Leadership Lessons

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• Welcome!
• Leadership Exercise
• Review “Personnel Cabinet’s
Leadership definition / leadership
qualities
• Lessons from Leaders: Shackleton
• The History of Leadership – Regent
University
• New website!
• Coming in May! Leadership
Communications / Intro to Mentoring
Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute
April 2009
 Lessons from Great Leaders:
Leadership Lessons from Ernest Shackleton
Personnel Cabinet
Leadership Institute
April 14, 2009

Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute

April 2009
Everyone has an Antarctic…what’s
yours?

Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute

April 2009
Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute
April 2009
 Leadership Lessons
• Ernest Shackleton – failed only at the
improbable, he succeeded at the
unimaginable
• He has been called “the greatest leader
that ever came on God’s earth, bar none,
yet he never led a group larger than 27”
• Who is he?

I love the fight and when things (are) easy, I hate it ~ Ernest Shackleton
Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute
April 2009
 Leadership Lessons
• He failed to reach the South Pole in 1902 when
he was part of a three-man Farthest South team
on the Discovery expedition with explorer
Captain Robert F. Scott. But the men turned
back only after walking their scurvy-ravaged
bodies to within 463 miles of the Pole
• 1910, as Commander of the expedition aboard
the Nimrod, Shackleton was forced to stop 97
miles short of the Pole, but only after realizing it
would be certain death by starvation had his
team continued
• But it was in 1914…
Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute
April 2009
 Leadership Lessons
• His greatest “failure” was
his 1914-1916 Endurance
expedition. He lost his ship
before even touching
Antarctica. But he reached
a new pinnacle in
leadership when he
successfully led all 27
members of his crew to
safety after a harrowing
two-year fight for their
lives.

Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute

April 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uj_QZbVVs8

Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute

April 2009
 Leadership Lessons
• As soon as he knew that the ship was frozen,
he figured out that the goal was no longer to
walk across the continent of Antarctica. The
new goal was to survive. He was able to see
that and keep that clearly in focus.
• Despite many defining Shackleton as a failure in
expedition pursuits, years later, he was seen as
one who could achieve the impossible

Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute

April 2009
 Leadership Lessons
• New goal was now clearly in focus
• It was his ability to revise and reset his objectives as the
context changed. He was able to give up his long-
sought-after goal of reaching the pole and focus on
building a foundation of
– Camaraderie
– Loyalty
– Responsibility
– Determination … and above all
– Optimism …

New goal that ultimately lead him to achieving something

far more greater than reaching the pole!

Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute

April 2009
Shackleton’s Way of Developing
Leadership Skills

• Cultivate a sense of compassion and responsibility for

others. You have a bigger impact on the lives of those
under you than you can imagine.
• Find a way to turn setbacks and failures to your
advantage. This would be a good time to step forward on
your own.
• Learn from past mistakes – yours and those made by
others. Sometimes the best teachers are the bad bosses
and the negative experiences.
• Never insist on reaching a goal at any cost. It must be
achieved at a reasonable expense, without undue
hardship for your staff.
Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute
April 2009
Shackleton’s Way of Developing
Individual Talent

• Create a work environment comfortable enough to entice

professionals to spend the greater part of their waking
hours there. Allow for some personal preferences.
• Match the person to the position. Be observant of the
types of people who are working for your and what jobs
might best suit their personalities as well as their
experience.
• Give consistent feedback on performance. Most workers
feel they don’t get nearly enough words of praise and
encouragement.
• Be tolerant. Know each employee’s strengths and
weaknesses, and set reasonable expectations.
Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute
April 2009
Shackleton’s Way of Getting the Group
Through a Crisis

• When crisis strikes, immediately address your staff. Take

charge of the situation, offer a plan of action, ask for support,
and show absolute confidence in a positive outcome.
• Plan several options in detail. Get a grasp of the possible
consequences of each, always keeping your eye on the big
picture.
• Defuse tension. In high-stress situations use humor to put
people at ease, and keep your staff busy.
• Let go of the past. Don’t waste time or energy regretting past
mistakes or fretting over what you can’t change.
• Be patient. Sometimes the best course of action is to do
nothing but watch and wait.
Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute
April 2009
What are your team goals?

Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute

April 2009
 Visit Leadership Institute Site:
https://extranet.personnel.ky.gov/leadershipinstitute.htm

Reference
Additional Shackleton Resources – including handouts
Regent University: Leadership Studies

Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute

April 2009
 Next Month: Leadership
Communications & Introduction to
Mentoring

Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute

April 2009
 Resources
• Alexander, Caroline. The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition. New
• York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999.
• Heacox, Kim. Shackleton: The Antarctic Challenge. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic
• Society, 1999.
• Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster. New York:
• Villard, 1997.
• Lansing, Alfred. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage. New York: Carroll & Graf,
• 1959.
• McCoy, Bowen C. “The Parable of the Sadhu.” Harvard Business Review, September-October
• 1983, pp. 103-108.
• Morrell, Margot & Capparell, Stephanie. “Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer.”
Penguin Books, 2001.
• Pfeffer, Jeffrey. Managing with Power: Politics and Influence in Organizations. Boston:
• Harvard Business School Press, 1992.
• Price, Eluned. “American Executives Are Adopting the Polar Explorer Ernest Shackleton as a
• Model of Good Management.” The Daily Telegraph (London), September 12, 1998,
• p.11.
• Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure (April, 2009) http://main.wgbh.org/imax/shackleton/about.html
• Useem, Michael. Class lectures, “Foundations of Leadership.” Wharton Executive

Personnel Cabinet Leadership Institute

April 2009