement of signif-

Distinguished Executive Thomas M. Dowd, Department of Labor (left), with SEA Board member George Triebsch

Distinguished Executive Randall L. Exley, Department of the Army, with SEA Board member Diane Randon

Distinguished Executive Gregory L. Robinson, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (right), with SEA Board member James Corbett

Distinguished Executive Patsy J. Reeves, Department of the Air Force, with SEA Board member Robert Corsi

Distinguished Executive Gerald K. Ray, Social Security Administration (right), with SEA Board member L. Wayne Brasure

Distinguished Executive Ann H. Wion, Department of Health and Human Ser-vices (left), with SEA Board member Colleen Barros



SEA Hosts Awardees at “Morning of Reflections”On April 22, Carol Bonosaro, SEA

President, and Peter B. Zimmerman, Se-nior Associate Dean for Strategic Pro-gram Development, Lecturer in Public Policy and Faculty Chair of the Senior Executive Fellows Program at the Ken-nedy School of Government, led SEA’s annual “Morning of Reflections” at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The event is the only time the Presidential Distinguished Rank win-ners are brought together as a group to share their views and experiences. Due to the small amount of awardees for 2014, both Distinguished and Meritori-ous winners were invited and attended the roundtable discussion.

The awardees this year’s “Morn-ing” considered and discussed such questions as “What needs to be fixed

to improve recruitment and hiring, as well as development?,” “Is the pay and performance management system bro-ken?,” “Is it possible to innovate or is the SES becoming risk-averse?,” “How significant a problem is the prolifera-tion of political appointees?,” “How is the environment impacting execu-tives’ ability to manage?,” “If you could change one thing, what would it be?,” and “If the government were to reinvent the Senior Executive Service from the ground up, what should be its essential features?”

Three monographs have been pub-lished chronicling the insights of those in attendance at the Mornings. The first, published in 1999, chronicles the first two mornings; the topics are Ingredients of Executive Success and Grooming

the Next Generation, and Career Po-litical Relations. The second, published in 2003, chronicles the third through the sixth sessions; the topics are True Leadership - What It Means, What It Requires, and What It Confronts; Tran-sitions; Lessons Learned; and Problems and Prescriptions. A third monograph titled “The New Normal?” was released in August, 2013. The monograph de-tailed the 2013 Morning of Reflections discussions between Presidential Rank Awardees on the topics of sequestration and the budget process.

Three representatives from SEA Professional Development League do-nor Booz Allen Hamilton also attended the roundtable with plans to collaborate with SEA in developing a fourth mono-graph.«

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icant victories in the Federal courts on diverse issues such as the constitution-ality of tuition tax credits for students to attend private schools, the unconsti-tutionality of a strip-search of a middle school student and the unconstitution-ality of a State measure on collecting information on immigrant students.

• Leading the development of new landing technology resulting in the flawless demonstration of an Inflatable Re-entry vehicle technology capable of delivering heavier, larger structures to the surface of any planet for dra-matically reduced costs, and enabling future human and robotic exploration.

• Leading calculation and applica-tion of 3 government-wide sequestra-tion orders on time and with virtually no errors. He is responsible for the comprehensive guidance known as OMB Circular A-11 and chairs a group of senior scorekeepers from the Bud-get Committees, CBO and OMB, who determine the scoring rules followed by the Congress and the Executive Branch.

• Leading the efforts to recruit, in-terview and approve the first group of females to serve in positions on nucle-ar submarines, a seamless transition which literally opened the door for the

nation’s most talented female engineers to become submariners.

• Providing the legal basis for an effective regulatory framework for en-suring the safety of human tissue for transplantation, developing the legal framework for innovative regulations that make drugs for life-threaten-ing diseases available to patients on a “fast track,” and leading the legal team implementing new authority to create an abbreviated approval pathway for biological products or “generic” bio-logical products which are projected

by various economic impact studies to save from 48 to over 100 billion dollars in medical costs over the first 10 years of market formation.

• Logging over 978 hours in space on four spaceflights and serving in key roles as Payload Commander and Flight Engineer. She also delivered en-gineering, safety, science and mission operations support for 18 successful space shuttle missions, 25 International Space Station expedition missions, 87 spacewalks and the first-ever docking of a commercial vehicle to the Space Station.

