Shackleton Leadership Essay

A. Bad evaluation of circumstances and stubbornness instead of perseverance. Shackleton was ready to depart to Antarctica however; just when he was at South Georgia, local seamen warned him that he might get trapped and advised him to wait until next year. At this point he had the opportunity to make a decision and wait, but due to the compromises reached with his sponsors and the conditions in Britain getting in WWI he took a risk to go forth and as a result, underestimate the situation. This I can consider to be the main crisis.

Shackleton, the star of the novel ‘Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World’ was a very good leader, but what were three characteristics he could use for different occasions? He did show many different characteristics, but the best three I chose are Dauntless as well as Allegiance and don’t forget about Lively. Showing characteristics are always fun, but when you show good characteristics it’s even better. Shackleton is a prime example of showing good characteristics. “They could not linger in their cave all winter, dining on seal meat and toasting their feet at a driftwood fire. The men on Elephant Island were still counting on them.” The significance of this quote is so important because it shows that Shackleton does have loyalty to these guys. This man would not stop talking about his adventures in the south and kept on going back. This is an important topic to talk about because it may show others to be more like him and bring the good from inside them out just like Shackleton and his Dauntless, Allegiance, and Lively characteristics.

He notes that the crew seemed relieved by the departing Commander and realized that he must come up with a new leadership model to reach his crew. As he noted in the introduction that high percentage of turnover among crew bothered him and he notes some trends in society that contribute to this problem. The long economic boom had made most people unafraid of losing their jobs, or finding new ones. Thus he believed it manager’s challenge to retain them by motivating them to “work with passion, energy, and enthusiasm.” (p.12) By reading over the exit surveys he assumed as many that low pay was a main reason for people leaving, but was shocked when it was in fact 5th. The top four are strikingly similar to the slide we studied in class on “What Associates Want from Their Job” in wanting appreciation, ability to make impact, not being listened to, and more responsibility. This helped him understand his crew better and try to “see the ship through the eyes of the crew.” (p.13) He encouraged his crew to challenge the way in which they carried out their jobs by asking, “Is there a better way to do what you do?” If so, then he wanted them to take the responsibility one their own to implement the change, unless it involved major implications.

In my opinion, if the captain would have listened to the warnings instead of placing the piece of paper in his coat pocket, they might have been able to change course again for a little while until they passed the ice and survived. A couple days before they left England, Captain Smith decided to alter slightly his route because of the many iceberg warnings that he received. The entire day of April 14, 1912 (the day of the sinking), Captain Smith was still receiving iceberg warnings from the other ships around her. They were all saying the same thing: the route he switched to had large amounts of ice floating about. Ignorantly, the Captain did not heed their warnings very well and did not re change it. He did, however, tell the watchmen to tell him if they saw anything ahead of them that could be potentially dangerous.

(STATE THESIS) When it comes to the leading their respective teams, Ernest Shackleton and Reinhard Heydrich’s approaches to leadership could not be more contradictory. This is not to say that their differences make either of them a good or misleader. Each individual demonstrated qualities that would classify him in either category. However, it is ultimately the intentions of the leader and the presence of or complete disregard for humanity that categorizes each man where he falls.

To be an obsessive person, one must have a certain subject constantly on one’s mind or routines must be followed correctly and/or on time. The benefit for the Endurance’s crew to have an obsessive man as Shackleton was that he was ready for the unexpected, and his crew’s safety was the utmost important topic for him. With Shackleton’s obsessive nature, he made a very specific routine for the men to follow; at exactly 9:00 am, breakfast was served, at 1:00 pm, lunch was served, at 4:00 pm, tea was served, and at 6:00 pm, dinner was served. Between the meals, the men did chores such as, cleaning the ship and melting ice for drinking water. Such a precise and stringent following of a routine gave the men purpose and managed to keep the men from going stir crazy. The crew’s safety was on Shackleton’s mind from the moment everyone abandoned the Endurance. Shackleton stopped all unnecessary activities that posed a risk to crew safety; for example, he stopped Macklin and Greenstreet from paddling on an ice floe like children on a raft. Shackleton also commenced unpredicted safety drills for cracking of their ice floe–which could happen at any moment. Shackleton often didn’t sleep due to the fact that he worried about all the dangerous and potentially fatal situations that he and his crew

