Dr. Dennis Martinez

Chief Technology Officer
Harris RF Communications Divison

Education: BS, MS, EE & PhD in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
What I’m Reading: Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East, by Shareen Blair Brysac
My Philosophy: You get out of life what you put into it.
Interests: Reading history, listening to music, playing golf, watching sports

How do you define leadership?

Leadership is having a vision and creating the environment in which an organization, team, or group achieves the goals of that vision. Good leaders drive others to accomplish outcomes; great leaders motivate others to accomplish things that are beyond ordinary reach.

What’s the worst mistake a leader can make?

Worst leadership mistakes include taking credit for success or passing blame for failure and placing personal interests above the interests of the group.

What risks should a leader take?

The greatest accomplishments occur when risk factors significantly into the potential outcomes. Leaders are often called upon to accomplish what has never been accomplished before or perhaps to accomplish the seemingly impossible. By circumstance therefore, leaders must often take risk. Risks taken should be understood and viable mitigation strategies must exist. Risk/reward tradeoffs must be continually evaluated. Cost of failure must be balanced with reward upon success.