Apollo 13

A Leadership Movie
ULDP Lesson Plan
 Notes to the Instructor
Not a Slide for the Presentation
 Recommend all hands watch the movie first
 This PowerPoint will address the competencies of:
Technical Proficiency Team Building
Effective Communications Problem Solving
Vision Development Conflict Management
Creativity & Innovation
 Each competency will have its own slide that will
present bullets to generate a discussion you will
facilitate. Tie the challenges the Apollo Mission to
the challenges your unit faces and discuss
methods to overcome those challenges
 Sum up the discussion with a review of key points
brought up during the session
 Apollo 13
A Leadership Movie
ULDP Lesson Plan
 Apollo 13 – A Successful Failure
 Setting the Scene:
NASA's worst nightmare turned into one of the
space agency's most heroic moments in 1970,
when the Apollo 13 crew was forced to hobble
home in a disabled capsule after an explosion
seriously damaged the moon-bound spacecraft.
The Apollo 13 crew and Houston-based mission
controllers raced against time and heavy odds to
return the damaged spacecraft safely to Earth
from a distance of 205,500 miles. --Jeff Shannon
 Discussion Points
During this session we’ll discuss the challenges the Apollo 13
Team had to overcome to ensure the 3 astronauts were
returned safely home. We’ll look at the Apollo crew and
mission control and discuss their actions and compare them
to the Coast Guard’s leadership competencies.
 Leading Self  Leading
– Technical Performance &
Proficiency Change
 Leading Others – Vision Development
– Teambuilding – Conflict
– Effective Management
Communication – Decision Making &
 Technical Proficiency
 Coast Guard leaders’ technical
knowledge, skills and expertise
allow them to effectively
organize and prioritize tasks
and use resources efficiently.
Always aware of how their
actions contribute to overall
organizational success, leaders
demonstrate technical and
functional proficiency. They
maintain credibility with others
on technical matters and keep
current on technological
advances in professional areas.
Successful leaders work to
initiate actions and competently
maintain systems in their area of
responsibility.
 Once the accident happened
how did Gene Krantz rely on the
skills and expertise of his
people?
 How did Lovell work to initiate
actions in the Space craft? Was
he able to balance that with his
technical responsibilities in the
craft? How did he do it?
 What steps does your unit take
to maintain Technical
Proficiency?
 Teambuilding
 Leaders recognize and contribute to
group processes; encourage and
facilitate cooperation, pride, trust and
group identity; and build commitment,
team spirit, and strong relationships.
Coast Guard leaders inspire, guide and
create an environment that motivates
others toward goal accomplishment;
consider and respond to others’ needs,
feelings, and capabilities; and adjust
their approach to suit various individuals
and situations. Coast Guard leaders
have a historical perspective of
leadership theory that they continually
develop through personal experience
and study of contemporary leadership
issues. They work with subordinates to
develop their leadership knowledge and
skills. Coast Guard leaders adapt
leadership styles to a variety of
situations; and personify high standards
of honesty, integrity, trust, openness,
and respect for others by applying these
values and styles to daily behavior.
 How did Lovell contribute to the group
process when Mattingly wanted to
practice the docking procedure again
after 3 hrs of practice?
 When Krantz had the team in the
classroom how did he establish the goal
and then how did he go about motivating
others to achieve the goal of returning
the space craft safely to earth?
 Did Lovell make the right call when
faced with the challenge of forcing
Mattingly to stay behind because of the
fear of measles?
 How does a leader successfully build a
strong team, but then separate him or
herself from the Team to make a critical
decision?
 How’s your Team doing?
 Effective Communications
 Coast Guard leaders
communicate effectively in both
formal and informal settings.
Good listeners, they reinforce
the message they convey with
supportive mannerisms.
Leaders express facts and
ideas succinctly and logically,
facilitate an open exchange of
ideas, ask for feedback
routinely, and communicate
face-to-face whenever possible.
Competent coaches,
supervisors, followers,
performance counselors,
interviewers, and negotiators,
leaders know how to approach
many situations to achieve
organizational goals.
 Even as everything is breaking
loose in Mission Control, Gene
Krantz asks his team to “Work
the Problem.” He then listened
to the experts report in on their
