BRUCE COVERT

President & project manager Nuclear Waste Partnership, LLC Carlsbad How do you define “leadership”?

Leadership is enabling an individual or team to be the best they can be every day. It’s supporting, caring, providing recognition, coaching, mentoring and developing people daily.

As a leader, who are you inspired by?

Capt. D. Michael Abrashoff, former Naval Commander, USS Benfold. His leadership in turning around a ship’s performance utilizing key management techniques has helped me on numerous projects over the last 10 years.

What do you consider to be the top issue or concern facing New Mexico today? Why?

STEM and vocational education. As an employer, we are very STEM-based and the majority of our positions require these skills. We, as many New Mexico employers, have a great need for skilled tradespeople in the fields of electrical, instrumentation and control and mechanical fields to support our work.