New Book From NASA Veteran Demystifies Leadership With 7 Essentials For Success

Leadership doesnt have to be complicated, according to Russell E. Justice, a veteran coach and former systems leader at U.S. space agency NASA.

In his upcoming book, “This Is What Leaders Do: Seven Essentials to Inspire and Empower Your Team” (KeyPress Publishing), Justice offers a no-nonsense playbook for driving improvement and unifying teams with clarity, purpose, and measurable impact.

Drawing on six decades of experience that spans from humble beginnings in cotton fields to working on Advanced Systems at NASA, Justice distills leadership into clear, actionable practices. His central argument? Weve made leadership unnecessarily hard — and its time to get back to basics.

“People make leadership harder than it needs to be,” says Justice, a sought-after speaker and leadership coach. “This book simplifies it. Youll walk away with a clear, doable road map for unifying your team, improving faster than your competition, and achieving extraordinary results.”

At the heart of the book is a practical framework built on seven core essentials, including intentional leadership, accelerated continuous improvement, and real-time feedback. Justices method emphasizes systems over personality and focuses on creating an environment where employees are inspired to go beyond the minimum — turning “have to” tasks into “want to” contributions.

One of the books key messages is the importance of rate of improvement — not just improving, but improving faster than the competition. Justice introduces his ACI (Accelerated Continuous Improvement) method as a way to align teams around clear goals and achieve measurable results at speed.

The book also explores the role of discretionary effort — the hidden potential in every team that leaders can unlock through trust, purpose, and a clear system of feedback. Drawing analogies from music, Justice likens great leadership to conducting an orchestra: its not about playing every instrument, its about setting the rhythm and tone so everyone performs in harmony.

Packed with real-life examples, organizational case studies, and field-tested tools, “This Is What Leaders Do” offers an accessible guide for managers, executives, educators, and team leads seeking a practical path to better leadership.

“This Is What Leaders Do” will be available in May 2025.