• Being recognized with the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics, shared with Serge Haroche, for “ground-breaking experimental methods that enable mea-suring and manipulation of individual quantum systems.” He also provided the world’s first demonstration of laser cooling, and the world’s first demon-stration of quantum logic gates, consid-ered the start of international research in quantum computing, developed the world’s first realization of the seven so-called DiVincenzo criteria which spec-ify requirements for a working quan-tum computer and created four of the world’s most accurate atomic clocks, with accuracy of up to 1 second in 4 billion years.«

Distinguished Executive Stephen J. Trautman, Department of Energy (right), with SEA Board member Jose Villar



NASA Administrator James Bolden’s RemarksI really want to thank all of you for

inviting me to join you tonight. This is a very, very special night. I think, for the award winners. Hopefully you recog-nize the significance of the recognition, and you at least appreciate it as much as we appreciate the work that you have done in earning that recognition. It is just incredible for me to have an oppor-tunity, again, to be here for this wonder-ful night, to help celebrate excellence in public service.

You know, growing up in Colum-bia, South Carolina, back in the ‘50s and ’60s, it was always expected of me that I would be willing to give back what had so freely been given to me. I am one of two boys, sons of career educators. My mom was a librarian at elementary, junior high, high school level, and became the first librarian to move into an all-white high school when we integrated in Columbia, South Carolina, and established the first li-brary for black students in elementary school. My father was a noted football coach…

So many people in my life shared their expertise and time as I was grow-ing up in Columbia, and I had examples of my father and my uncle serving in the military during World War II, as well as both of my parents giving long hours and volunteering time as educa-tors, and, in the case of my dad, as an athletic coach. So public service was pretty much always going to be in the mix when I decided what career path I was going to follow.

I want to thank all of you for the ex-cellence you represent in that endeavor. I’m thankful to have an exceptional lead-ership team helping me to run America’s space program, and I know just how valuable each of you are to your specific organizations. If your bosses recognize how blessed they are to have you, the way that I recognize how blessed I am to have mine, then we’re okay. If they don’t recognize it, then let me know and I’ll come grab them by the stacking swivel and shake them up, because you are, as somebody said earlier tonight,

the cream of the crop. You are the best of the best, and so it’s incredible for us to be here with you this evening to cel-ebrate.

You know, together you’re demon-strating that public service has meaning and value and you’re helping our gov-ernment perform more efficiently and effectively while inspiring others to fol-low on your path. I congratulate all of you for your recognition as Presidential Rank Awardees. As you grapple with the issues of leading in government, I’m certain that you’ll face common chal-lenges and opportunities for personal growth and the growth of your organi-zations. For me, it always comes down to people. As leaders, it’s what we have inside and how we grow and how we share that with others.

I’ve led small groups, such as crews of space shuttles and a very small con-sulting firm of my wife and me. I’ve also led very large groups, such as the First Marine Expeditionary Force Forward in the Pacific during Operating Desert Thunder in Kuwait, the Third Marine Air Craft Wing, the largest air wing in the United States Marine Corps, with about 18,000 Marines and sailors and their families, as well as more than 400 multimillion-dollar aircraft, and now the incredible NASA workforce, and I mean that when I say absolutely incredible.

There are certainly differences in one’s approach to various types of or-ganizations, but at its simplest level it’s all about human relationship. Who’s sitting across from you at the table? What makes them tick? What do they want? How are they like you, and, more importantly, how are they differ-ent? I’ve always believed that the secret of NASA’s ability to reach new heights and achieve the amazing things we do in space and here on earth is our incred-ibly dedicated workforce. Our senior and midlevel leadership team tirelessly

work to perfect our ability to inspire them and reward them for innovation. Also it contributes to our being recog-nized as the best place to work in the Federal Government for the past 3 years in a row now.

We constantly emphasize the critical importance of all our employees being willing to stand up and be counted in the face of challenges and potential criti-cism, as well as helping them understand the unquantifiable value from them giv-ing the most of their passion and their intellect. As Jerry Buchholz, who heads our Human Capital Management Office, constantly reminds all of us in senior management, do not let a day pass that you don’t find an employee to tell them what a great job they’re doing, and do not let a day pass to tell them how im-portant they are to the organization, and

we live and breathe that, and we think it’s really, re-ally important. You know, you’re going to hear me say some things that you’ve heard before—nothing new

to you. I know that. But I’m just try-ing to re-emphasize that what you know makes you as good as you are so that you can share it with others.

