Apollo 13 (1995) Cast: Bill Paxton, Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Ed Harris Director: Ron Howard

Rating: 9/10 (3 December 2017)

Synopsis: Tom Hanks stars in this Hollywood film that is based on the infamous Apollo 13 lunar landing as astronaut Jim Lovell. Alongside him are his fellow spacemen and trusty pals Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) and Fred Haise (Bill Paxton). A smooth beginning is foiled when the oxygen supply suddenly drops and their new flight path around the moon becomes a battle of survival.
This amazing rendition of the crisis that is the Apollo 13 mission is overflowing with leaders within the film. Imagine you're the mission control leader on one of the biggest missions ever, one to the moon. All is great until an oxygen tank explodes and the other one leaks quickly. Now, enter the mind of Gene Kranz. He has several moments during the movie where he has to control the room and the million dollar metal rocket flying through space.
The first is when the oxygen tank explodes. Everyone seems to be rushing to him asking him what they should do and he calmly says "one at a time". As a leader, you must be able to face hard situations with confidence because if you are scared, then everyone else is going to be even more scared.
"Failure is not an option." The next display of leadership is when the men at mission control are discussing how long they will last and that they won't make it back to Earth. Gene tells them that they will and his resilience empowers all of the men. Once he is able to set a course of action, Gene displays an act of delegation. Delegation is a very important characteristic for a leader and his use of telling them they need to find the solution without him, allows him to be more aware of the other problems and to address the additional problems that are bound to arise. He also inspired them to think outside of the box by saying "I don't care what anything was designed to do. I care about what it can do." Because of this, they were able to break down the problems into sub-units and build a solution from the ground up.
When the astronauts are just on the cusp of reentry, we see the NASA director talking about how this could be the worst disaster in the history of NASA. So then, just when everyone needed to be reassured the most, we see Gene swoop in and say, "With all due respect sir, I think that this is going to be our finest hour." Gene wasn't pessimistic, but optimistic about the outcome of the landing. How leaders deal with adversity and doubt is very important. Gene is a perfect example of a leader in this regard and all others. He is optimistic, calm against stress, and a leader that people want to follow.