When crisis hits, great leadership isn’t about one bold voice—it’s about the right voices working in sync.

Take the 1995 film Apollo 13. There’s a moment that captures the power of aligned leadership. Gene Kranz, NASA’s flight director, doesn’t save the mission alone. He brings together a team that embodies three essential leadership types: the Visionary, the Realist, and the Critic.

The Visionary sets direction. The Realist builds the plan. The Critic pressure-tests every move. Together, they solve one of the most complex problems in space history.

In real life, the same dynamic plays out every day. Leadership teams either move in rhythm—or fall apart. It’s not titles that matter. It’s the mix of perspectives, the clarity of purpose, and the trust to let each type lead in their moment.

Let’s break it down.

The Visionary

Visionaries lean forward. They ask what’s possible. They challenge the status quo and point to a different future.
 

They’re the ones who say, “We can go from 48 months to 18 on satellite delivery,” or “Industry 4.0 isn’t a buzzword—it’s how we become the market leader.”
 

They bring energy, strategic clarity, and momentum.

In Apollo 13, Kranz plays this role. When the crisis unfolds, he doesn’t flinch. He sets the tone: “Failure is not an option.” He defines the objective and focuses the team’s attention on the mission—bringing the astronauts home.

The Realist

The Realist answers, “Great. How?” They translate vision into steps, resources, and plans. They bring order to ambition.

In Apollo 13, Gene’s team quickly kicks into action once they understand the direction. They immediately begin asking what needs to happen and when, breaking the mission down into solvable parts. Subgroups form to handle oxygen levels, power usage, and reentry angles. Where the Visionary sets the goal, the Realists make it executable.

The Critic

Critics are often misunderstood, but they’re essential. They ask the hard questions:

“What risk haven’t we considered?”

“What happened last time we tried this?”

They don’t block progress—they refine it.

In Apollo 13, Critics were the ones saying, “This solution won’t hold pressure,” or “We can’t assume battery power will last that long.” They weren’t being negative—they were making sure half-measures didn’t make things worse. The mission succeeded because these voices were heard, not silenced.

The Cynic

Then there’s the Cynic.

Cynics don’t ask questions to make things better—they ask them to shut things down. They don’t offer solutions. They wait for failure.

Their go-to line? “I told you so.”

Unlike Critics, Cynics aren’t contributors. They’re corrosive.

There are no Cynics in Apollo 13. That’s part of what makes the story so compelling. In the face of uncertainty and impossible odds, the team leans in. They argue, they pressure-test, they grind—but they believe. And that belief is what separates a Critic from a Cynic.

Why It Matters

Great teams need Visionaries to inspire, Realists to execute, and Critics to sharpen thinking. If one is missing, blind spots grow. If the Cynic dominates, progress dies.

The best leaders know this. They build balance. They spot when a Critic slips into Cynicism—and they act.

Because building the right team isn’t about titles on an org chart.

It’s about purpose-aligned thinkers, planners, and challengers moving together toward mission success.

That’s what Gene Kranz did in Apollo 13.

And it’s what great leaders do every day.

In the next post, we’ll explore how to identify these roles in action—and how to turn resistance into contribution.