I always tell my folks that I don’t care about their background. I don’t care about their politics. I don’t care about their race, their gender, or their sexual orientation. None of that matters to me. What I really want from each and every one of them is a commitment to strive for excellence in all that they do. If they can help me put boots on Mars—and we’re serious about that, by the way—I am ready to hear what they have to say.

Every leader today also has to have a commitment to diversity and inclusion. I’m looking around this room and I want you to look in my eyes when I say this.

This does not happen by accident. We have to work at it, and we have to work at it every single day, and you can never stop to celebrate your victories because just as quickly as you got there it’ll be wiped out, because there are peo-

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“For me, it always comes down to people. As leaders, it’s what we have inside and how we grow and how we share that with others.”

See BOLDEN on pg. 15


ple who don’t want it to be so, so we’ve got to work at it. To being open to other people of all backgrounds, being will-ing to listen to their points of view, and to draw out the strengths they can bring to the table. Everyone has to be very intentional when they have opportuni-ties for hiring, especially in areas where we have had little diversity in the past, and ensure the widest net is cast so that we’re able to attract a truly diverse pool of talent.

We have to expand the pipeline of our workforce. At NASA, we’re con-stantly reaching out to minorities and women, to increase their participation early on in the study of science, tech-nology, engineering, and math, and I’ll be the first to admit to you, we’re really good at recruiting. We are horrible at retention. But we are intentional. Lesa Roe, ….Ellen Ochoa …Janet Kavandi …. have stood the pressures and the tests, and have main-tained their commit-ment in spite of the fact that they have seen their peers fall by the wayside and just leave the STEM fields. They don’t quit. They just leave the stem fields for a variety of things that I don’t understand, but we want to understand. We all have to do that.

Once we get the right people, in the end, as a leader, it all boils down to what I learned from my parents’ dinner table. I mean, go right back to the basics. Three things I was taught—know your stuff, know yourself, and do the right thing. It sounds simple.

Know your stuff. No matter what level we are, no matter where we are, we can always learn more. If I’m a rifle-man in the Marine Corps, I better know my doggone rifle, and I better know how to take it apart blindfolded, and put it back together in no time flat. If you’re an accountant, you sure better know how to keep the books, and how to do stuff, and the only way you can stay up is to keep going back and studying, over and over and over again. Every single one of us in this room can stand to do a

little continuing education. Don’t ever stop trying to learn. Know your stuff. That’s the way you gain the respect of your people.

Know yourself. That’s pretty hard. If I went around, from table to table, and asked you about what are your finest characteristics, every one of you could go down and you could probably give me a whole list of stuff. If I asked you what are your weaknesses, most of you would have to sit there and think about it for a little while. What is most important is that you know what your weaknesses are, because it’s the weaknesses that will allow you to wither under pressure, and allow you to get your back against the wall when you do what you should not do, when you violate the most precious thing to you, which is your integrity, something that is God-given and only you can give it away. So know yourself more than anything else.

And do the right thing. Easy to say. How many of you have been in a situ-ation—and you have—I don’t want to raise your hand but just say it. How many of you have been in a situation—I bet if I asked how many women in here have been in a situation, at their posi-tion today, where someone goes around the table and says, “Okay, we’re looking for a great idea to do this,” and you go around and it gets to you, and you give a recommendation, and it’s awesome, and you know it’s awesome. And the person asking the question says, “Nice,” and keeps going around the table, and about four or five people later, a male steps up and says exactly what you just said. “That is unbelievable. How did you come up with that?” That’s what I mean when I say do the right thing. Someone then should stand up and say, “Wait a minute. I just heard Linda say that.”

But that’s what I mean when I say do the right thing. Let people know what you will not tolerate. Tell them I don’t

know where you came from, or I don’t know what they did in the last place that you worked, but in this place we don’t do that. We recognize people for their talents and their skills and ability, and I’m not going to tolerate that. That’s what I mean when I say do the right thing.

