Joseph,
In you’re third paper you point out parallels between the hero’s journey archetype from Vogler to two of the case studies (Blum and Kranz) in Useem. You want to take the next step in analysis and move beyond pointing out the comparisons and focusing more on why the comparisons are important, especially in relation to stories and creative leadership. And of all nine stories in the book, why Blum and Kranz for this assignment? What do their particular stories teach us about stories and leadership that the other ones don’t or couldn’t in a certain kind of way. From this paper, it seems like any of the stories would do, and that Blum and Kranz were sort of arbitrary picks. Where you have two paragraphs of explanation for the connection between texts, you should develop that throughout your paper. Explain at every opportunity what is important in the comparisons and contrasts you point out.
Finally don’t forget format and title! If you’re following MLA, do so thoroughly. As I’ve mentioned before, the Purdue OWL is one of the best online resources in this regard, for in text, after text, and how it appears on the page: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Following format demonstrates authorial credibility (i.e., why your reader should listen to you).
Feel free to email with questions or concerns.
Grade: C+ (78/100)
Best,
Allison
In Useem’s book, “The Leadership Moment: Nine True Stories of Triumph and Disaster and Their Lessons for Us All”, he presents us with nine accounts of men and women meeting and overcoming the challenges that they faced in their positions of leadership. In “The Writer’s Journey”, by Christopher Volger, we are given the twelve stages of what is known as the Hero’s Journey, or the story that relates the protagonist’s path toward some desired goal, and the various roles, or archetypes, of other characters who either serve to assist or hinder the hero as he travels along his journey toward the completion of some desired end. We can use the Hero’s Journey, and its twelve stages and its descriptions of the archetypes to better understand the leaders presented in “The Leadership Moment” by Michael Useem.
The Hero’s Journey as outlined in Christopher Volger’s book, “The Writer’s Journey”, is comprised of twelve stages, the order of which is variable according to the author.
The first stage of the Hero’s Journey is known as the “Ordinary World” (Volger pg. 10), or the natural world that the hero is accustomed to. Arlene Blum was a woman in the 1970’s who strove to overcome the chauvinism found in the male dominated sport of mountain climbing. Eugene Kranz was a man who had been a flight director at NASA and had seen many successes in the American space program.
The “Call to Adventure” is where the hero “is presented with a problem, a challenge, or an adventure” (Volger, pg. 10). Here the hero has the “stakes of the game” established, or “makes clear the hero’s goal” (Volger, pg. 11). These goals usually comprise pursuing riches, fame, a lover, revenge, accomplish some goal, face challenges, alter one’s position in life, or a combination of some of these things. For Arlene Blum, the call to adventure had been of her own choosing and desire to be the first woman to lead an all woman team against the Himalayan mountain Annapurna. For Eugene Kranz, the call to adventure was the malfunction of the systems aboard Apollo 13 that could lead to the deaths of three astronauts.
The “Refusal of the Call” stage, also known as the “Reluctant Hero” (Volger pg. 11), shows the hero intimidated and overwhelmed and some outside force has to get the hero to commit to the journey. This stage is characterized by a “change of circumstances, a further offense against the natural order of things, or the encouragement of a mentor” to get the hero motivated to overcome their fear of pursuing their goal (Volger, pg. 11). Arlene Blum had arrived at the base of Annapurna with her team and saw before her the imposing height that she would have to climb. Whatever fears she had, she would have to put aside to satisfy the pact that she had made with herself to lead the first all woman party to ascend this Himalayan mountain, and prove to the world that it could be done. Unlike Arlene Blum, Eugene Kranz had no chance to refuse the call. Lives were on the line and he was in the position of leadership that had to ensure the astronauts of Apollo 13, and the American space program survived.
The fourth stage of the Hero’s Journey is known as the “Mentor”, or “Wise Old Man or Woman” stage (Volger, pg.12). This stage is where the hero is prepared for the journey by the mentor who offers “advice, guidance, or magical equipment” (Volger, pg. 12). Arlene Blum had been previously trained by her mentor in the previous climbs that she had made before Annapurna. Kranz, on the other hand, had “telephoned the home of Chris Kraft – the former flight director and his one time mentor, and now deputy director of the Manned Spacecraft Center” (Useem pg. 69). He would desperately need his mentor to face this problem that was found in the malfunctioning of the Apollo 13 spacecraft.
The fifth stage is known as “Crossing the First Threshold” (Volger pg. 12). In this stage the hero commits to the challenge of the journey and decides to move forward despite their fear. Arlene Blum once wrote, “The summit, floating more than four vertical miles above us in the clouds was so remote that our desire to remain there seemed arrogant” (Useem, pg. 99). Eugene Kranz had to put aside his fear in front of the other men, and put his knowledge and experience to the test. He had to manage the fear of others so that they could all come to a successful conclusion. “He knew what options were out, yet he also knew he must somehow engineer a safe return. He understood as well that his actions in the hours ahead might determine whether the U.S. space program experienced or avoided its biggest disaster” (Useem pg. 66).
