The picture below is of the original crew - Lovell, Mattingly & Haise.
Monday, 20 August 2012
Week 4 - Leadership & Management
Having now watched the movie Apollo 13, and having reflected on the differences between management & leadership, I would like you to share your thoughts on the subject in relation to the movie. Why do you think I chose to show you this movie and in what way does the movies illustrate management practice and leadership?
The picture below is of the original crew - Lovell, Mattingly & Haise.
The picture below is of the original crew - Lovell, Mattingly & Haise.
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"From now on, we live in a world where man has walked on the moon" -Jim Lovell
ReplyDeleteThe film Apollo 13 shows the work and dedication it took NASA to attempt to land (for the second time) on the moon. Like Lovell says in the beginning of the movie, it's not just the astronauts that make it to the moon, it's the entire crew that works to get them there. The film Apollo 13 shows that you need more than the front men to make things happen, just as you would in running a successful business. While there are obvious leaders in the film, such as Lovell and Gene Kranz, the flight director, everyone on the team has to step up to take control of their piece of the mission, to be a leader in their own area of specialty, in order for the mission to be successful (which in this case means the crew getting back to Earth alive). Lovell and Kranz are called leaders, but they are also managers, Kranz especially. Kranz takes all the information he is given from his crew and turns it into a concrete action to accomplish a predefined objective. It's when he has to decide to abort the Moon landing that he must step up as a leader. He also has to take responsibility for this decision and report and explain it to the President. Lovell acts like a leader in the support and control he gives to Mattingly and Haise, but he is expected to follow the commands from "Houston" as one might in the military. Lovell keeps his men focused on their new mission, getting home, when he asks them, "Gentlemen, what are your intentions?
" He follows that with, "Let's go home," stressing to them the importance of their safe return. Throughout the entire mission, Lovell and Kranz are in charge of making quick decisions should things not go according to plan. They, as well as their crew, have to trust their judgement without having much time to think it over. Having a risk management plan set up beforehand (as I'm sure they do) would help them make decisions quickly and rationally. But not everything can be predicted and this is where true leadership comes into play. Fortunately, they are successful and complete their mission of return safely.
The movie Apollo 13 was shown to us in order to illustrate the relationship between leaders and managers within a business structure. Within all business models there is a policy which is followed by the managers in order to run day to day operations but it is at the times when this policy is not sufficient that it requires a new approach where the leaders role is highlighted. The movie highlights the management practice that falls under the leader, which entails that each employee or group of employees is in charge of managing their own sector but report to the leader who assists and commands the path of progress. There is a major theme in the movie of man vs. money which is a theme within businesses as well. There is a scene in the movie where NASA receives a request for a quote from the President for the rescue procedure and the leader of the control room at NASA insists that he refuses to lose any men on the mission. In a business where the managers are focused on profits. Their decisions might benefit the company but impact on employees livelihoods and it is the role of a leader to consider personal relationships in his decision making. It is clear that leaders require management and vice verse in order to be successful and no entity can exist without the other.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie, there are several scenes that touch on management and leadership skills. One area of the film where management was portrayed is when the team’s objective changed from “going to the moon” to “getting the men home alive.” All side issues, personalities, egos and other agendas were not allowed and were then replaced with a new set of responsibilities. Management in my opinion requires teamwork and listening to one another and your leader. Adaptability is an important characteristic to have if one is part of a team effort. An area that showed leadership skills was when Krantz kept the atmosphere calm despite the life-and-death situation. In the movie he said, "Let's work the problem, people. Let's not make things worse by guessing." What stands out here is that instead of panicking, he focuses on the problem and solving that problem. Leaders need to remind people why the work needs to be done in both positive and sometimes dramatic terms. When Apollo 13 occurred, America was facing its first serious space disaster. As Krantz said in the movie, "Failure is not an option." They performed and did not fail. They were, as a result, a team.