These are very similar to the core values that I learned, and I see several military folk back there in uniform…..at the Naval Academy and in the Ma-rine Corps I learned three things that we call core values—honor, courage, and commitment—and they mean ex-actly what they say. Honor is your abil-ity to be honest with people, exhibiting the integrity that is God-given. Cour-age is not physical courage. I mean, for military folk it’s real easy for people to think we’re talking about standing up to take a bullet. We’re not talking about that at all. It’s the courage to do the

right thing, to tell people what you will not tolerate, to make sure that every sin-gle one of your coworkers is treated fairly, and does not have to undergo abuse. That’s courage.

And then commitment, commitment to your family, commit-ment to your faith, commitment to your workforce and your people. They know. You cannot fool them. They know. I was sitting at the table, talking about how—Chris Lu has been great in my life, to be quite honest, from the time that he was a Cabinet secretary, and Chris Lu was the first one that told me we don’t manage people well, meaning, you know, politi-cally, and, generally, in administrations. That’s unsaid. Our lives depend on our people, and so we’ve got to manage people well.

Every single one of you sitting in here, if you were asked to talk to a young person aspiring to be an SES, hopefully you’d do what Robert (Light-foot) and I try to do when we go to talk to the folks in our SESCDP training. We try to talk them out of wanting to be an SES—because we tell them, you know, you’ve enjoyed a great life up un-til now. You’re a phenomenal engineer,

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“...do not let a day pass that you don’t find an employee to tell them what a great job they’re doing, and do not let a day pass to tell them

how important they are to the organization...”

See BOLDEN on pg. 16

Continued BOLDEN from pg. 14


or a phenomenal scientist, or whatever else it is—forget it. I need for you to be a leader, and I need for you to take care of your people, and I mean that. I need for you to know who they are. I need for you to know a little bit about their fam-ily. Do they have kids? Do they have elderly parents? Because every once in a while, the person that’s always smil-ing is going to come to work one day and they’re not going to be smiling at all, and if you don’t at least have some feel for them, you’re not even going to notice it, and it’s going to be the worst day in their life.

The other thing my mom taught me—don’t ever, ever, ever ask somebody how they’re doing if you don’t want to hear the answer. I think I can say this. I don’t mean to be abusive but they may tell you, “I’m not doing worth a shit,” and then what are you going to say? If you didn’t mean it when you asked the ques-tion and they said, “Boy, this is a hor-rible day,” are you going to turn around and walk away? In your position as leaders, you can’t do that. You’ve got to be prepared to deal with that. I tell people around NASA headquarters all the time, they see me get on the eleva-tor with people. Sometimes employees hate to get on the elevator with me be-cause they know I’m going to ask them how they’re doing, and they’re going to say, “You don’t want to know,” and I’m going to say, “Yes, I do. I wouldn’t have asked it,” and by the time we go two floors, both of us are crying because I’m just kind of like that.

But they don’t want you to solve their problems, but they do want you to hear them, and they want you to recog-nize that they can probably figure it out on their own if they have your support. That’s all they want to know. They just want to know that you’re going to have their support. So think about those things as you go back to work tomorrow, and as you try to train people to take your place, because hopefully you’re trying to train people to take your place.

Now, in my field you probably don’t

come to work in aerospace unless you like change, because we’re in the future business so we’re changing all the time. The aerospace field is taking ideas and shepherding them through innovation and development to shape them into new technologies in aircraft and spacecraft. But from my perspective, no matter what field you work in, it comes down to those basic principles and core values I just described—simply put and easy to think about but not easy to do.

I grew up in the segregated South, as I said before. Times were pretty tough, now and then. But my parents, my fam-ily, my friends all taught me, by the power of their example, that there was absolutely nothing, absolutely nothing I couldn’t do, if I was willing to study and prepare myself and work hard. They

painted a vision of the future that was much better than the reality of the pres-ent and the past. As I mentioned, both my parents were educators, so they had high expectations for me, and they in-stilled in me high standards. While I do expect excellence from my people, I ex-pect much more from myself.

This might sound counterintuitive but one of the most important things a leader can do is be willing to ask for help. Be willing to ask for help. None of us knows it all, nor should we. That’s why I have some of the brightest brains on the planet surrounding me, to get those spacecraft built and launched and operating correctly, doing amazing things like landing on Mars, and travel-ing so far they leave the solar system entirely, as was done last year by the Voyager spacecraft.

