Mark Gordon

Mark Gordon is the President and CEO of Stratom, a Colorado-based company that provides Unmanned Solutions in Autonomous Logistics and Operations.

Mark’s activities have included executive leadership, research and development, product development, and strategy with global Fortune 500 companies, the Federal Government to include robotic refueling of aircraft and ground vehicles, unmanned vehicles, and numerous high technology products. He has experience in the management of engineering organizations, manufacturing, and operations, and has international experience in sourcing, business management, and new product introduction.

Prior to Stratom, Mark held management positions at McDATA and Exabyte, and was an Officer in the US Marine Corps. He has a Master’s in Engineering Management from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering from Bradley University. Mark is the Chairman of the Board for the Association of Unmanned Systems Vehicles International and is on the Board of Directors for the National Advanced Mobility Consortium.

My advice to students...

Leadership within an organization encompasses numerous attributes, traits, and principles and is focused in two primary objective areas. The first is setting strategic direction for the organization, and the second is providing personal leadership for the organization and its team members.

The first objective is focused on accomplishing the mission of your organization by setting the strategic vision for your organization, closely linked to performing strategic planning and execution in support of that defined vision. Other factors that need to be considered include strategic patience, agility, and allocation of resources.

The second objective is to provide the personal leadership and focus on team member welfare to motivate the team to accomplish the vision of your organization. This objective area includes demonstrating the appropriate traits and principles to encourage and inspire your team, and to provide the leadership principles to assist in setting goals to focus your team’s attitudes and behaviors.