ReplyDeleteThe dictionary defines Management as "the process of managing a business or group of people", and Leadership as "being a leader" where a leader is defined as "someone whose example is followed". This movie is applicable to both these roles, and shows their differences. Management is procedure-based, whilst leadership is less tangible, indicative of a level of trust and respect. There are examples of management in the film - when management informs Lovell that one of his crew has measles, and where the man in the waistcoat takes on a role of responsibility when news of the oxygen leak emerges, and then follows the procedures that have been put in place for such emergencies. Lovell shows examples of leadership in many scenarios, including how he informs the crew member that it is his decision that the man must stay grounded due to measles instead of letting on that it wasn't his decision and blaming management. He also displays leadership when he remains calm when the back-up pilot gets to 12G's. The movie was a good choice as it shows the different character traits indicative of both management and leadership. Ultimately management is in place to ensure procedures are followed, and leadership's main function is to inspire and instill trust and to lead by example.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie there were scenes that defined management quite nicely. The engineers that worked on the space shuttle could have been seen as the ‘project managers’ since they had to work together as a team to make sure everything ran smoothly. The whole operation was managed by them and decisions were made together based on orders and guidance that their leader set out for them. When the space shuttle lost power the leader gave the management orders to come up with ideas how to get the men back safely without giving them any suggestions on what to do.
ReplyDeleteThe scene that I thought portrayed leadership was when (Tom Hanks) took the responsibility of telling his friend and member of his ‘crew’ that he could no longer join them on the journey since there was a chance that he might be sick. He showed compassion but stayed strong and focused on the task that they were set out to do, despite that he was probably uneasy about the situation.
In life (especially the property industry) we will often be put in situations where project management would be vitally important in order to complete the task at hand. Sometimes unexpected obstacles will appear and we will have to change our mission or come up with ideas to overcome these obstacles. As we saw in the movie, leadership is also just as important to help push the team in the right direction. There is a unique trustful relationship that needs to be formed between the management and the leader and once it is formed a goal can be achieved. This movie has made us aware of the importance of ‘project’ management and leadership for future projects.
The movie, Apollo 13, was shown to us so as to illustrate various scenarios in which either a leadership or management-approach is required. The scenario will often dictate which one is the most appropriate so as to ensure optimal success in the achievement of a certain goal or objective. The movie had a myriad of examples from which one could deduce whether management or leadership was the force at play in that particular scenario.
ReplyDeleteThe movie illustrates these scenarios in the form of dramatic and intense scenes in which there is a complication, obstacle or issue at hand, which requires decisive action through either management or leadership. The characters make these decisions in response to the scenario or situation they find themselves in.
A scene indicative of management is the one in which Kranz, (NASA Flight-director) who is responsible for co-ordinating Mission Control, is confirming that all systems are go with the various technical members who make up mission control and that everything is ready for lift-off. He does this in a systematic and somewhat authoritarian fashion. He leads, and is followed, on the basis of his position of power, which is indicative of management. I believe a managerial approach is one in which a person in a pre-determined position of power makes decisions on behalf of others as they have been entrusted to do so and their position of command allows them to do this.
A scene representative of leadership would be the one in which Mattingly (Gary Sinese) encourages and convinces his team of astronauts to “run it again” (the docking exercise), so as to improve their time, execution and precision of the task at hand. In this situation, Mattingly (Gary Sinese) was not in a position of power, yet undertook the initiative to lead others toward an objective or goal through persuading and appealing to his team on an equal and more-humanitarian level.
As such, a key difference between management and leadership lies therein, management is primarily authoritarian, while leadership is comparatively more humanitarian by nature.
Real life hero’s and role models are rare nowadays with most of society deriving inspiration from fictional personas such as superhero’s, which could be a factor why we were shown a movie based on a true story to show how man can react under pressure, and when needed step up to the big occasion. Also, to show acts of management and leadership as many companies have taken strategies from NASA on the topic and implemented them into their businesses.
ReplyDeleteThe character that I drew most from was Gene; he depicted leadership and commanded respect from everyone around him. Even in a life and death situation, when people were panicking, Gene succeeded in getting the best out of everyone as they worked together towards reaching a common goal, that being getting the three astronauts back to earth alive. Quotes such as ‘don’t care what its designed to do, care what it can do’ shows Gene wasn’t willing to be rigid and allow excuses to come into the final goal of bring the astronauts home (most people would take the easy route of blaming the equipment or the scenario instead of trying to change it, but not Gene). Gene also showed traits of a leader by inspiring the guys and telling them that failure is not an option, and that they can do what was seen as unlikely.
