{"501901":{"#nid":"501901","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Five Things You Should Know: A Conversation with Christopher Jones, AE\u002786","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWelcome to GT-AE, Class of 2019 - and all of your returning classmates.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ERight about now, you are probably wondering how hard you should push yourself in the coming year(s). We thought it was a good time to introduce you to an alumnus,\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EChristopher Jones,\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;whose success illustrates something every Yellow Jacket needs to know: it\u0027s not how hard you push yourself that matters. It\u0027s how wisely.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAfter earning his undergraduate degree from GT-AE in 1986, Christopher Jones went on to earn two masters degrees and a doctorate. He also built a successful career in the Air Force, and climbed to the top at Northrop Grumman, where he now serves as the corporate vice president and president of technical services\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThrough it all, Jones\u0026nbsp; remained keenly aware of the importance of people, hard work, and planning for a future that will reflect his values, not his resume. He maintained close ties with people from virtually every chapter of his life -\u0026nbsp; from the high school basketball court to the corporate board room. And this retired lieutenant\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003Ecolonel still sends his former military unit notes when they come back from deployments.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u201cEveryone\u2019s different about that,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me, I know, that maintaining relationships with decent people is important. At some point, it won\u2019t matter what your job was or what you\u2019ve done. It will be the people who know you. That\u2019s what will matter.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EWe asked Chris Jones to share five lessons that have helped him build a life that matters.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E1. There is no substitute for internal motivation. You\u2019ve got to identify yours and then work it.\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAt Tech, you needed to be motivated, because it was hard. I think it was easier to get in to Tech back then \u2013 and easier to get [kicked] out. For me, the motivation came from wanting to be an officer in the military. I applied to Tech because it had a good track record of supporting the military. But graduating from Tech wasn\u2019t guaranteed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor me, I was on a ROTC scholarship, so I knew from the beginning that I had to maintain a certain GPA and I had to graduate in four years. No room for failure or excuses. Those are the conditions of the scholarship. And without that scholarship, I knew there was no money for me to go to school. I kept those things in mind, and then, like anything worth doing in life, I persevered.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E2. Hard work can take you a lot of places.\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen I played intramural basketball at Georgia Tech, I was by no means the tallest or the fastest guy on the court. But you wouldn\u2019t want me to guard you because I would wear you out.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s because I worked it hard. I left it all on the court. When the game was over \u2013 whether it was football or basketball or soccer \u2013 I was completely done.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere\u2019s a sense of calm you get when you\u2019ve given it your best shot. That\u2019s how I tackled some of the toughest classes I had to take at Tech. That\u2019s how I\u2019ve learned to be a better leader.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the same time, it\u2019s important to balance yourself. You can\u2019t work hard all the time. I knew that I couldn\u2019t do everything at the same level of intensity at Tech. The science and engineering courses were too demanding. I chose electives that were a little easier so I could pace myself.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E3. Find people who are doing what you want to do. Then: do what they did to get there.\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I learned early on, through sports, to watch the best players \u2013 how they blocked, jumped, tackled and rebounded. That\u2019s how you get better.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo when I got to Tech I immediately checked out the juniors and seniors who were doing well. I watched them \u2013 how they studied, what they did. Then I asked them questions \u2013 about what courses to take, what courses to avoid, when to punch out and when to stick with it. I joined as many study groups as I could. And then I worked as hard as I could.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI also watched some of my classmates join [groups] that partied a lot. Those were the students who dropped out. Now, I went to my share of parties, and I had a lot of fun at Tech. But I did not join those groups. I would get involved when they were doing an activity to benefit the community, but I didn\u2019t ever join.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E4. Be humbled by your education at Georgia Tech. It will prepare you for success.\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen you come to Georgia Tech, you might think that you studied by yourself in high school and you did pretty well. You were the smartest kid there.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt Tech, you\u2019ll see that you are not the smartest student and you will probably need help. That\u2019s humbling. But once you\u2019ve gotten rid of that chip on your shoulder, you\u2019ll be stronger. You will be a better soldier, employee, executive, and leader.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E5. People matter. A lot.\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs you progress through your career, personnel skills and human dynamics become more important than your technical skills. Pay attention to this. Engineers need to be able to manage and understand people, because, in the end, it\u2019s attracting and managing good people that will make your team successful.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlso, friendships are important. I\u2019ve seen this at every stage of my career, maintaining good relationships with people from high school and college to the Air Force and other companies. All of these experiences matter and will make you a more competent leader.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"how hard you should push yourself in the coming year(s). We thought it was a good time to introduce you to an alumnus, Christopher Jones, whose success illustrates something every Yellow Jacket needs to know."}],"uid":"30502","created_gmt":"2016-02-17 13:27:52","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:46","author":"Sapna Mistry","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"501931":{"id":"501931","type":"image","title":"Christopher Jones","body":null,"created":"1455904800","gmt_created":"2016-02-19 18:00:00","changed":"1475895261","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:21","alt":"Christopher Jones","file":{"fid":"204733","name":"headshot_2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/headshot_2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/headshot_2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":95621,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/headshot_2_0.jpg?itok=Jpk4jwoX"}}},"media_ids":["501931"],"groups":[{"id":"1239","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"}],"keywords":[{"id":"506","name":"alumni"},{"id":"59931","name":"Christopher Jones"},{"id":"126111","name":"GT-AE"},{"id":"8886","name":"Northrop Grumman"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["kathleen.moore@ae.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}