"James, at his core, is about spreading knowledge and empowering people" states one of his team members. He doesn' t sweat losing control by sharing information -- as far as he is concerned, the more people know, the better the MIT community will be served. His favorite quote, repeated after many meetings, "I am not doing my job right, if you are not advancing in your career"
Every opportunity he has, he brings up the subject of employee career aspirations for the next 5 or 10 years. And when he hears your answer he says, "How do I help you to get there? What tools do you need?"
To ensure that his team members are gaining from experiences and opportunities, he is there to mentor and gently steer. He wants his team to "get their feet wet" and come out of the exercise with confidence in their own abilities. He has made it very clear from day one that, "If you don’t make mistakes, you are not learning"