Why Gene Kranz's speech may still be the best example of leadership decades after Apollo
Most of my leadership courses start with me asking people who their favourite leader is. Identifying qualities in leaders we admire is a good way to direct our own development and often gives a great insight into our own values too. I have heard many names over the years (although could do with a pound for every time I’ve heard Alex Ferguson and Barack Obama…) but for me my answer is always the same. My leadership idol is Gene Kranz, former flight director of Nasa.
Kranz is best known for his leadership role during the Apollo missions. Responsible for decisions that led to both the successful moon landing and the ‘successful failure’ when rescuing Apollo 13. These were monumental achievements played out on a global stage. Taking on a responsibility of that level, adventuring into the unknown with life and death outcomes, takes a real leader. So, I became increasingly intrigued to find out more about the way Kranz approached these missions. Through watching interviews and reading his autobiography, “Failure is not an option”, I learned more and more about his ethos, and he’s now cemented as my all-time favourite leader.
Whilst we may most associate Kranz with Apollos 11 and 13, the tragedy of Apollo 1created a pivotal moment in his leadership. The fire that spread rapidly through the craft whilst still on the launchpad took the lives of Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee. It is hard to imagine the feelings of those at Mission Control at the time. Whilst risks had always been high on the missions, to lose their crew, and friends, whilst still on the ground had rocked them all. In his autobiography Kranz speaks of the emotions he felt beginning with shock and moving to anger – he felt he had let the crew down. And it was at this point that he gave a speech that would be career defining, and shape NASA for generations to come. Inspired by his faith, he took to the stage aiming to move the team forward – in his words “As St Peter did in one of his epistles, “Let us get good and angry – and then let us make no mistakes”” The speech that Kranz delivered is in my view one of the best examples of leadership you will ever find.
“…I spoke slowly, deliberately and with conviction. “Spaceflight will never tolerate carelessness, incapacity, and neglect. Somewhere, somehow, we screwed up…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.
When you leave this meeting today you will go to your office and the first thing you will do there is to write “Tough and Competent” on your blackboards. It will never be erased. Each day when you enter the room these words will remind you of the price paid by Grissom, White and Chaffee”.
This speech, delivered at a time of crisis, found the balance between guilt and drive. It became a rallying cry to honour the astronauts lost and still move forward in the quest to achieve their mission. It was so well considered that the controllers even gifted Kranz a t-shirt with “tough and competent” stencilled across it. Whilst many companies create values to shape behaviours and decisions, Kranz’s words created an unspoken promise and created a depth of culture that underpinned the future success of the Apollo programme.
In the years that followed, Kranz expanded “Tough and competent” into his foundations of mission control. These included:
· Discipline: Being able to follow as well as lead. Knowing that we must master ourselves before we master our task.
· Confidence: Believing in ourselves as well as others, knowing that we must master fear and hesitation before we can succeed.
· Responsibility: Realising that it cannot be shifted to others, for it belongs to each of us; we must answer for what we do, or fail to do.
· Teamwork: Respecting and utilising the ability of others, realising that we work toward a common goal, for success depends on the efforts of all.
It strikes me that Kranz’s leadership philosophy would not be out of place decades later. Current principles of emotional intelligence, ownership, collaboration, self-mastery… Kranz was able to excel in creating a culture that centred around them all. And a reminder at this point, that this was a team pushing the very boundaries of human achievement. A team with the eyes of the world on them. A team with an average age of just 26. And yet they became a team led to success by Gene Kranz’s guidance.
As a leadership trainer, I can’t help but be in awe of what Kranz was able to achieve. But he is more than just a case study to me. Despite my role being very far removed from a NASA mission controller, his words have created a pathway that helps steer my own ‘spaceflight’ through life. Great leaders do this. They inspire and empower. You’ll find a handwritten copy of Kranz’s speech in each of my workbooks as a blueprint for me to follow when I am ever in doubt. Whether it’s Gene Kranz, or another leader – it’s something I urge everyone to consider, but for me Kranz will always be the leader I admire the most.