The Tom Hanks character showed some interesting character traits; in the beginning of the film we clearly saw his desire to land on the moon and how much it meant to him. Dedication is a key factor in leading from the front and it is seen in the scene when they were in aircraft simulation training and the one astronaut thought they could do better so they decided to redo the procedure. Later on, the very same guy was no longer allowed to go on the mission due to fear of being sick and Hanks had to break the news to him, now a manager would just follow the orders passed on and continue with the procedure of telling him he can’t go on the mission (as that’s what a manager does, rigidly goes about the set orders to ensure a sense of structure is implemented).
However a leader is not afraid to take the blame for the good of the cause in order for the final result to benefit, which was seen by Hanks giving the impression that it was his idea that he could no longer go on the mission.
Apollo 13 is a clear description in picture terms of what NASA believes, this being nothing is impossible. They attempted to land on the moon for the second time, with a different crew, despite major hindrances such as the crew changing two days before scheduled departure, where the captain took it upon himself to inform one of his fellow crew members and best friends that he would not be going to the moon due to his sickness. This was a disciplined and responsible act which showed leadership and correct management skills from the captain. There were other blockades such as mechanical difficulties, and overcoming negative criticism. However NASA despised these critiques and pressed forward making positive steps into the future success of NASA.
ReplyDeleteWhen Apollo 13 met technical difficulties on route, the captain had to show leadership in tha they would be turning around without landing on the moon. NASA's chief in charge showed effective management skills, when the problem occurred, he drew a simple chart, easily readible informing them of their current dilemma, and told the staff to find the solution and bring Apollo 13 home! This was an effective task, as the NASA staff were skilled in what they did, and were set out with a never before-attempted task, which they teamed together to find the best solution, and then presented it to the chief, who then made the decisions and guided the team in the right direction.
The APollo 13 movie depicted many scenes of management and leadership which is clearly evident in the success of their departure and return from the moon, although not landing on the moon. A great success story in terms of motivation, and making the impossible possible!
i think you chose this movie because it shows excellent leadership and management skills in many ways.
ReplyDeletethe way in which the leader guy organised the caos in 1 of the scenes was a great example of leadership and management. His authority was well received by his peers and that is a good leadership quality. the way in which his team responded in terms of their attitude and how they listened to each other is key concepts in having good management. i thik respect also plays a big part in both leadership and management and that without it, both cannot be executed well.
Apollo 13 was shown to us because it illustrates various scenarios where either a leadership or management role was required in order to achieve a goal. It also outlines the various characteristics that make a leader good. One of the guys quoted something about it being a team effort and not only is it the 3 people that actually landed on the moon but the entire team that worked behind the scenes in getting them there. This is similar to a business where the success of a business depends on good leadership and management throughout the business and not just the owner.
ReplyDeleteApollo 13 shows that during tough situations, someone needs to take a leadership role and control the situation. This happens in a few scenes and this encourages the people to be successful and think positively.
Apollo 13 perfectly illustrates what the role of leadership and management should play in a stressful situation. Tom Hanks displayed a superb role of leadership, whilst Deke (mission control leader) played more of a managerial role. The difference between a leader and a manager, is that a manager will demand action and tell subordinates what to do. A leader will work together with others giving his/her team mates the opportunity to make their own decisions on what would be best for the mission. One of the most important characteristic of being a leader, is being able to keep a cool head in highly pressurized situations. I thought Tom Hanks perfectly portrayed a leadership role in this regard as he was mostly calm in all situations. Another important characteristic shown was his ability to work together with his team mates and to make immediate decisions that would impact the mission, i.e. acceptance of mission failure. Deke had the ability to delegate his subordinates effectively. He was able to manage his work team efficiently by telling them what to do and how he wants it done. Tese two attributes make for a great manager.
ReplyDeleteLeadership and management skills are two very important characteristics required in any field of work where there is risk of failure involved.
