Essay Sample on Responsibility in Leadership

Imagine if the Kansas City Chiefs did not have Andy Reid, a manager, or players who wanted to win each game and improve their skills. Absolutely no decisions would be made, no strategies would be formed, no players would come to practice, and adding it all up, there would be no such thing as the Kansa City Chiefs. This same idea of someone taking control of a team or group of people is needed in multiple aspects of life, to keep the world turning and advancing. Someone who encourages manages and controls a group of people like this is a leader and they need to have an abundance of strong qualities to maintain a successful team. In the narrative Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing, Captain Earnest Shackelton needed to obtain this virtue of leadership when he planned to lead a crew of men on a transcontinental voyage through the Atlantic Ocean from London to Antarctica and back. Shackelton had multiple characteristics that demonstrated his leadership skills such as responsibility and had a realistic viewpoint throughout the journey which led him and his crew to success. 

In the early nineteen hundreds, very few expeditions had been made through the Atlantic towards the poles of the globe. This journey was risky, and the men to endure this adventure we brave, courageous, and heroic. With a small amount of experience like this in the past, the crew traveling across the ocean had to be prepared for anything, including making tough decisions when it was necessary. The final say of these tough decisions was made by Ernest Shackleton who was the captain of the Endurance and leader of the crew on the ship. Being in control, Shackelton had to take responsibility for his actions and think about the choices he made because they affected his entire crew and even at times, their lives. Towards the middle of their journey to the pole, Shackelton and his crew get caught in an abundance of ice floes that cause them to become immobile and trapped in the ice. The ice begins to impale their boat, causing it to fill with water and slowly emerge into the icy cold waters. At this point, Shackelton has a tough design to make and finally decides to abandon ship when he admits “She’s going, boys, I think it’s time to get off” (Lansing 74). Coming to this conclusion to leave the Endurance behind must have been heard for Shackleton. He spent so much of his time, money, and resources planning a voyage to travel the ocean. Leaving his ship behind was a big move for Shackelton and his crew to make, after that they were more vulnerable to the environment with fewer resources and safety. Here, Shackleton was even more responsible for his crew and this journey he began. Another instance where you see Shackelton show his leadership quality of responsibility is when his crew is on top of a hill. Shackelton decides that for them to survive and not freeze to death, they need to get off this bluff: “If they stayed where they were, they would freeze—in an hour, maybe two, maybe more… So he suggested they slide” (Lansing 338). Likewise with the choice to abandon ship, sliding down the bluff is putting the lives of his crew in jeopardy. Shackelton is in charge of everyone in his crew and he is despoblé for their lives and safety. With this in mind, Shackleton had to make his choice to slide down the hill, knowing that if anything happened to anyone in his crew it would be his fault. Shackelton had control of the whole situation and he did what he believed was the best for the lives of his crew. Having the lives of other people in his hands, and having the trust of the crew, it must have been hard for Shackelton to make some of the tough decisions that he came across. Considering the circumstances, Shackelton did what he thought was best for his crew with the choices that he had to pick from. 

Not only did Earnest Shackelton lead his crew with an amazing amount of responsibility concerning his crew and their lives, but he was also realistic when making decisions throughout the voyage. After setting out on their voyage to travel across the transcontinental ocean, as they got closer to the colder parts of the sea, they encounter large amounts of ice which causes them to slow down, and eventually, their ship becomes stuck. Shackelton and his crew aboard the Endurance try every possible way to get out of the ice and find a path through the sea. After weeks of searching, they decide “That the possibility of getting free could longer be seriously considered”(Landing 40). Coming to this conclusion must have been hard for them because this was the first big bump in their long journey across the Atlantic. Even though they had to give up on trying to continue with their boat, they were realistic enough to see that it was impossible to continue on any part of their search with the boat since it was submerged with ice. Although they had to leave the Endurance behind, at least they got to continue their journey on foot, discovering more and more and growing their knowledge of the transcontinental. If Shackelton and his crew would have not been realistic about the ice situation they would have gotten nowhere at all and they would have died on the boat stuck between two ice floes. Next, Shackelton knew that this journey was hard and something that no one had ever done before. With this in mind, he began to expect that there was a possibility that he would not survive. When the voyage started to take a turn for the worst with bad event after bad event, Shackelton starts to write in his journal so that “In the event that a rescue party failed to arrive within a reasonable length of time”, Wild, one of Shackelton’s second in commands)  would know what to do. It is seen again here that Shackelton had to be responsible and points out that there was a chance that the rescue team would not find them quickly enough. If Shackelton did not have this realistic view of their situation and had a slight chance of doubt, his crew would not be prepared if the worst possibility did come true. When thinking about the worst possibility it equipped Shackelton’s crew with the tools they needed to survive if the worst did come true. Throughout their journey, having a realistic view of their situation kept Shackleton and his crew safe and ready for the next obstacle. 

Earnest Shackelton is known as one of the greatest leaders in history because of his ability to lead a group of people through the treacherous icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Although I do not have anyone in my life who has traveled on an expedition across the ocean, there are people in my life who I see display some of the same leadership qualities as Earnest Shackleton. One person that comes to mind is my church band leader, Tim. Tim pushed me to start playing piano for my school, and then eventually gave me the courage to play piano in front of my whole church for services. He leads the band through a whole church service with at least 3 songs per session. When leading the band Tim takes responsibility for everything that happens, if something goes wrong, or technology messes up, Tim will take the blame for it and fix the problem. He will also take risks and will give us harder songs to push us and make the set better. However, at times Tim had to recognize that we were not prepared for a set and had to make changes to accommodate that. Taking this realistic point of view of our abilities and readiness to perform, Tim ensured that we were set up for success when performing in front of the whole school. Tim is an amazing leader and someone I look up to and aspire to gain leadership qualities from. 

In conclusion, being a successful leader includes taking responsibility, and being realistic about every situation that arises. In the narrative Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing, Earnest Shackleton is an exquisite leader who guided his crew on an adventure across the Atlantic towards Antarctica through many tribulations along the sea. Shackelton had to make hard decisions that risked the lives of himself and the crew to carry on with his transcontinental voyage and had to take responsibility for those decisions. Successful leaders also need to take a realistic approach to every hardship that comes their way; Shackleton demonstrated this perfectly which shows his leadership qualities. If Shackleton had not been the kind of leader that he was, he and his crew would not have discovered as much as they did and they all could have died. Likewise, if the Kansas City Chief did not have Andy Reid they would not have a team and if my band did not have Tim we would not have a band. All in all, to have a successful team or crew of people it is virtual to have a strong leader.