Sir Ernest Shackleton was an explorer. He led several expeditions to the frozen antarctic. On one such expedition, on the ship Endurance, he and his crew became stranded in the ice. They had to abandon ship and drag their lifeboats over the frozen flows to open water. From their, they had to sail over treacherous waters to reach civilization. It is a harrowing story. (You can read more in Caroline Alexander’s The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition.)
Alexander points out that part of Shackleton’s genius was as a leader. That was demonstrated in how he selected his men. “The general peace that prevailed on the Endurance had not come about by accident and owed something to the manner in which Shackleton had selected the men in the first place. When James [one of the science officers] presented himself for his interview, the great explorer had bewildered him by asking not about his suitability for a major polar expedition, or details of his scientific work—but whether he could sing.”
‘Oh I don’t mean any Caruso stuff,’ Shackleton had continued, ‘but I suppose you can shout a bit with the boys?’ The question proved to be uncannily appropriate. What he was looking for was an ‘attitude,’ not paper qualifications.”
How is your relationship with other members of the crew? How can you maintain and improve this relationship?
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January 9, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Will
That’s a good question. Maybe other members of the crew could give a more objective answer I can. The cruise ship mentality certainly puts a lot of emphasis on self and that creates problems. Even within the battleship mentality there’s often a lot of emphasis of self’s understanding of the mission. Which may well different from the understanding of those around. It creates a challenge to put one’s whole self in the mission and at the same time realize that the mission requires all different parts working together. Ironically the more passionately one sees the mission, the more tension is placed on relationships. How am I dealing with these challenges? l intend to be true to personal convictions, make conscious efforts to communicate and build relationships, be open, try to see common understanding and basically try to get along. Maybe a bit of recreational singing would be a big thing in spite of none deficiencies.