“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success”

Shackleton’s advert for the original crew is surely one of the classic job descriptions, as indeed is the manner in which he selected his team.

And now 100 years later the offer is being made again. The 100 year celebration expedition to retrace Shackleton’s journey to the south pole (well, 97 miles short of !!) is advertising for a member of the public to join the party. Only this time there are no wages! The conditions will be more palatable though. (Read the story on the Guardian site)

Applications can be made on line at www.matrixgroup.co.uk/shackleton

Shackleton has long been a ‘leadership hero’ of mine as he demonstrated many excellent leadership traits which today’s project managers would do well to consider. He has been called the greatest team leader bar none, this despite the fact Shackleton failed in nearly every objective he set himself.

I have even been known over the years to deliver presentations and workshops on Shackleton’s style of leadership and its relevance to today’s construction project management: a style that can be summarised as