Did you know that only twelve people have ever walked on the moon? Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first astronauts to do so in 1969 during the historic Apollo 11 mission. The last was Gene Cernan who commanded the Apollo 17 in 1972. All twelve were Americans. The space program during that time was a source of pride and symbolic of our innovative spirit.
More than fifty years later, it’s hard to believe the U.S. hasn’t returned—though that’s finally changing. NASA’s Artemis II mission, which launched this April, marked the first time astronauts have traveled toward the moon since Apollo 17, with an actual lunar landing targeted for Artemis IV in 2028.
During that fifty-year window, a quieter space program never held back our creative drive. We kept evolving, finding new ways of exploring, living, and working. If anything, Artemis II is proof that the drive to explore never left. It just needed time to relaunch.
Sometimes I wonder if the opportunities to be the first at something are slowly dwindling, but then something like Artemis happens, and I’m reminded that’s not the case—particularly when society keeps reinventing everyday advances. Take connecting, for example:
- You’ve got mail. Telegrams, email, texting, and DMs all followed handwritten letters. Each new version is just faster mail.
- Can you see me? The Picturephone was the first video call, which debuted in 1964 at the New York World’s Fair. Skype, FaceTime, and Zoom later reinvented and perfected the idea.
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As our breakthroughs keep evolving, so do the leaders who oversee the vision behind them. I can’t help thinking about how leadership continues to relaunch and revise. A few that come to mind are:
- The Socratic method—which Athenian philosopher Socrates created—asked questions instead of giving answers. Today, some call that “coaching leadership” in corporate training.
- Flat organizations were popular in the 1990s, died out, and came back with Silicon Valley startups. Now many of the same companies are quietly abandoning flat hierarchies.
- Daily stand-ups are today’s short form of the traditional meeting. Companies use them to ensure brief, efficient, and consistent check-ins. The concept isn’t entirely new; Steve Jobs was credited with walking meetings, but Aristotle literally taught while walking.
One classic leadership practice I’m pleased to see survive the ages is servant leadership: the idea that a leader’s job is to serve their team, not the other way around.
Ancient philosopher Lao Tzu wrote about it, and Robert Greenleaf formalized it in the 1970s. Other authors followed, including Ken Blanchard, Brené Brown, Liz Wiseman, Stephen Covey, and Simon Sinek. Now servant leadership is a staple of MBA programs.
What’s a leadership practice worth reinventing in your own workplace? We need more great leaders in this world. Maybe the next great leadership breakthrough isn’t a new idea at all—just another iteration waiting for its moment to relaunch.
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