Get to Know: February Luncheon Speaker Liane J. George, Vice President, Human Resources, United Launch Alliance

We are looking forward to having Liane J. George, Vice President, Human Resources, United Launch Alliance as a guest speaker for this month’s DTC Luncheon on February 2 from 11 am – 1 pm.

Liane J. George is the vice president of Human Resources for United Launch Alliance (ULA). In this role, George is responsible for directing all human resource operations including talent acquisition, organizational development, payroll, benefits and HR systems.

George brings more than 20 years of experience leading human resources operations to ULA. She began her career with the General Motors Corporation in 1985 and has held numerous positions in both privately-held and publicly-traded, multibillion-dollar manufacturing, technology and service/solutions corporations.

Before joining ULA, George served as the corporate people officer for the Sierra Nevada Corporation, directing the enterprise HR and corporate administration functions. She was also the lead member of the ethics committee, the HR lead for acquisitions and a key member of the corporate crisis management team.

George also served as the director of Human Resources for Lockheed Martin Corporation. She held multiple roles in both operating businesses and corporate headquarters. In one of her last roles, she lead the HR function for more than 1,000 employees located in the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore and Australia.

She received her Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from State University of New York at Oswego and her master’s degree in human resources from the University of Pennsylvania. She also completed several leadership development programs including HR Leadership Programs at Lockheed Martin and the Corporate Executive Board.

We thought we’d ask Liane a couple of fun questions about her experience and career to get to know her better and understand how she interprets this month’s theme – self-care. Don’t miss your chance to hear Liane speak in person – reserve your spot now!

The CWCC theme for the month of January is “Self-Care.” Can you speak to what this means to you and how you implement it in your daily life?

We all have crazy, busy, stressful lives..that is for certain. And while we would all love to have the super power to create more time we can’t. What we can do is try to focus with using our time as effectively as possible. And caring for ourselves along the way.

Quotes to consider:

• Sometimes you don’t realize you’re actually drowning when you’re trying to be everyone else’s anchor.
• Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves even when we risk disappointing others.
• Self-care is so important. When you take the time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.

Taking care of one’s self is super important – I believe you are a stronger person, leader, partner if you take care of yourself along the way.

I have also learned about the concept of “having it all.” We are all forced to make decisions on where we spend our time – every day. Balancing needs of work and family is sometimes challenging. My advice is that once you make a decision about where/when you need to spend your time do so and move forward without guilt or regret. A big fallacy, I believe, is that you can “have it all.” What I have learned is that you can have parts of it all but there is never really a scenario where you can have ALL parts of it ALL. And that’s OK.

In 150 words, tell us about yourself:

Born and raised in Buffalo, New York – an identical twin and one of 4 girls born in 5 years to my parents.

Undergraduate education – pretty typical (for the day) – went away to school after graduating from High School. I went to the SUNY system in New York State – SUNY Oswego. I received my BS in Business Administration with a concentration minor in Human Resource Management.

I started working in Aerospace Defense in 1987. When I transitioned to Martin Marietta (Lockheed Martin) in 1995 I moved to New Jersey and did my Graduate degree in Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania (evenings).

Throughout my career I’ve had many wonderful opportunities to learn and grow in different businesses, geographic locations, etc. I have moved 6 times to 13 different residences in 7 states. I have also been apart from my husband for some of our “temporary moves” – a sacrifice we were willing to make although it was not always easy.

I am thankful for all of the mentors and leaders along the way who have been so instrumental in shaping the leader I am today.