Leadership in Apollo 13

At the center of this films' relevance in the context of leadership is the confidence leaders bring out of their teams to rise above a challenge no one had anticipated or planned for. Instead of allowing self-doubt and alarmist data to completely derail the efforts of their teams (Buchanan, Hofman, 2000) both leaders, one on the ground and one in the spacecraft, keep their teams focused on accomplishing the goal rather than the many reasons why it cannot be accomplished. Apart from maintaining communication, both leaders in the film set up the daunting problem as a challenge, not as a reason for refusing to try (Bolman, Deal, 2006). In showing confidence in their teams and themselves, they in fact take a square peg and put it into a round hole, an allegorical reference the flight operations chief Gene Kranz uses to explain just how challenging the task is. In addition, the quiet confidence of Jim Lovell as commander of the spacecraft is the vital link in making the entire operation work. The leadership concepts as defined by Bolman & Deal (2006) are also illustrated in this movie, where leaders don't try to squelch conflict; they respect it and use it as a means for gaining creative insights into solving problems. These leaders also don't necessarily care about being popular, they care about getting each member of their team to concentrate on their perception of the problem and quickly developing a shared solution (Bolman, Deal, 2006). All of these strategies would not be effective without trust in the leaders, and throughout the film both continually show they are worthy of trust by staying intensely focused on a solution to their very difficult challenge of bringing a disabled spacecraft back to earth.

References

Lee G. Bolman, Terrence E. Deal. (2006). Wizard and warrior: neglected leadership roles. Strategy & Leadership, 34(5), 46-48.

Leigh Buchanan, Mike Hofman. (2000, March). Everything I know about leadership, I learned from the movies. Inc., 22(3), 58-70.