the endurance

i threw a kid's book into the mix, "sea of ice:  the wreck of the endurance" by monika kulling because i was curious about what made the head of the expedition, sir ernest shackleton, so skilled in leadership.  a week before, i had opened to a quote in the complete book of the adventure that read, "shackleton was nothing if not purposeful."  persistence, intentionality; those words get my attention.  as the true story goes, in 1914 he and his crew of 28 men set sail from england to antarctica, shackleton wanting to be the first explorer to trek across the continent.  when their vessel was trapped in frozen ice floes, they were forced to abandon ship.  shackleton and two other men went for help, returning for the full crew, all of whom survived!  i took notes on the pros and cons of his leadership style that went something like this.  cons:  wanting to be first (debatable?), and thus ignored ice warnings of locals.  but the pros far outweigh those:  articulated and financed his mission, chose his crew carefully, provided more than ample supplies, gave credit when it would be easy to take credit, his men believed in him, he did everything plus above and beyond anything he expected of them, he took risks for them, he persisted in his rescue efforts, he instilled in his crew the habit of hope:  looking for rescue every day despite the odds.  those attributes, in my mind, make for a leader worth following.