As far as resumes go, it doesn’t get much more impressive than that of Colonel Chris Hadfield. Although now retired, Hadfield was an astronaut and Royal Canadian Air Force test pilot who flew multiple missions into space. He was the first Canadian to perform a space walk and most recently spent five months in orbit serving as the commander of the International Space Station. During that time, he became one of the most well-known astronauts in the world due to his use of social media. His Twitter feed has garnered over one million followers and his version of the David Bowie song “Space Oddity,” that he sang while on the space station (above), became a YouTube hit with more than 18 million views.

Earlier today, Col. Hadfield shared his experiences as a guest speaker at this year’s RIMS Canada Conference in Victoria, British Columbia. He talked about how it felt from the moment an astronaut wakes up in the morning of the day they are scheduled to go into space to when they touch down back on Earth after the mission is over.

He talked about takeoffs that he said felt like a gorilla shaking you around and then tossing you in the air, the “magical” feeling of weightlessness, which is like gaining the ability to fly, and how landings are so violent all astronauts can do is laugh.

What was most striking were the photos he shared of what the planet looks like from space and how seeing Earth from that vantage point changes one’s perspective on just about every human experience.

Hadfield’s story was also one about leadership and the challenges managing risk in such extreme environments where even the smallest detail could mean life or death.
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This was an experience shared by the pervious day’s speaker, Dr. Joe MacInnis, who, in addition to working with astronauts himself, was the physician and safety officer for James Cameron’s expedition seven miles below the sea to the Mariana Trench.

The experiences of both men underlined the idea that leadership, even in such high-risk situations, is not a clinical, detached process. Instead, good leaders seem to excel to the so-called softer skills, like empathy, imagination or trust. It isn’t just about having a high level of skill that will get a team through a tough scenario and complete the task at hand. Rather, it’s also about being human and fostering relationships with team members to make sure everyone is motivated to reach a common goal.

It’s a simple lesson, but one worth remembering. After all if it works in space or underwater, it’s probably a pretty decent strategy in the office as well.