"Never for me the lowered banner, never the last endeavor"  - Sir Ernest Shackleton

In 1914 Sir Ernest Shackleton led an expedition to Antarctica that was intended to cross the entire continent through the South Pole. The pole itself had been conquered a few yeas earlier by Amundsen and his team. Shackleton being one of the great polar explorers hoped to increase the knowledge of the area. Unfortunately their ship, the Endurance became ice bound and eventually  crushed resulting in one of the greatest survival stories of all time. Ultimately, all hands were rescued after over 18 months lost on the ice. Many attribute this feat to Shackleton's leadership skills. He was able to manage a team of experts, motivate the crew, maintain discipline, communicate orders, and make critical decisions when needed so that every man would survive a terrible ordeal.

 For the past few weeks I have been discussing project leadership as the next progression of project management. The leadership skills that Shackleton used almost 100 years ago are the very same that project managers need today.

·         Ability to communicate not only status but direction to the team.

·         Discipline in making sure that tasks are assigned and executed per the schedule.
·         Motivation. Many project teams consist of people who do not directly report to the PM and / or work remotely. The PM must be able to motivate the team to contribute to the overall success of the project.
·         Manage a team of experts. PMs must be able to manage a group of experts who have different project roles and different skills.
·         Ability to get obtain input and make critical decisions in a timely manner.

 Today's projects require project managers to be true leaders that manage projects that help move their organizations forward. Take a lesson from Sir Ernest and take the mantle of leadership to heart.