If Only Life Imitated Art...

Is it me or are there an overwhelming amount of articles and pundit discussions concerning our lack of leadership?   Intellectuals and “experts” ponder the lack of crisis management and leadership while asking the question, “How could this or that have happened and who was suppose to be on watch?”  Amazingly, they really don’t seem to be any closer to answering these questions concerning the state of our economy and business today than they were several months ago.   There are books, articles, blogs, and endless news magazine specials all trying to pin down the problem.  I think the question isn’t so much about why we are in a crisis situation with our government and economy, but how we need to proceed to navigate ourselves out of these crises.

These current crises have landed squarely on the shoulders of business owners, executives, and entreprenuers.  They are expected to lead their organizations out of the fog and into the light of a brighter, more secure future.  Since the “experts” haven’t provided clear guidance, I’d like share some thoughts on leadership in times of crisis.  You may have seen the movie, Apollo 13, based upon the true story of the United States astronauts who went to space in the Apollo 13 spacecraft.  I like anything to do with the NASA program, and have been a fan of space exploration ever since I was a kid and shook the hand of John Glenn at a political rally for Robert Kennedy (that just dated me!).  I recalled watching the incident of the Apollo 13 mission on TV, but had no idea of the seriousness of the situation until the book and movie came out.  The movie demonstrates how people, when properly prepared and trained, can manage a crises successfully.

In the movie there are three incidents that I feel really exemplify the type of leadership and response needed for business today, and I’d like to share them with you:

Example 1: At the initial realization that the command module is disabled, the flight controller asks the simple question, “What do you have on the ship that is good?”  Translation, instead of focusing on what is not working, the focus is on that of what is working that can be used to salvage the situation.   This is an important moment in the mission;  the leader immediately shifts the attention of everyone in that room from the impending problem to a possible solution – to what is working. 

Example 2:  The staff at command central gather in the meeting room and the flight controller tells them to forget the flight plan by symbolically throwing it into the trash.  From that moment on, the staff improvised “ a new flight plan”  that included thinking outside the design characteristics of the craft.  This is a great example of  “thinking on your feet and being resourceful.” 

Example 3:   Words of wisdom were spoken in the flight controller’s constant mantra of “let’s work the problem, let’s not make things worse by guessing.” 

I think today’s business world is facing similar challenges and I’m surprised at how leaders are dealing with these challenges.  Many business owners or managers cling to or give value to old marketing plans when they’ve outlived their usefulness.  Some leaders guess and give answers that have no real data to support them.  Others focus on only the negative aspects of their business climate, and then directly relate this negativity to their team.

Not only are these tactics counter-productive in resolving their business issues but they do not inspire staff to rise above the problem to find a solution.  Our economy is damaged, but not destroyed.  It can be repaired and restructured, but for this to happen, we need to train, re-organize, and inspire people to work toward a positive goal of bringing the life back into our businesses.    I encourage everyone reading this blog to watch the movie or read the book Apollo 13 from the perspective of  leadership.  You may discover some other bits of wisdom of your own hidden within the story of our nations’ astronauts.