The Leadership Lessons of Artemis II

I was 8 years old and in the middle of the night my parents did something unexpected—they woke me up, sat me at the TV and said: “Watch. You’ll remember this for the rest of your life.” They were right. On July 20, 1969, I watched Neil Armstrong step onto the surface of the moon. I was unaware of the importance and impact of what I witnessed. But every cell in my 8-year-old body felt it.

Fifty-seven years later I watched the Artemis II launch. When it broke free of Earth’s orbit, NASA announced: “For the first time since 1972 during Apollo 17, human beings have left Earth orbit.” The feeling from my childhood came rushing back. A sense of wonder. Of pride that America was the first to land on the moon.

In 2026 it was different. At 8, I was in awe. This year I felt something more profound. The weight of time. The sweep of a lifetime. And gratitude for leaders who made moments like this possible.

The vision for the original moonshot belongs to President John F. Kennedy. As a great leader he leveraged that vision for more than just landing on the moon. In the early 1960s, America was divided by the civil rights movement, and anxious by the threat of an existential Cold War with the Soviet Union. The space race was a test of which superpower was stronger. The Soviets were winning. Yuri Gagarin had orbited Earth. A Soviet Moon landing would shake America’s confidence to its core.

Into that moment of division and anxiety, President Kennedy responded with vision. He painted a picture of the future so clear and bold that an entire nation—fractured as it was—chose to believe in it together. He inspired. He unified. JFK led by giving America something different than its divisions and anxiety to believe in and reach for.

That is what great leadership looks like when it matters most:

• A vision for a future worth building.

• The courage to pursue new frontiers even when outcomes are uncertain.

• A willingness to take calculated risks in service of the greater good.

• An unwavering belief that what unites us is greater than what divides us.

Watching Artemis II, I found myself thinking: We need more of that.

• Leadership that calls people toward something larger than themselves.

• Leadership that addresses hard problems directly.

• Leadership that holds firm to values—especially when costly.

• Leadership that sees the humanity in people across every difference.

Great leadership has always been a deciding variable—between what’s possible and what gets done; between people divided or united; between fear of the unknown and the courage to explore it.

My parents woke me up that night so I would always remember. I have, and it has awoken in me a commitment to be a better leader.

What has Artemis II awoken in you?