eugene kranz

8/7/2019 Eugene Kranz

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Essentials ofEssentials ofLeadershipLeadership


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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 andworking 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


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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 fullownership of the B-52 testing

Thus a series of mentors throughout Kranzs life would shape him for the

challenges that he would face at NASA


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NASA(1960s) Very top level management: Classical aeronautical engineers who had

designed WW2 aircrafts still in their 30s

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 setbacksearly in Mercury, he began fostering morale and teamwork among thecontrollers

This was followed by Gemini program which involved un manned flights to themoon. Lessons learned before and after Gemini 3 when differences arosebetween astronauts and flight directors taught the importance of discipline inthe Mission Control ranks

Later he went on to work on the Apollo programs which were manned flightsto the moon and back


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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. Competentmeans 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.


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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.


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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 dont 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)


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Taken together, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo certainly represent the greatest

technological achievement in human history. A thousand years from now, the20th 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

eugene kranz

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