A humanly manned ships puzzled me today.

When I passed by along the coastal area near the city, my mind was thinking outside the box.

While looking from afar, one ship was so vast outbound, while the others were in stationary with a thought that there were cargo operations, and some were leaving the port with bulks.

Perhaps a part of me was really wondering why and how things were going inside and outside a ship.

Although I had experienced traveling by a ship, in terms of working 24/7 in a ship like seafarers do, it made me questioned of how the Captain leads his people when the boat will be sinking.

I had a lot of what ifs, which led me to relate leadership and the abandon ship.

Leadership matters most in times of extremities and chaos.

”What if the boat is sinking? How can crisis be managed?”

All of a sudden, I remembered about the “Abandon Ship” film in the year 1957. Even if I was born in the 1990s but I got the chance to watch it because of of my favorite professor’s recommendation way back when I was still studying.

In times of extreme crisis like a sinking boat, the Captain’s leadership matters.

It is often said that leadership is an indicator to be one of the reasons of either success or failure in any aspect throughout time, and it is becoming a very challenging concept in a dynamic world.

In any field of life, leaders must play a significant role in improving positive outcomes. Thus, leadership must improve the efficiency and effectiveness in many life perspectives.

Going back to the survival story of the “Abandon Ship”, it was a great example of an inspiration leading a group in moments of extremities and chaos.

In fact, there were many leadership lessons that I have learned from this film and there were also some questions I had on how to handle extreme stress in a calm manner, and that the twist was able to keep me interested until the end.

The story all started when a ship struck a
land mine. After it happened, it exploded and sunk in seven seconds. Twenty-seven people had survived with the Captain given tasks to take control of the lifeboat and see to it that many people would survive as much as possible.

The boat was thousands of miles apart from the land with a major turbulent storm coming. And that the saddest part was the idea that the lifeboat can only hold for at least twelve people, but there were too many of them, so the Captain must pick and select which ones could stay on the top and which of them must go overboard, making the best lead that he could be.

While it was so obvious that this reference was about a ship, the same biggest lesson in leadership was that the great Captain did not abandon his ship.

It was so interesting for it portrayed more of a moral thing about true of leaders of any team and organization.

I firmly believe that…

A great leader does not abandon a team and a best leader must not turn back on the people who would depend for their safety and well-being. Whether on colleagues or the most valued people, there must be a good rapport among the members.

In the film, the leadership style of the Captain manifested was more of coercive and authoritative power, wherein the captain was being firm and forceful with his decision between life and death decisions.

Consequently, in relation to leadership, to lead a team effectively, one must use power effectively.

One common leadership mistake is that one makes all too easy to succeed without finding own unique of creating balance of power. The balance of power is truly very important because one could either underuse or overuse power.

Based on my personal experience on leading…

When it comes to being an effective leader, I considered authoritative leadership style as the best for me in running an group towards common goals, since it is a matter of managing to engage and energize every team members along the way, not only by leading, but by also giving every member the opportunity to choose a certain decision that ignites both motivation and enthusiasm.

Similarly, in the “Abandon Ship”, the captain was successful in resolving the dilemma because he was firm in making decisions with the team’s consent.

It does not matter if things go wrong, what is more important is to identify the most likely circumstances and have a plan that could be more of a realistic and a practical way.

A leader must ensure that while all precautions are taken and pointed out, the preparation for a crisis never stop, and that one must never underestimate how bad a situation is by engaging in wishful and dreamy thinking through making into a reality.

In addition, I strongly believe that great leaders would always consider the worst case scenario when something goes wrong. It is not a matter of being negative, but rather a degree of resilience about the complexity of the situation and the need to be calm in deliberating severe actions.

Even the best weather cannot make the best captain…

No matter how best the circumstances are, no leader can do it alone. A leader needs others to help communicate and execute any strategy and technique for crisis. Best leaders must not panic but always have a sense of calmness even in the most dangerous situation.

Moreover, a leader’s calmness must have a direct impact on the calmness of others around. Conversely, when a leader panics, it would often induce panic in others. So being calm despite crisis must be reflected so things would run well.

Perhaps something has moved me today and my mind has made me think in mysterious ways about the relationship between the ship, leadership, and abandon ship.

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Disclaimer: All texts and pictures are my own, unless otherwise stated.