The sixth stage is called “Tests, Allies, and Enemies” (Volger pg. 13). Having made the decision to take on the challenge of the Hero’s Journey, the hero now encounters his first tests, meets those who would be his allies, and who would be his enemies. In this stage the hero begins to learn the rules of this special, foreign world, and aspects or traits of the hero are revealed under the pressure of this new environment. Arlene Blum selected a team of accomplished women climbers for the climb of the Himalayan mountain Annapurna, as she had previously done for the successful all female team that had climbed Mt. McKinley. The enemies that she would face were the various problems of Annapurna itself in the form of cold, avalanches, and unseen dangers of the mountain. Eugene Kranz selected a team of educated and seasoned technicians and scientists who were familiar with the particular instruments and procedures of the space module. The enemies this team would face were the unique conditions of space upon the spacecraft, the wrong decisions that would probably kill the astronauts, and any unforeseen dangers that fate would hand them.
“Approach to the Inmost Cave” (Volger pg. 14) is the seventh stage of the Hero’s Journey. In this stage the hero comes to a place of danger where the object that will solve a problem is located. This is also the setting of the Second Threshold, where the enemy or threat is finally located. This is where Arlene Blum decided to persist after repeated avalanches made her and her team decide if it was worth it to go further. This is where Eugene Kranz and his team gave the astronauts the plan that they had decided upon after careful and meticulous consideration.
The eighth stage of the Hero’s Journey is known as the “Ordeal” (Volger pg. 15). This stage is where the hero confronts his greatest fear and faces the possibility of death, whether literal or symbolic. For Arlene Blum, her ordeal was to persist to the top of Annapurna despite the conditions of the mountain upon her and her team. In Eugene Kranz’s case, his ordeal was symbolic. If the astronauts of Apollo 13 could not be saved, Kranz would probably be removed from the space program and see it dismantled, while living with the deaths of the three astronauts for the rest of his life. His ordeal would not be over until the astronauts were safe and sound on Earth.
The ninth stage of the Hero’s Journey is known as the “Reward” or the “Seizing of the Sword” (Volger pg. 16). This is where the hero has survived death in the trial of the ordeal and has now earned the title of “hero”. For Arlene Blum, this stage was when she finally ascended the summit of Annapurna with her team. For Eugene Kranz, this moment happened when the Apollo 13 team had successfully navigated the spacecraft and was now heading in the direction of earth. The astronauts were no longer facing certain death but a renewed hope now that it seemed likely they would make it back to Earth.
The “Road Back” is the tenth stage of the Hero’s Journey (Volger pg. 17). Here the hero has to deal with the consequences of accomplishing his mission, of surviving the battle against his enemy. In this stage the hero must reconcile himself with the new order and changes he has brought about by his actions. In Arlene Blum’s case, this stage occurred after her successful climb of the mountain but her and her team still had to survive getting down the arduous descent of the mountain. In Eugene Kranz’s case, the astronauts of Apollo 13 still had yet to land safely upon the earth, to emerge from their spacecraft unharmed, despite their successful navigation of the craft back to the atmosphere of Earth, and escaping the possibility of what would be a certain death in space.
The eleventh stage of the Hero’s Journey is known as the “Resurrection” stage (Volger pg. 17). In this stage the hero must be purified of this new world in order to return to the old world of which he is familiar. In this stage the hero must face a second life or death moment where remnants of the enemy or a weakened enemy must be faced and defeated at last. In this stage, Arlene Blum would have to reemerge into her familiar world and prove to the chauvinist mountaineering culture, and to the world, that her and her team had accomplished what was previously thought impossible. In Eugene Kranz’s case, it was the resurrection of the astronauts upon the earth, and the knowledge that they were safe and alive with their families that would bring closure to this stage.
The twelfth and final stage of the Hero’s Journey is known as the “Return with the Elixir” (Volger pg. 18). In this stage the hero returns to his familiar world with the treasure or knowledge that he or she gained from surviving the stages in the journey. Arlene Blum had paved the way for other women to join the ranks of successful mountaineers, by disproving the chauvinism of the time, and setting another milestone for the sake of the women of the world. Eugene Kranz had desired to go to the moon when he was a child. He had never become an astronaut, but had led his team through a difficult and confusing ordeal to successfully save the lives of three astronauts, and possibly the United States space program as well, ensuring its survival and extending its possibilities well into the future.
These two case studies in Useem’s book relate lessons gained from their life experiences in the positions of leadership that they have attained, and what was often an arduous climb to get there. The stories that Useem relates show that most often the successful leader through a crisis is the leader who was most prepared beforehand, who organized his team for any future ordeal, and was able to make the informed and educated decisions that sometimes have to be made in seconds. To prepare ourselves for these inevitable tests and ordeals we must educate ourselves and surround ourselves with the best people that we can, whenever we can. Useem’s book provides us with a multitude of lessons learned from the struggles of others that we can incorporate into our own lives in not only the stories, but also in the multiple summarized lessons labeled “By Implication”.
These case studies embody the stages of the leaders own hero’s journey with various difficulties that each leader had at their own individual stages of the journey. The case studies in Useem’s book flesh out the stages of the Hero’s Journey, proving that we, like the featured leaders, all face theses stages in our own life, big and small, time and time again. We are either prepared for the stages of our own Hero’s Journey, or we wander in darkness for the rest of our lives. It is up to us to prepare ourselves for what may someday be our own call to adventure, or to ignore the call and succumb to whatever path we find ourselves on. Either way, life is a journey that we have to undertake. It is up to us to learn from the world, and become either its masters or its slaves.
Works Cited:
Useem, Michael. The Leadership Moment: Nine True Stories of Triumph and Disaster and Their Lessons for Us All. New York: Three Rivers, 1998. Print.Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007. Print.
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