areas of the mission. How did
his effective comms set the
stage for a successful recovery?
 Krantz stated “Failure is not an
option” and Lovell told his crew
“I intend to go home.” By clearly
stating their ideas and vision
how did it direct the teams
towards mission
accomplishment?
 Whose the best communicator
you’ve ever worked with? What
made them excel?
 Vision Development & Implementation
 Leaders are able to envision a
preferred future for their units
and functions, setting this
picture in the context of the
Coast Guard’s overall vision,
missions, strategy and driving
forces. Concerned with long-
term success, leaders establish
and communicate organizational
objectives and monitor progress
toward objectives; initiate action;
and provide structure and
systems to achieve goals.
Leaders create a shared vision
of the organization; promote
wide ownership; manage and
champion organizational
change; and engineer changes
in processes and structure to
improve organizational goal
accomplishment.
 JFK’s Vision: "I believe that this
nation should commit itself to
achieving the goal, before this
decade is out, of landing a man
on the moon and returning him
safely to Earth.“
 How does a stated vision focus
the unit and bring the crew
together?
 Lovell states; “Columbus,
Lindberg, and Armstrong; it is
not a miracle for man to walk on
the moon, we just decided to
go.”
 What’s the vision at your unit?
Has everyone decided “to go?”
What can your unit do to get
everyone “on board”?
 Conflict Management
 Coast Guard leaders facilitate
open communication of
controversial issues while
maintaining relationships and
teamwork. They effectively use
collaboration as a style of
managing contention; confront
conflict positively and
constructively to minimize
impact to self, others and the
organization; and reduce conflict
and build relationships and
teams by specifying clear goals,
roles and processes.
 How did Lovell deal with stress
and conflict in the LEM?
 How did the CO2 challenge help
the crew to overcome the
conflict they were experiencing?
 Is there more or less conflict
when people are busy and
focused or when there is less to
do and folks have time on their
hands? Why?
 How did Krantz and Lovell go
about alleviating conflict
between the crew and the
Medical team?
 Decision Making & Problem Solving
 Leaders identify and analyze
problems; use facts, input from
others, and sound reasoning to
reach conclusions; explore various
alternative solutions; distinguish
between relevant and irrelevant
information; perceive the impact
and implications of decisions; and
commit to action, even in uncertain
situations, to accomplish
organizational goals. They evaluate
risk levels, create risk control
alternatives, and implement risk
controls. Successful leaders are
able to isolate high-importance
issues, analyze pertinent
information, involve others in
decisions that affect them, generate
promising solutions, and
consistently render judgments with
lasting, positive impact.
 How did the Team live the CG
Competency of Decision Making
and Problem Solving in working the
“Power” problem to conclusion?
 Right after the explosion Krantz’s
asks Mission Control “What do we
have on the Space Craft that’s
good?”
 Why did he ask this question?
 How did it aid in making the correct
decision to shut down the fuel cells?
 Does everyone at your unit ensure
that the Decision Makers have all
the available and correct
information? Why or Why not?
 Creativity and Innovation
 Leaders develop new insights
into situations and apply
innovative solutions to make
unit and functional
improvements. Leaders create a
work environment that
encourages creative thinking
and innovation. They take
reasonable risks, and learn from
the inevitable mistakes that
accompany prudent risk-taking
—and they apply this same
thinking to those who work for
them, encouraging innovation
and helping their people apply
the lessons learned. Leaders
design and implement new or
cutting-edge programs and
processes.
 We’ve discussed a lot of
positive leadership qualities
during this session. How did
Gene Krantz create an
environment with his Mission
Control team to ensure they
were able to figure out how to
solve the CO2 problem with a
“Square Peg in a Round Hole!”
 Lovell states at the end of the
movie; “Thousands of people
worked to bring the 3 of us back
home.” How did creativity and
innovation make the
“Successful Failure” a reality?
 How does your unit build on
Lessons Learned?
 Summary
 What was the best leadership trait exhibited in the movie?

 What was the best followership trait exhibited in the

movie?
 What will you take away from the movie and discussion to
make your unit a better place to work?
 Final thoughts ….