Essentials of

Leadership
 The Scenario: 1960s
• Cold war between USSR and USA was peaking
• The surprise launch of Russian satellite Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957,
coupled with the spectacular failure of the United States of America's first
two Project Vanguard launch attempts, shocked the United States
• On 12 April, 1961, Russian Yuri Gagarin became the first man to travel into
space
• In response on May 25, 1961 President John F. Kennedy asked NASA still in
its infancy to commit itself to putting man on moon
• 8 years later on July 20, 1969 NASA landed the first man on moon
Eugene Francis "Gene" Kranz(Early life)
• As a young boy, Gene Kranz sculpted balsa wood into aircraft models for service
members
• Went through the very disciplined environment of an Ursuline grade school which
moulded his character
• Failed a physical that would have afforded him the opportunity to accept an
appointment to the Naval Academy
• First leadership test when Kranz led his fraternity in admitting a Negro man into the
fraternity at University of St Louis where he studied Aeronautical engineering and
working around the consequences
• Received fighter pilot training and flew sorties during the Korean war
• Later worked as flight designer and test engineer at Mcdonell aircraft company for
B52 Bombers
• After completing program at Mcdonell aircraft company applied for entry into active
flying duty but was denied
 Early mentors
• WW 2 Servicemen: Imagination and extraordinary vision
• Mother and high school teacher, Sister Mary Mark: Importance of
Integrity and tenacity in life
• Harry Carroll: a war veteran and superior flight test engineer but a man
with a passion for life that was beyond reasonableness demonstrating
pervasive optimism.
• Ralph Saylor: The essence of responsibility shown by giving Kranz full
ownership of the B-52 testing
Thus a series of mentors throughout Kranz’s life would shape him for the
challenges that he would face at NASA
 NASA(1960s)
• Very top level management: Classical aeronautical engineers who had designed
WW2 aircrafts still in their 30’s
• Mid level management: Canadian engineers who had lost their jobs when
Canadian government had scrapped plans to build a superior fighter aircraft
• Newcomers: Like Kranz, who were trying to catch up and learn the ropes in an
organization that was growing rapidly
• Mercury program experience involved putting man in space. Mission setbacks
early in Mercury, he began fostering morale and teamwork among the controllers
• This was followed by Gemini program which involved un manned flights to the
moon. Lessons learned before and after Gemini 3 when differences arose
between astronauts and flight directors taught the importance of discipline in the
Mission Control ranks
• Later he went on to work on the Apollo programs which were manned flights to
the moon and back
 Apollo 1 fire and the Kranz Dictum
• On Jan 27, 1967 Apollo 1 caught fire during launch resulting in the death
of 3 astronauts
The Kranz Dictum
“From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: ‘Tough
and Competent.’ Tough means we are forever accountable for what we do or
what we fail to do. We will never again compromise our responsibilities. Every
time we walk into Mission Control we will know what we stand for. Competent
means we will never take anything for granted. We will never be found short
in our knowledge and in our skills. Mission Control will be perfect.”
 Apollo 11: Man on the moon
• In preparation for the first lunar landing the team started training with the
simulation software
• But repeated failure in handling the software led to frustration and low morale
among the team members
• In response Kranz directed the guidance officer, Steve Bales, to establish a set of
rules for the program alarms which would prove to be fateful in the actual lunar
landing.
• Before the final lunar landing
Today is our day, and the hopes and dreams of the entire world are with us. This is our
time and our place, and we will remember this day and what we will do here always. In
the next hour we will do something that has never been done before. We will land an
American on the Moon. The risks are high … that is the nature of our work. We worked
long hours and had some tough times but we have mastered our work. Now we are
going to make this work pay off. You are a hell of a good team. One that I feel
privileged to lead. Whatever happens, I will stand behind every call that you will make.
 The successful failure: Apollo 13
• Challenge: 55 hours, 55 minutes into the launch Apollo 13 orbiting the
moon reported a leak in the fuel tanks which led to a series of on board
system failures
• Crisis response: Kranz formed a core group of different specialists to come
up with protocols to ensure the safe return of the astronauts
• With very few periods of rest, Kranz led his White Team as they worked
feverishly to identify, and indeed create, the unprecedented and gutsy
procedures necessary to return the astronauts in a severely damaged
spacecraft back to the Earth
• Astronauts return to earth safely 3 days later
• Responsive leadership was marked by pervasive optimism in overcoming
“plummeting expectations” as well as courageous decisiveness when facing
unprecedented risks
 The leadership traits
• Make fast, accurate decisions
– Eugene – “You always want to have as many options out in front of you, because
those are the things that give you the ability to change course.”
• Communication is KEY
– Eugene – “The first thing I did in establishing the team building to look at ‘co-
location’”
– Put the right people in the right place
• Failure is not an option – Ron Howard from the Apollo 13 film
– Eugene – “don’t concede failure”
– Eugene – “You do not pass uncertainty down to your team members”
• Organizational
– Right people in the right place
– Delegate / Re-organize
• Personal
– Vision
– Integrity
– Ability to follow (people will follow you because they believe in you)
 Taken together, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo certainly represent the greatest
technological achievement in human history. A thousand years from now, the
20th century will most likely be remembered as the time man first set foot on
the moon. Columbus’ voyage to the New World surely pales in comparison.
Probably nothing so significant to the evolution of mankind has occurred since
the development of this writing.
-Relics of space race

Thank You