9/13/2011
Zach Newcomb
“Leadership in Apollo 13” There are certain events in our lifetime that change who we are as a person and how we view life. During the movie Apollo 13, Jim Lovell has a dream that he will walk on the moon. His dream becomes a reality when is promoted to commander of the Apollo 13 mission to the moon. After a series of dangerous events, the crew finds themselves in a struggle to stay alive. Jim and Houston control works around the clock to find a solution to the problem. In the mist of all the chaos, leaders emerge from the struggle and find a way to stay alive and beat the odds. According to Dictionary.com, leadership is defined as “the position or function of a leader, a person who guides or directs a group.” In the movie, there are two main leaders’ day display leadership roles. The first is space commander Jim Lovell and Houston Command Control Center commander Gene Cranz. Each of them will face enormous challenges and will have to work through them. Throughout the movie, leadership can be found in several forms. For example, the crew of Apollo 13 and Houston command center use “strategic planning” escape a bad situation. During the exhibition, the space ship Odyssey experiences an explosion in the oxygen tanks causing the crew to abandon the mission to the moon. A plan needed to be thought of to safely return the crew to earth. The team needs motivation to get the job done. I heard one of the best quotes I have ever heard in a movie or even life. During the chaos, Gene tells the crew “Failure is not an option.” No matter how long or toke, they were going to bring the crew home safely. There are many reasons why students should study Apollo 13. For example it teaches students to work out problems and use teamwork to achieve a certain goal. Students should watch this movie and learn about life lessons that each of us will have to deal with in life. There will be situations in life in which we will all be put under pressure