O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman

Old Captain by Google Images

 

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

But O heart! heart! heart!

O the bleeding drops of red,

Where on the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up-for you the flag is flung-for you the bugle trills;

For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths-for you the shores a-crowding;

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

Here Captain! dear father!

This arm beneath your head;

It is some dream that on the deck,

You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;

From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;

Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!

But I, with mournful tread,

Walk the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

Image by CoolCLIPS.com

Relating the Leadership: “O CAPTAIN! my Captain!” is a reference to a leader from the follower’s perspective.

“The ship has weather’d every rack” speaks to the tiring battle you must face as the leader to navigate the rough waters and challenges that routinely present themselves.

Ship Navigating through stormy seas

The “prize we sought is won” concerns your goal attainment leaving “the people all exulting.”

“The vessel grim and daring” is about the risks that leaders must take to reach their destination. The journey is not easy and will require you to devote your energy to overcoming your fears, and you must overcome shiny object syndrome found in the line “O the bleeding drops of red.”

“Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.” Serving as a leader can be wearisome and thankless job leaving you physically and emotionally drained. Therefore, you need to find manners to rejuvenate and “rise up and hear the bells.”

Titanic Captain Edward John Smith (Image by Encyclopedia Titanica)

Know that you will receive your rewards “for you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths-for you the shores a-crowding.”  These rewards may be enough to keep you motivated ad excited to pursue the next challenge or your lips may be “pale and still.”  It is important to find intrinsic motivating factors that you will appreciate and keep your batteries running.

“From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won.” Your trip as a leader may be wrought with fear, but you can overcome these fears and achieve the goals you set.

A poem by Walt Whitman

Source: http://thetwleader.com