In the argumentative essay, “Is Survival Selfish?” , Lane Wallace briefly explains part of the story of the Titanic; primarily when they started to put people in the very limited supply of lifeboats. Ismay, the owner of the Titanic, decided to save himself other than the other people who were left to die on the ship, claiming that there were “no other women or children in the area and the boat was ready to be released”. But it didn’t matter, his reputation was ruined.” First of all, it is impossible that there were no women or children left on the boat due to the fact

Comparing Shackleton’s leadership principles to Kouzes & Posner’s Leadership Challenge Model, it is clear that he embodied many of the same ideals of

One strong quality that Shackleton demonstrated throughout the expedition was Adaptability. The ability to adjust to new conditions. This was crucial. Shackleton was willing to adapt and move forward to ensure the safety of his men. “When adversity struck, Shackleton kept his men focused on routine” Stated in the Fieldworks supply company newsletter. Showing that Shackleton kept it regular to ensure the health of his men and keep a steady routine while they were on the pack ice. “I knew one more night of exposure would have done it for some of them… the boss decided they should set out at dawn” (pg. 90-91) Stated Shackleton when the men arrived at Elephant island after their long days sailing to solid land from the pack. During the long

Ernest was known as an explorer and he was honored with Knighthood. He wanted to be the first to reach the South Pole, but R. Amundsen conquered it before Shackleton; in spite of two prior attempts. He was confident in his abilities but was unsettled in many aspects of life. He was always looking for a better or faster way of doing things. He controlled his moods and emotion even during his most difficult times of the Endurance Expedition. Not much has been said about his humility, but he didn’t like to be wrong nor be questioned on decisions he made. This trait kept order and prevented a mutiny but as leader one needs be humble and willing to show their weaknesses. On the Endurance Journey, there was an occasion that he didn’t sleep for days nor change clothes for over a week. He was stressed, but would never openly admit it to his men. Shackleton’s emotional intelligence would have be one of his strongest traits

The topic of this leadership case study is Ernest Shackleton. This paper will identify the development of Shackleton's leadership skills, provide examples and reflections of his abilities, and relate how he played an essential role in one of history's greatest survival stories. This study of Shackleton's leadership is set loosely within the framework of the five practices of exemplary leadership set forth in The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner, and will focus on the benefits produced by his management of team morale and unity (13).

The book “Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders” by L. David Marquet, Captain, US Navy (Retired) is the book we selected to review. Our group selected this manuscript because of the inspiring story behind the captivating title. A combination of intrigue and necessity inspired our group to examine this manuscript for its valuable motivating material about leadership and the art of delegation.

Shackleton also demonstrated that he was a pragmatic leader, capable of determining a vision and then executing that vision. In a sense, the vision was simple to get everybody home alive. Even that however was a big step, because many leaders would have simply accepted the idea that some sacrifices would have to be made. Shackleton instead determined that his vision would be something that the entire crew could buy into, and that with this buy-in he would be able to undertake the necessary tactical steps to ensure success. This can be seen for example with the trip to Elephant Island. This was risky, because of the conditions and also the fact that Elephant Island has no resources. However, there were a number of tough choices to be made from the point when the Endurance became stuck in the ice, and Shackleton made those choices. He never wavered from the fact that his

The British exploration team took salvage on the ice and set up camp. Now the crew and Shackleton had a new mission, to get back alive, along the way they faced many challenges. The weather was harsh, the food supplies were dwindling and the isolation of the crew was beginning to take its toll. Shackleton kept the crew lively by assigning them duties as they had on the ship, everyone had a function to perform in equality; this eliminated jealousy amongst the crew members.

The captain had the option of calling a tug boat, but there was a 15% chance that the tug boat would claim over the Ship. They could try to repair the ship but there was a 20% chance that it could not be repair and they could not wait to repair first and then call the tug boat because it would leave soon and would not be available (25% chance). The weather played a great part on this decision too, because if the weather went bad (20% chance) and they decided to repair and failed there was a chance that 50% of the crew would die. Even worse than that would be a storm (25% of chance) hit them and they lose steerage (25% chance), it would result in 100% of the crew dead.