ReplyDeleteThis is well illustrated in the movie Apollo 13 in that there is both major management and leadership required in order to save the lives of the 3 astronauts, who are en route back to earth but have failed to complete their moon landing due to a technical disaster. While this is the main plot of the story, other cases of management and leadership are evident pre-Apollo 13 mission.
Being a successful leader is not as simple as it sounds. It sometimes requires making decisions which don't suite everyone involved, but are crucial in order for the plan to work out. Tom Hanks had to exlude his mate from the mission due to a diesease threat - which is a very difficult thing to do given the circumstance.
Management is the art of keeping any situation under control through in-depth planning and ensuring that everyone is doing their bit to the best of their ability.
The movie was shown to us because it illustrates both management practise and leadership skills which are vital components in business structure. The movie links the two together and the results are crucial in saving the lives of 3 astronomers who find themselves stranded in space after a journey to the moon goes horribly wrong. Before looking at the relevance of the movie, what is management practise and leadership? What is the difference between the two?
ReplyDeleteLeadership is setting a new direction or vision for a group that they follow, ie: a leader is the spearhead for that new direction. Management controls or directs people/resources in a group according to principles or values that have already been established. The difference between leadership and management can be illustrated by considering what happens when you have one without the other. Leadership without management sets a direction or vision that others follow, without considering too much how the new direction is going to be achieved. Management without leadership controls resources to maintain the status quo or ensure things happen according to already-established plans.
In the movie the NASA’s flight director Gene Kranz (Ed Harris) demonstrates both management practise and leadership skills to make sure that Lovell, Mattingly and Swigert return safely. When Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) reports that there has been a problem, Kranz was confident in his ability to swiftly and correctly come to understand the salient aspects of these kinds of critical problems. Like any great leader, he was able to synthesize the provided information into a course of action that would ultimately become a solution. And he was able to stay cool and collected as he did so.
Kranz had faith in his crew to do their jobs, voice their concerns, and give their honest assessments of the situation at hand. His faith in them gave them faith in themselves. His leadership united the team and filled them with a sense of intense drive and great purpose. They all knew that under his watch, failure was not an option.
Apollo 13 has scenes that display moments of leadership and man management that are crucial in a stressful business scenario. I believe the reason we watched this movie in class was because it showed the level of planning and decision making it took to achieve the company’s goals. In a business you must set certain goals and build to achieve them. NASA illustrated this well, with their high degree of organization and careful consideration of every decision they must make. This was a good form of management. Although, when the space shuttle started to experience problems, a sign of leadership was when the captain called off the mission and remained calm. This allowed his crew mates to not lose their calm and adopt his attitude.
ReplyDeleteManagement and leadership seem very similar in nature but there are vast difference between the two as well. Leadership involves choosing a certain action or mission and getting others to follow, where management involves the combination and control of actions that lead to a common goal in the best manner possible. Because of the nature of a space mission (exceptionally technical and with lives and a lot of money at risk) it is important that leadership and management is used throughout, and this is shown clearly in the movie Apollo 13, with moments of leadership and management being used throughout the movie by both ground and rocket crews in order to bring the crew back to earth safely
ReplyDeleteFirstly in answering this question we must define the words management and leadership. The dictionary states that management is the process of organising and managing a group of people whilst leadership is following someone's example as a leader in a new direction of thought.
ReplyDeleteThe movie illutrates both of these traits as mangement was shown in many of the begining scenes where NASA showed the different levels of planning and decision making to achieve their final goal of launching the space shuttle. In these scenes it was very precuder-based and the levels of management was clearly illustrated. The leadership was clearly shown by Tom Hanks in movie where the space shuttle was experiencing difficulties. Tom remained calm and took control of the situation by explaining to every member of the crew was their specific role was in the safe return of the craft. His role of a leader was defined by taking charge of the situation and acting as a confident example to the other member of what they must do in the situation.
It is important in business models to have direct management procedures in place in order to define the roles of each member of the business and have a confient and example-setting leader to set new trends and change the management procedures when change in the business is needed.
