John Kotter

5 portraits of leaders at work

© 2003 by Michael Finley

The original astronauts knew the importance of staying cool during reentry. Perhaps that's why Eastern Airlines president (and former Apollo pilot) Frank Borman looked so wrong in his video message to the machinists.

Borman sat before the cameras 26 hours after Continental Airlines filed for bankruptcy in 1983. He seemed by turns nervous, distracted, and angry. The first few minutes of his talk were an "I told you so" to the workforce that had scoffed at his dire predictions for the industry. The later half was a frightening, clammy-palmed, square-jawed threat to the machinists -- vote for the company's concession package or be prepared to lose your jobs.

It was an eerie performance, closer to The Caine Mutiny than The Right Stuff. By the time John Kotter switches the Borman video off, you are shaking your head at the dreadful tone of the most important moment in Frank Borman's managerial career.

Kotter asked what words describing Borman's moment came to mind. "Self-justifying," "whining," and "terrified" were among the answers. "He acts like he's still in the military," was another. "He hates what this is doing to his reputation," another said. Then Kotter showed the audience his favorite chart, the X-Y graph at the bottom of this page. He uses this simple chart to poll people on strong leaders they have known.

The Y axis is leadership, from very poor at the bottom to very great at the top; the X axis is Management, likewise from poor to great, only from left to right. Each quadrant of the graph represents a mix of leadership ability and managerial skill.

Where did Eastern Airlines employees put space hero Frank Borman on Kotter's chart? One of them asked him to rescale the box so that instead of evaluating leadership on a scale from 0 to 10, it ranged from -10 to +10. Borman was consistently ranked at 0 or below. That's how much of a hit Frank Borman was with the people he "led."

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John P

John P. Kotter