Leading at The Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition

Drawing on the amazing story of Shackleton and his polar exploration team’s survival against all odds, author Dennis N. T. Perkins demonstrates the importance of a strong leader in times of adversity, uncertainty, and change.

Part adventure tale and part leadership guide, Leading at the Edge uncovers what the legendary Antarctic adventure of Sir Ernest Shackleton, his ship Endurance, and his team of twenty-seven polar explorers can teach us about bringing order to chaos through true leadership.

Among other skills, you’ll learn how to:

• instill optimism while staying grounded in reality,
• step up to risks worth taking,
• consistently reinforce your team message,
• set a personal example,
• find things to celebrate,
• laugh small things off,
• and--even in the face of extreme temperatures, hazardous ice, scarce food, and complete isolation--never give up.

This second edition of Leading at the Edge features additional lessons, new case studies of the strategies in action, tools to uncover and resolve conflicts, and expanded resources.

An updated epilogue compares the leadership styles of the famous polar explorers Shackleton, Amundsen, and Scott, which transcend the one-hundred-plus years since their historic race to the South Pole to help today’s leaders learn valuable lessons about the meaning of true success.

DENNIS PERKINS is the author of Leading at The Edge and CEO of Syncretics Group, a consulting firm dedicated to helping leaders and teams thrive under conditions of adversity, uncertainty, and change. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, he successfully completed his first Sydney Hobart Race in 2006. JILLIAN B. MURPHY is the Director of Client Services at Syncretics.

Margaret P. Holtman is director of employee development at Hartford Life, Inc. Paul R. Kessler is a managing consultant at Stromberg Consulting. Catherine McCarthy, Ph.D., is a principal of the consulting firm Kaye