The terms “leadership” and “management” are seen very differently by different people. Some individuals see these terms as synonyms and frequently use them as one throughout phrases and sentences. Others approach them as extreme opposites; so extreme, in fact, that they would argue that you cannot be a good manager and a good leader at the same time. Still other people reside somewhere in the middle and realize that while there is a difference between leadership and management, with the right knowledge an individual can successfully navigate both from the same position.
ReplyDeletethe definition of management is "The organization and coordination of the activities of an enterprise in accordance with certain policies and in achievement of defined objectives."
the defintition of leadership is "The activity of leading a group of people or an organization, or the ability to do this".
The film reveals characteristics of both sound leadership and management such as pressence under pressure, confidence in yourself and peers, creativity and defined parameters set out by the leader. The leader announcing that failure is not an option gives the task defined parameters and positivity, and in turn great mangement gets them to the goal of getting to safety. I believe you need leadership to get your team going and motivated and then management in order to achieve the teams goal. Both of these work hand in hand with success, and this evidently portrayed in Apollo 13.
Apollo 13 was a great film to watch in terms of leadership and management. I think it illustrated both aspects well and portrayed the importance of having a well managed and organised work space. The film showed that there are many people involved sometimes in a 'project' even if those people are not on site, for example the movie had a team that went in a space shuttle to the moon, however there were more people placed at the base on Earth that were just as involved in determining the success of the mission. As there were many people on the base station leadership was required to maintain a balance and help guide people in what was to be done when situations got tricky. Sometimes there are more than one way to skin a cat and as each decision will have a different outcome it may be difficult to determine which is the correct path to take, however in that situation a leader is needed to help make the decision and trust that it will work out for the best. trust is involved and is important. Things can be well managed and organised but there must be a level of trust in the leaders calls and decisions. This movie dealt with tricky situations in which the mission went wrong and peoples lives were at stake. It showed how many people were involved in making sure the team in outer space made it back to Earth safely and the different ways in which this could be attempted, and at the end of the day how it was necessary to lead otherwise too many people would be trying their own suggestions which would not be beneficial for the team as a whole. 'too many cooks spoil the broth'.
ReplyDeleteapollo 13 was a good movie to show as it reflected the difference between managemwnt and leadership under extreme prussure therefore making us question where one is more acceptable in certain situations. management is the organising of certain tasks to reach a certain objective, this was reflected by the first portion of the movie, the management of tasks to get the rocket to the point of launch, as well as managing the flight. points of leadership were reflected by scenorios where there where deiscions to be made in the managment of unforseable problems that go beyond the scope of managment.
ReplyDeleteApollo 13 is a movie that makes a good portrayal of the difference between leadership and management. It takes into account various scenarios where either leadership or management is required to perform certain tasks.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Tom Hanks' character displayed leadership by showing courage and confidence. The mission control manager was also a leader but in a more managerial manner, where he had to order his team around and attempt to keep organization under extreme pressures.
Valuable leadership and management lessons can be deducted from the movie Apollo 13. The obvious lesson was simple; wanting success is not a condition to ensure success, true leadership and strategic management will triumph.
ReplyDeleteWhile leadership and management is not the same thing, they are linked and complimentary.
Leadership is the ability to influences the behavior of others in the efforts of working towards one goal, either found as a skill or characteristics. While management needs to traits of leadership to for fill the role to manage a group.
The first key to both leadership and management is communication. Communication is not as simple as verbalizing one’s thoughts, it’s about passing one idea to another in a clear, concise manner that is understood by ALL.
As seen in the movie the famous quote “Houston we have a problem” very simply demonstrates good communication.
The movie too demonstrates leadership and management in knowing when to cut your losses. The astronauts didn’t dwell on the fact that they were no longer going to the moon, instead they changed their focus to the next task and kept going. This can play a deciding factor in the success of management. Knowing when to stop can help businesses avoid financial loss instead of holding on to a failing ideas.
For me what stood out in this movie was when that team leader on the ground crew during the operation said "this is NASA's finest moment" during a circumstance of life & death. He did not panick, but was able to lead the staff into success. This is a leader.
ReplyDeleteManagers on the other hand must display similar traits. Management requires leadership skills, and the restraint to defer to the higher in chaarge.