Review and Analysis Paper of the Chilean Mine Rescue

Review of the Chilean Mine Rescue
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Question 1
On 5th August 2010, underground cave buried and trapped 33 miners under the Atacama Desert. All 33 miners were rescued after 69 days. When the President Sebastian Pinera learned about the disaster, he realized that the rescuers faced technical challenges, and the mining firm lacked personnel and capability (Rashid, Edmondson, and Leonard, 2013). The President, therefore, decided that the government must take immediate responsibility for the rescue. President Pinera assigned Laurence Golborne (the mining minister) the task of being in charge of the disaster. President Pinera went to the mine site to meet the family members where he declared his commitment to rescuing the trapped miners. His aim was to bring the miners home whether dead or alive.
The president approached Chile’s biggest mining firm (Codelco) for assistance. The senior executives of the mining company recommended Andre Sougarret (due to his known professional experience) to lead the rescue mission (Needleman, 2015). Sougarret formed a team (consisting of 32 Codelco managers, two mine superintendents, a psychologist in HRM, and a communication expert) to assist in achieving the rescue plan. The team worked with drilling experts, geologists, and mine workers to achieve their rescue mission.
The San Jose rescue operation was a great effort involving leadership under immense time pressure. Jimenez-Martinez (2014) views that the operation brought together teamwork of individuals from different field professionals, organizations, and countries. The leaders under President Pinera’s government had to learn quickly and carry out their roles effectively to tackle the uncertain situation.
Question 2
Path-goal theory is an approach to inspiring and motivating the followers. In the Chilean Mine Rescue, President Pinera and Sougarret challenged, inspired, and motivated their followers in each situation. These leaders gave people hope on what was needed to be done, solved challenges, and rewarded individuals who performed their tasks well (Rashid, Edmondson, and Leonard, 2013). The leaders reminded the followers about what they were striving to achieve. They brought many new ideas and reenergized their efforts and creativity. Sougarret continuously highlighted that the key mission was to save lives. He gave people space to reflect, think, organize, and experiment their ideas. Families were assisted to cope with their worries with the help of the psychologist. Sougarret, Golborne (mining minister), and Aguilar (psychologist) visited the San Jose site regularly to inspire and motivate technical experts to cope with their difficult daily progress (Jimenez-Martinez, 2014). They provided assistance and continuously stressed on the mission’s urgency. The leaders developed a psychologically safe environment where there was no blaming anybody but focused on learning from failures.
Question 3
President Pinera created and implemented a communication strategy which served as a control system to avert the damage. The willingness of the Chile’s government to seek for assistance created a successful collaboration and coordination of firms and prof...