In our workforce are people who do amazing things outside of the Inter-national Space Station, in the harshest environment imaginable, fine-tuning its instruments and equipment while travel-ing at 1,750 miles an hour, and wearing a 300-pound space suit, the equivalent of many, many layers of winter cloth-ing. Our amazing scientists take all the

little blips and pixels our satellites send back to Earth and turn them into knowl-edge that transforms our understanding of the universe. They devise the not-so-sophisticated landing with Curiosity on Mars, where a hovering crane low-ered the rover for a final descent to the Martian surface before jettisoning away. As Rube Goldberg as that may sound, it worked, so we listened to them.

Top executives need to keep learn-ing. Our very smartest and best employ-ees need to keep learning. No matter where we are, there’s always someone who can push us along or help us to see something in a different way, sometimes a novel and innovative way that would have not otherwise come out.

I wish all of you the very best in your endeavors to improve your lead-

ership skills and make sure that your organizations con-tinue to find new ways to create the future. We must believe that, as public ser-vants, we can make a dif-ference through persistence,

dedicated effort, and the belief that, as we say at NASA, we can make the im-possible possible and turn science fic-tion into science fact.

So, don’t be afraid to set aggressive and far-reaching goals. Don’t be afraid to depend on your people. They’ll work hard if you’ve given them the freedom and vision to give their best. You’ve worked really hard to get where you are, and you earned—you earned—this very special recognition that we celebrate to-night.

I congratulate and thank each and every one of you, and your families. So if you brought a spouse, grab his or her hand, look him or her in the eye, and say, “Thank you.” I mean that. Take a moment. If they’re here with you, tell them, “Thank you,” because no mat-ter how good you think you are, you’re only as good as they allow you to be.

So, again, from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of all of us at our incredible NASA family, I really do congratulate and thank every one of you for making our government workforce a dynamic institution that truly serves the people. God bless every one of you and keep on keeping on.«

SPECIAL REPORT

“This might sound counterintuitive, but one of the most important things a leader can do

is be willing to ask for help.”

Continued BOLDEN from pg. 15


The Senior Executives Association Professional Development League thanks the following donors for the support which made the Distinguished

and Meritorious Rank Award Banquet Possible

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A C T I O N1�Senior Executives Association

2014 PRESIDENTIAL DISTINGUISHED RANK AWARD WINNERS

2014 PRESIDENTIAL MERITORIOUS RANK AWARD WINNERS

Following are the 24 Presidential distinguished rank award winners For 2014, both distinguished executives and distinguished senior ProFessionals. 6, or 25 Percent, are MeMbers oF sea (denoted with an asterisk; soMe are not so identiFied because they requested that their MeMbershiP be conFidential).

Following are the 89 Presidential Meritorious rank award winners For 2014, both Meritorious executives and Meritorious senior ProFessionals. 13, or 15 Percent, are MeMbers oF sea (denoted with an asterisk; soMe are not so identiFied because they requested that their MeMbershiP be conFidential).

Office of Management and BudgetArthur W. Stigile

Department of CommerceRobert J. CelottaDeborah S. JinDavid J. Wineland

Department of DefenseOffice of the SecretaryBonnie M. Hammersley*

Department of the Air ForceRichard W. LindermanDaniel F. McMillinPatsy J. Reeves*

Department of the ArmyJames C. DaltonKaren L. Durham-AguileraRandall L. Exley*Jeffrey P. Holland

Department of the NavyThomas L. Reinecke

Department of EducationPhilip H. Rosenfelt

Department of EnergyStephen J. Trautman

Department of Health and Human ServicesAnn H. Wion

Department of the InteriorK. Jack Haugrud

Department of LaborThomas M. Dowd*

National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationCharles J. GayEllen OchoaGregory L. RobinsonLesa B. Roe

Nuclear Regulatory CommissionEric J. Leeds

Social Security AdministrationGerald K. Ray

Department of AgricultureJames Edward HubbardArlean Leland*Hyun S. Lillehoj

Department of CommercePaul N. DoremusAndrew I. FailePaul A. SandiferAnthony P. Scardino

