But wait, HOW DID THIS HAPPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE?
After reading through the adventures of Shakleton and crew, I didn't understand why such a great decision maker such as Shakleton would choose to throw his crew into an almost suicidal mission. He did have information about how bad the conditions were (the regular conditions weren't even good to begin with) yet he choose to go on the expedition just to prove himself to the world. I wouldn't call someone like that a 'perfect' leader. But then again, who's perfect? In the end he saved everyone and obviously has the qualities of a good leader. It's just that he is still human; he makes mistakes.
So, what I learned through reading the beginning of the book ISN'T to criticize great leaders for making mistakes, but the fact that even the best leaders DO make mistakes. Knowing that mistakes are (at times) acceptable makes me feel as though I can become a leader one day as well.
Good point about why Shackleton got into his predicament in the first place, and as a successful explorer he was a complete failure. But as a leader of people in a bad situation, it would be hard to find anyone better.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, when the whole Shackleton Mania thing first started, one of the points being made is that leaders necessarily need to take risks, that they need to fail and recover (especially early in their careers) in order to know how to gamble and win later on.