Brady Pyle
CHRO
Space Center Houston
Episode 75
Intentional HR Leadership: Transform Talent with Adaptive Development Strategies
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleAugust 19, 2025 · 10:49
Thesis
“Effective HR leadership, particularly in leadership development, succession planning, and culture building, requires intentionality, adaptability, and a commitment to continuous learning and inclusive practices, even when translating strategies from large to smaller organizations.”
Show notes
Brady Pyle spent 30 years developing talent at NASA's Johnson Space Center — which turns out to be exactly the right laboratory for building HR practices that have to work under pressure, without room for error, in complex systems. Now, as CHRO at Space Center Houston, he's translating what he learned at scale into a much smaller organization, and discovering which frameworks hold and which ones require significant adaptation to survive the transition.
The 70-20-10 development model is one that held: 70% of meaningful development comes from on-the-job experience, 20% from mentors and coaches, 10% from formal content. Brady built programs at NASA around that principle and is rebuilding them at Space Center Houston with the same foundation. He also brought NASA's "Yoda" mentoring program — and then had to dismantle the branding when he realized it was getting in the way of the core concept: that mentoring should be a two-way relationship, including reverse mentoring across generations, not a one-directional knowledge transfer.
His approach to succession planning is deliberately distinct from the usual model. NASA can't pre-select successors — so instead they built "succession development": a system focused on growing internal talent pools rather than identifying replacements. The people who emerge from that pool are more capable and more adaptable than pre-selected heirs apparent tend to be. And when culture-building efforts fell flat, he learned why: generic workshops don't work as well as working with intact teams that already share context and trust.
- The 70-20-10 development model in practice — how Brady applies it at both NASA scale and nonprofit scale, and what the translation requires
- Reverse mentoring and two-way relationships — why the Yoda branding was getting in the way, and what the better model looks like
- Succession development vs. succession planning — building talent pools rather than identifying heirs, and why that produces more capable leaders
- Why generic culture workshops fail — the case for working with intact teams that already share relationships and trust
- Using engagement data to guide culture work — listening to what the surveys actually say rather than designing programs from assumption
- Continuous learning as an organizational imperative — the habits and structures that keep curiosity and adaptability alive at every level
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What you'll take away
- 1Leverage the 70-20-10 model for leadership development, focusing on on-the-job experience, mentorship, and formal learning.
- 2Mentoring programs should emphasize two-way and reverse mentoring to benefit all generations and roles, adapting if branding hinders the core message.
- 3Implement 'succession development' to evaluate and grow internal talent pools, especially in environments where pre-selection is restricted.
- 4Be intentional about employee engagement surveys, using data to identify focus areas for improvement in culture and work-life fit.
- 5Foster a continuous learning orientation and prioritize inclusion to drive innovation by hearing everyone's voice in the organization.
What most organizations get wrong
- •While creative, overly specific branding for HR programs (like 'YODA' for mentoring) can inadvertently hinder the desired multi-directional learning outcomes.
- •For discussions on organizational culture and values, bringing together random focus groups may be less effective than engaging established teams that already possess mutual trust.
In Brady's words
“NASA, we had really leveraged the 70-20-10 model for leadership development. And that says 70% of your development is on the job, 20% you get through contacts, through mentors and coaches, and then 10% comes from leadership content.”
Clearly defines the 70-20-10 model as a foundational strategy for leadership development.
“Even though the branding was fun, it was getting in the way of this notion of mentoring being a two-way relationship or even the possibility of reverse mentoring.”
Highlights a pitfall of branding and the importance of adapting programs to evolving best practices in mentoring.
“In the government context in NASA, you've got to be real careful that you're not pre-selecting people for positions. So, what we did there is we did what we called succession development.”
Introduces 'succession development' as a nuanced approach to talent planning, particularly in regulated environments.
“When we were ignoring the results [of employee engagement surveys] and not really paying attention to them, the culture, I would say, just kind of drifted. And then when we got more intentional about it, we made improvements specifically around areas like work-life fit.”
Emphasizes the critical impact of intentionality and data-driven approaches on organizational culture and employee satisfaction.
“I'm a big believer in the power of inclusion that drives innovation. And when we hear everyone's voice in the organization, we get to more creative, innovative solutions.”
States a core belief about the connection between inclusion, diverse perspectives, and driving organizational innovation.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Organizations, especially smaller ones, often lack established leadership development programs, leaving leaders unprepared and unequipped.
- •Traditional mentoring programs may overlook the critical benefits of two-way and reverse mentoring, hindering comprehensive talent growth.
- •Regulated environments face challenges in succession planning, requiring careful 'succession development' to avoid pre-selection while fostering internal talent.
- •Ignoring employee engagement survey results leads to organizational culture drift and missed opportunities for targeted improvements in areas like work-life balance.
- •Efforts to build organizational culture can falter if focus groups are not composed of trusted, cohesive teams, reducing the effectiveness of discussions.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
BROKEN by People
Dave Johnson spent 30 years with NASA before retiring in 2023
A Moment in the Life of NASA's Human Resources Director
When I joined Space Center Houston, they didn't have much leadership development
The Need for Leadership Development at NASA
Brady, could you walk us through a real-world case where you implemented mentoring
The Real-World Challenges of MENTOR Programs
At NASA, 95% of the executive roles are filled internally
NASA's Succession Planning
NASA is working to improve its organizational culture through employee engagement surveys
NASA's efforts to build organizational culture
Brady Johnson says keeping learning is key to being a successful leader
Brady Hewitt on Learning and Growing
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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