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BY Brock Dudley

Leading at the Edge: Leadership Strategies (E206)

Joel and I teamed up to talk about one of our favorite topics: Leadership! As some may know, Joel is currently a graduate student in the Gonzaga Master of Organizational Leadership program. He’s taken a couple of classes in heartiness and resiliency and read the book Leading at the Edge by Dennis Perkins, so I gave it a read!

In this episode, we discuss a couple of key leadership strategies that Shackleton exemplified, and Perkins identifies in his book through extensive research and a life dedicated to learning about leadership.

Dennis Perkins has spent a major part of his life trying to understand what it really means to be a leader – particularly under conditions of adversity, ambiguity, and change. His passion to understand the art of leadership began at the United States Naval Academy. He went on to commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps and serve as a Company Commander in Vietnam. His leadership “post-graduate” education continued well past the USMC. Perkins went onto attend Harvard Business School, then later obtain his doctorate in Psychology from the University of Michigan. Perkins proceeded to join the Yale School of Management as a faculty member and is now the CEO of The Syncretics Group, a consulting firm dedicated to effective leadership in demanding environments.

Joel and I picked a couple of strategies that resonated with us and how we felt they applied to the JMO leading in the military, and to leaders in business. Joel also recently climbed a Mountain in his Masters. While not in the Antarctic for 800 days, it was quite an experience. While a six-to-nine-month deployment may not equate to being stranded in the Antarctic for 800 days, it takes strong leaders to help their crew, their units, their organizations through challenging times.

Quick summary of the book below.

Leading at the Edge

Leading at the Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition by Dennis Perkins uses the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 expedition as a framework for exploring leadership in extreme circumstances. Perkins draws leadership principles from Shackleton’s incredible ability to lead his crew through crisis and adversity. This book demonstrates how leadership lessons from the edge of survival can be applied to organizations confronting contemporary challenges such as competition; economic uncertainty; and the need for constant innovation, growth, and change.

Beset and trapped in solid ice packs, the crew was engaged in a fight for survival. The “Endurance” (Shackleton’s Ship) eventually was crushed by ice and sank. Through remarkable leadership, Shackleton managed to keep his men alive and motivated. He led a harrowing open-boat journey over 800 miles of treacherous seas to seek rescue, eventually saving all his men without a single loss of life. Lansing’s narrative highlights the courage, resilience, and teamwork that enabled them to survive this epic ordeal.
Perkins’s ten key leadership strategies that Shackleton exemplified are laid out below:

Ten Strategies

1. Never lose sight of the ultimate goal and focus energy on short-term objectives.
2. Set a personal example with visible, memorable symbols and behaviors.
3. Instill optimism and self-confidence but stay grounded in reality.
4. Take care of yourself: Maintain your stamina and let go of guilt.
5. Reinforce the team message constantly: “We are one – we live or die together”.
6. Minimize status differences and insist on courtesy and mutual respect.
7. Master conflict – deal with anger in small doses, engage dissidents, and avoid needless power struggles.
8. Find something to celebrate and something to laugh about.
9. Be willing to take the Big Risk.
10. Never give up – there’s always another move.

Hope you enjoy the episode!

Brock Dudley || (210) 874-1495 || bdudley@cameron-brooks.com

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