Department of Defense

Office of the SecretaryKari D. AndersonKristen J. BaldwinGary R. BlissMark E. EastonTwila C. GonzalesThomas H. Harvey IIIPaul J. HutterFrederick J. JanickiRichard S. MatlockCindy E. MoranGarry P. ReidPhilip D. RodgersJames R. Schwenk

Department of the Air ForceCharles A. Babish IVKenneth S. CallicuttKathleen I. Ferguson*Morley O. Stone*Kathy L. WaternKevin E. WilliamsPatricia J. Zarodkiewicz*

Department of the ArmyJames C. DwyerJoseph N. Mait*Steven J. RedmannJoseph D. Wienand

Department of the NavyTodd L. BalazsAnne M. BrennanVictor S. GavinSheryl E. MurrayRobert A. StephensonMary K. Tompa

Department of EnergyPaul BoscoGena E. CadieuxAmy Elizabeth Grose

Department of Health and Human ServicesJeffrey S. DavisChristine KosmosMary Anne MalarkeyElizabeth RichterCarmen S. Villar

Department of Homeland SecurityStaci A. BarreraCraig A. Bennett*William F. FlynnValerie S. IsbellSusan T. Mitchell*Paula A. Reid

Department of the InteriorMichele Singer


2014 PRESIDENTIAL MERITORIOUS RANK AWARD WINNERSDepartment of JusticeRosemary A. Hart

Department of StateChristopher H. FlaggsNewell L. HighsmithLinda JacobsonGlen H. JohnsonMary Catherine MalinBarbara A. RetzlaffLinda S. Taglialatela

Office of the Inspector GeneralAnna S. Gershman

Department of TransportationAnne L. Collins*

Department of the TreasuryDebra S. Holland

Department of Veterans Affairs

Office of the Inspector GeneralJames J. O’Neill

Environmental Protection AgencyDeborah S. JordanRobert A. Kaplan

Federal Trade CommissionCarolyn S. Shanoff

General Services AdministrationTimothy J. BurkeAntonia T. Harris*Barry D. Segal

Office of the Inspector GeneralGeoffrey A. Cherrington

National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationLouis J. AllamandolaCarol W. CarrollClinton H. CraggGlenn A. DelgadoJames B. Garvin

Thomas W. HartlinePaul S. HillJanet L. KavandiRichard J. Keegan, Jr.George W. Morrow, Jr.Melanie W. SaundersDaniel M. SchumacherLawrence Dale ThomasJames S. WoodVirginia C. Wycoff

National Transportation Safety BoardJoseph M. Kolly

Social Security AdministrationMarianna E. LaCanfora*

United States Agency for International DevelopmentWade Warren

SES Logo Products StoreFor further product information, detailed descriptions,

and to order visit SEA online at .seniorexecs.org

SES Desk Top FlagMember: $42.00Non-Member: $49.50

Embossed SES Portfolios (Small and Large)Member: $19.00/$26.00Non-Member: $25.00/$33.00

SES CufflinksMember: $15.00Non-Member: $20.00

SES Refillable PenMember: $9.00Non-Member: $14.00

Senior Professional PinMember: $11.50Non-Member: $15.50

SES 11 oz. MugMember: $10.00Non-Member: $15.00

3’x4’ SES Indoor Nylon Flag

Member: $275.00Non-Member: $335.00

3’x4’ SES Outdoor Nylon Flag

Member: $305.00Non-Member: $365.00

wwwPrices are before tax and do not include shipping

Webinar Recordings Placed on

SEA’s WebsiteRecordings of SEA’s webinar

events are now available on SEA’s website following live presenta-tions. The recordings are located in the same area of SEA’s Members-Only section as the webinar slides from previous webinars. To access this area of the website, log-in with your username and password, click “Events” on the right side of the “Welcome to our member-only area!” page, and then click on “Webinar Slides” directly below “Events.”

Members can find the full webi-nar recordings online of:

-“Medicare Part B: Do You Need It?”

-“10 Common Pitfalls for New Executives,” and

-Mike Miles’ most recent Finan-cial Intelligence webinar, “Asset Classes and Types - Diversification and Concentration.”

sea’s distinguished and meritorious sea thought rank ... · sea’s distinguished and meritorious...

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