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Former Governor of Maine, fellow Dartmouth College alum and clean tech entrepreneur extraordinaire, Angus King, came to Tuck to give a talk on leadership. Rather than speaking about his own experience starting companies, building industry and getting elected governor, he instead turned to history to describe the leadership of Sir Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer.

Endurance, by Alfred Lansing describes Shackleton’s adventure, and is worth a read for one of the great stories of adventure, bravery, hardship and survival. However, it was Shackleton’s leadership lessons that Governor King focused on and that I took away from his talk.

There were ten lessons in leadership and together they comprise the “Shackleton Way”. I’ve interspersed them with some of King’s best leadership quotes of his own.

1. Vision
2. Execution
Importance of management by walking around
3. Communicate and Motivate
Be like Churchill: master the art of the well-prepared impromptu remark
4. Optimism and Confidence
“A leader is a dealer in hope”
      “Don’t pass uncertainty down the line”
5. Empathy
6. Flexibility and Creativity
7. Risk and Decision
     No decision is a decision
8. Luck
9. Lead by Example
10. Character
      Courage, perseverance, integrity and principles