Riding the Bus of Our Life--a Muse

                                     How Eager Are You to Get that Position? 

In 1907, Ernest Shackleton, leader of the Nimrod expedition to Antarctica was looking for an artist to accompany him.

Here’s  how he hired George Marston as ship artist.  He sent telegrams to three candidates on a Friday afternoon asking them to meet him the next day. 

Next day he found a note at his office from one of them asking if he could come Monday.   A note from the second said he would only make the four-hour trip if he were assured of the job.  Shackleton was about to leave when the third man, disheveled and soaking wet from the rain, rushed up saying he had immediately set out for London when he got the telegram.

 He told Shackleton that he had been on a walking tour in Cornwall when the telegram had been forwarded to his lodgings.  He had immediately set out for London, taking several trains to get there.

  “I promptly engaged him, “Shackleton wrote.  “I thought that if a man could be as quick as that in order to get a position, he was the man for it; and, as it turned out, my opinion was more than justified.”

                                     (--This story is from the book, Schackleton’s Way)

                       How eager are you to get that position you want? 

                               How are you showing it?

                                         How Eager Are You for the Position

In 1907, Ernest Shackleton, leader of the Nimrod expedition to Antarctica was looking for an artist to accompany him. 

Shackleton put all his heart and soul into his work and he wanted men who would do the same.  He saw that the candidates hungriest to be hired usually proved their mettle on the job.  He recalled how he hired George Marston as ship artist for the Nimrod expedition.  He had whittled a pile of thirty applicants down to three and sent telegrams to each on a Friday afternoon asking them to meet him in his office at a specific time the next day.

That Saturday, Shackleton made his way to the office in a downpour and found a note from one of the candidates.  It said  he was going out of town and asked to switch the appointment to Monday.   The second had written to say he would only make the four-hour trip to the office from his home if it were certain he would get the job.  Shackleton hadn’t heard from the third candidate, and was preparing to leave the office when a man, disheveled and soaking wet from the rain, rushed up.  He told Shackleton that he had been on a walking tour in Cornwall when the telegram had been forwarded to his lodgings.  He had immediately set out for London, taking several trains to get there.

         “I promptly engaged him, “ Shackleton wrote.  “I thought that if a man could be as quick as that in order to get a position, he was the man for it; and, as it turned out, my opinion was more that justified.”