Leader Ship

Section 1 – Leadership

Leader in Action – Sir Ernest Shackleton

1. Three reasons why I consider Sir Ernest to be a good leader.

I consider Sir Earnest Shackleton to be a good leader as he is able to develop visions and strategies that are believed in by his team. As originally he set a clear vision for his team which was to complete the 1,800-mile crossing of the Antartica on foot. The Endurance (ship) got stuck in the ice of the Weddell Sea and they never made it to land (Kelly,2004). Then he changed the clear vision to a strategy with the flexibility that was needed when the disastrous incident occurred. The new strategy was to successfully bring home the twenty eight men alive. “Shackleton always looked ahead – and kept his eyes on the bigger picture” (Capparell, 2000, p. 2). Shackleton was quick to abandon a strategy that wasn’t working and replace it with one that was better and always kept a clear focus on what he wanted to achieve. Shackleton succeeded in the end because he inspired all his men to do great things. Shackleton was an optimist and installed it in his crew, as the situation got worse for the men, he continued to hold the belief that it all would work out in the end (Capparell. 2000). Shackleton was a capital obsessed with the welfare of his men, he was a rock to them as well as a insistent and inventive cheerleader (Andrews, 2000). A good leader is someone with a clear vision and able to adapt the vision if the need arises, and able to led in crisis as Shackleton did with optimism, commitment and brilliant strategy maintained his crew focused and hopeful on survival for more than a year and a half.

Another characteristic I consider of a good leader is the ability to communicate effectively. Another characteristic that Shackelton had that I considered was good for leader was his ability to communicate with his team in the disastrous incident until they were all rescued. Shortly after the loss of the ship Shackleton made a simple...