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Sound familiar? The heady mood
of exploration in 1914 resonates with our business lives and times; and its
moments of crisis. For the next two years, Ernest Shackleton and his 27-man
crew found themselves stranded on an ice floe.
How did Shackleton manage to keep his entire crew alive—and so
motivated, that their journal entries described the experience as the best of
their lives?
On February 24, 1915,
Shackleton ceased all regular routine on the ice-bound ship and decided to
make it their winter station. Writes the ship’s physician, Dr. Macklin:
“We could see our base, maddening, tantalizing. Shackleton at this time
showed one of his sparks of real greatness. He did not rage at all, or show
outwardly the slightest sign of disappointment; he told us simply and calmly
that we must winter in the pack, explained its dangers and possibilities;
never lost his optimism, and prepared for winter.” On October 27, the crew
is forced to abandon ship and watch as their ship Endurance is crushed to
splinters by pack ice.
Thanks to brutally honest
personal journals of captain and crew and the lens of the crew’s
photographer, we are able to journey along with the gritty reality of
Shackleton’s Endurance expedition. Authors Morrell and Capparell pause the
narrative at the end of each chapter to distill leadership insights and add
the observations of current business leaders who are Shackleton fans. While
these interpretations are often helpful, the real learning takes place as the
reader compares his or her own experiences and reactions to Shackleton’s.
“We had pierced the veneer of outside things,” writes the explorer,
paraphrasing Robert Service’s Call of the Wild. We had ‘suffered, starved,
and triumphed, groveled down yet grasped at glory, grown bigger in the bigness
of the whole.’ We had seen God in his splendors, read the text that Nature
renders. We had reached the naked soul of man.”
In the end, Shackleton’s
Way is a story about the character true leadership requires—and
inspires. Purchase this book and take it along on vacation. Or give it as a
gift.
When faced with challenge or
crisis, do you and your organization know how to...
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take charge with a plan of
action, clear about everyone’s role on the team, confident in a positive
outcome?
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see the big picture, and
frame alternative plans of action?
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streamline resources and
processes so they don’t slow you down?
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diffuse tension and deal
with malcontents?
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choose when to act, and
when to be patient?
From crisis communication planning to strategy
formulation and planning, CultureConnects can help.
Contact
us,
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