Leading, learning, and living the shackleton way: Education and practice

Abstract

Ernest Shackleton, an early twentieth century Antarctic explorer, was best known for his leadership skills in the face of extreme hardship. After his ship, Endurance, was trapped in the icy waters of the Weddell Sea, he kept his entire crew alive for nearly two years. Many of his leadership principles can be applied to project management in our present time. In this paper we explore the leadership traits that Shackleton embraced and will present a case study of junior-level civil engineering students' responses to a video of the Shackleton saga. The paper will contrast Shackleton's leadership with that of another explorer of his time, Vilhjalmur Stefansson. Finally, two present-day engineering case studies will be reviewed which show the complexity and results of being a leader-specifically a project manager-taking responsibility and doing the right thing. © 2010 ASCE.