Ernest Shackleton Characteristics

Shackleton as a Leader
Sir Ernest Shackleton was a polar explorer who made history due to unwavering determination and solid leadership skills. From the very beginning of the expedition, Shackleton showed signs of becoming a leader like no other. He was described as having towering ambitions as well as boundless optimism, and he had the crew’s unshakable confidence (Swaoffard & Butler, 2001). People were drawn to Shackleton because he was an explorer whose dream was to cross the entire Antarctic on foot (Swaoffard & Butler, 2001); which at the time was a feat that seemed impossible. Although Shackleton and his men shared the same goal they faced many unexpected hardships that would shatter the resolve of any person. Yet because of Shackleton
With this knowledge, he took the incentive to brighten up their spirits when he could. During his expedition, the ship that was carrying him and his crew called the Endurance got stuck in the ice floes. The crew was devastated but Shackleton “did not show the slightest sign of disappointment” (Swaoffard & Butler, 2001). Instead, he took command and instructed the ships carpenter to construct living quarters dubbed the Ritz. The Endurance was stuck for 326 days, but Shackleton did not lose hope, instead of dwelling in misery he came up with several games and activities to boost morale such as singing, dancing, playing, and even toasting to their loved ones. While the crew was waiting for spring to come they played several games to pass the time; Shackleton himself would join in those activates even going as far as dancing with Worsley in order to get the crew to
In terms of leadership, Shackleton accomplished the impossible by inspiring a group of 27 men to take on a goal for with there was 0% proof would end in a success. During the duration of module three, I learned that being an effective leader takes more than just you. For example, Martian Luther King’s I have a dream speech was a speech that spoke to the masses. He may have come up with the speech but it took the power of the masses in order for the speech to mean something. During module 3 the leader that really spoke to me was Sir Ernest Shackleton, he faced hardship after hardship and he still did not give up and at the same time, he was able to inspire his entire crew to push themselves. I believe that had it been any other leader on the expedition those crew members probably would have died. Nowadays we don’t have many leaders that would push their follower like Shackleton did. Overall I learned that effective leaders need a team and exhibit all 5 Practices of Exemplary Leadership. I believe that missing even one would affect the overall leadership