Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition On The Endurance
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Leaders are essential to any expedition, or group project. The thing that sets apart mediocre leaders from extraordinary leaders are the style in which they lead, their personal attributes, their verbal characteristics, and their ability to communicate. Sir Ernest Shackleton, the leader of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition on the Endurance, had exceptional leadership style, personal attributes and verbal characteristics. Each of these aspects contributed to Shackleton`s success as a leader.
The style in which Sir Ernest Shackleton led included three very important attributes that made him a great leader-- control, organization, adaptability. Shown throughout the story, Shackleton was very good at applying these skills into the way…show more content… His attributes included being committed, confident, and resourceful, as well as being caring for the crew. Especially when faced with life-threatening challenges, commitment is often a difficult attribute for leaders to display. With Shackleton, however, commitment came easy. He was always committed. For example, when the Endurance finally went down, forcing the men to travel by foot, Shackleton was committed to making sure they made it back, so he ordered everyone to drop any unnecessary weight, “The men were given a two-pound limit on personal gear, which allowed them to keep only the items that were essential for survival,” (51). This shows Shackleton’s commitment to survival. Another attribute that Shackleton had was his confidence. Shackleton used his confidence to his advantage throughout the story, which contributed to his success in leading others. For example, after the Endurance went down, when McNeish protested against continuing on, Shackleton took him aside, and persuaded him into staying with the crew, “Shackleton took McNeish aside and exchanged a few quiet words with him, perhaps reminding him that execution was a legal punishment for mutiny,” (64). This may have sounded harsh, but maintaining moral was critical at that moment. This shows Shackleton’s confidence because he was confident that he could persuade McNeish into staying, and he knew his plan would work. Another attribute that helped Shackleton lead the crew was that he was resourceful, in all situations. On the expedition, the crew encountered multiple trials that could have turned very bad if it wasn’t for Shackletons resourcefulness. An example of this was when the crew was setting up Ocean Camp, and he gathered scrap lumber from the Endurance to use as a floor for the flimsy tents. Although other leaders have used their resources to their advantage, Shackleton took into