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Gene Kranz is best known as the flight director of the successful failure: the Apollo 13
mission. The mentors and experiences that prepared him for this pivotal moment are many and
lasting. The qualities that he embodied became a foundation for all mission control: discipline,
Kranz intertwines these foundational qualities as he tells the story of how he became a leader
Gene Kranz began his career as a flight test pilot. In this time of his life he met his first
mentor who influenced his leadership style and shaped who he would become. Kranz had just
applied to McDonnell Aircraft Company in St. Louis to work in a data analysis job from flight
tests. His first boss was a man named Harry Carroll. The enthusiasm and passion he had for his
work rubbed off on Kranz and it affected the way he approached his work.
Shortly after, Kranz received flight instruction from a man named Jack Coleman. He
would be Kranz's primary flight instructor and open up the world of flight. Coleman instilled in
Kranz a confidence to perform at the edge of peak performance. This teaching would come in
handy later when Kranz would be training his controllers and building their confidence to the
Kranz was also molded by two other very influential leaders throughout his early years in
NASA: Chris Kraft and John Hodge. Kraft was one of the men who volunteered to lead the
effort to build up the space program. He began by setting up mission command control and the
teams to run it. Kraft always set the tone when the team at mission control lost their composure.
He did not want anyone to see any uncertainty from him during a mission, portraying
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confidence. Hodge made a different impression on Kranz. He was more dependent on his team
and easy-going. Kranz noticed that Hodge looked for consensus amongst the team before
making a decision.
The last colleague and mentor that made a profound impact on Kranz's leadership style
was Bill Tindall. Tindall had the ability to focus on issues and bring people together from
diverse backgrounds and fields. He was able to do this because he was friendly, extraordinarily
intelligent in operational systems, and used just the right touch of humor. Just by being around
him, Kranz noticed that they both were unconditional in their support towards their colleagues
dreamer, a change agent. He believes that adapting to the changing times and bettering yourself
while doing it is the best way to live. "I am a dreamer, believing that the mark of a champion is
Kranz never admitted to being the smartest guy in the room; he probably would have
admitted to being the most competent at his job. He would hire people who he viewed as being
smarter than him and then learned along with them. This mentality allowed him to let people
grow and stretch their capacity. It also earned him respect because he was willing to do the dirty
Not everything in Kranz's career was a success. The lowest point being the Apollo 1 fire
which ended with the deaths of three American astronauts on the launch pad. During the
following week, he spoke to the men that comprised Flight Control teams and offered them a
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new vision. Kranz was full of emotion but spoke with conviction that from this day forward
Flight Control will be tough and competent. Kranz set a clear and concise vision for his
controllers throughout his time as a Flight Controller in the Apollo missions. This allowed
Kranz and his team to have continuous success even in the face of tremendous odds.
These words came back as a reminder during a simulation run for Apollo 11. The
simulation supervisor (SimSup) challenged Kranz's team repeatedly with simulations that the
team could not react to quickly enough. At this point in the training, the final simulation is
traditionally a confidence booster to get the team ready for the mission. The SimSup believed
the team was not quite ready and threw them a curveball. He put them through a simulation that
caused multiple alarms the team had not seen before to go off. It caused confusion within the
team; Kranz received an abort recommendation from a member from his team and he made the
call. It was the wrong decision. The SimSup walked the team through the simulation and why it
was the wrong call. The team decided to stay up and figure out how to get better at this situation
that night. It was a brutal day for Kranz and his team, but it ultimately prepared them for the first
Two weeks later, Apollo 11 would touch down on the moon. As the lunar lander began
its descent to the moon, the exact same problem that occurred in the last simulation happened.
Kranz and the team did everything right this time, and the mission was an obvious success that
changed the world forever. Kranz set up his team for success by giving them opportunities to
train and reflect on the training to improve. He created a culture that revolved around perfecting
After the triumph of Apollo 11, Kranz and his team would wait for Apollo 13 as another
set of controllers would take Apollo 12 to the moon. The Apollo 13 launch went off without a
hitch; all seemed to be going smoothly until Jack Swigert was asked to stir the oxygen tanks.
This caused a reaction between faulty electrical wiring and the oxygen tanks, creating an
explosion in the command module. Not long after Jim Lovell, the commander of the mission,
said, "It looks to me, looking out the window, that we are venting something," (Kranz, 2000, p.
314) Kranz knew they had a major crisis on his hands and that survival of the crew was all that
mattered now.
What made Kranz a successful leader in this dire situation was his ability to manage his
team and those outside of it. He made the decision quickly to give leadership responsibilities
and authority to make decisions to three of his controllers: Arnie Aldrich, Bill Peters, and John
Aaron. Kranz then had the three men pick work areas where they could focus and trusted them
to lead. This management style in a crisis allowed the vast team to delegate efficiently all the
"From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: 'Tough and
Competent." (Kranz, 2000, p. 204) This was not just the turning point for Flight Control after the
Apollo 1 fire, but a crossroads for Kranz and who he would become as a leader. He demanded
and modeled competency, discipline, confidence, teamwork, responsibility, and toughness. With
these qualities as a foundation of success, Flight Control and Kranz would put two men on the
References
Kranz, Gene. (2000) Failure is not an option. New York, NY: Simon and Shuster Paperbacks