Lead through failure, but never fail to lead: Leadership lessons from Sir Ernest Shackleton

We all remember Roald Amundsen because he was the first to reach the South Pole. While Amundsen does deserve his accolade, the failures of Ernest Shackleton deserve a special mention in the annals of exploration. He was one of the first people to lead expeditions into the Antarctic. These are some of the leadership lessons from the documentary “Endurance” (National Geographic), dedicated to Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914. To the uninitiated, this expedition was the first attempt to cross the continent of Antarctica.

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1. Attitude matters.

Shackleton never really bothered too much about the experience or skills of his crew. He picked people based on their positive attitude and their thirst for adventure. While he did pick qualified and experienced people for important positions, he picked some over the others simply because they had an added value as musicians or because they were good with animals.

2.?Own the failure, credit the success.

Shackleton took full responsibility for the crew’s well-being for the entire expedition. Their ship, the “Endurance” became stuck in ice and eventually sank, a full year after they set off from England. He assured his crew that he shall take full accountability for anything unfortunate that happens beyond this point and that it was his duty to bring every last man safely back home.

3.?Leadership comes with sacrifice. Lead by example.

When the Endurance sank off the coast of Antarctica, Shackleton ordered the crew to discard anything that was not going to help them going forward. This meant getting rid of valuables and personal belongings. Shackleton led by example and discarded some of his prized possessions like his watch. He even had to personally shoot many of the sled dogs they had brought along with them because they were running low on food. He also gave his mittens to one of the crewmen since he had lost his. Shackleton suffered frostbite as a result.

4.?Morale is key.

While discarding unnecessary baggage and preparing for their long march toward land, Shackleton did not let one of his crew members discard the banjo that he had brought along. He knew that music would lift the spirits of his crew. He always kept the morale of his crew up by engaging with them in personal conversations and through music and games. This personal connect helped build a sense of camaraderie within the crew.

5.?Adapt to changes, trust your instincts. It’s ok to accept failure.

After their ship sank, Shackleton had initially planned to march towards land. After a few days of non-stop marching, he came to the conclusion that the crew would not survive if he went any further. So, he ordered the crew to camp out and wait. They drifted along with the ice for days until the mountains of Elephant Island came into view. They had to abandon camp once the ice started to break up. The crew then rowed their boats for 6 days to reach Elephant island. They had set foot on land for the first time in 497 days. All 27 of the crew survived the ordeal.

6.?Be ready to make some tough choices.

Elephant island was not a very hospitable place. It was obvious that the crew could not stay there for long. Shackleton then made the tough decision to leave behind 22 of his crew on Elephant island. He would set sail in the open ocean with four others in a lifeboat with the hope of finding help and returning to rescue the rest of his crew.

7.?Knowledge is power and with great power, comes great responsibility.

When Shackleton left Elephant island, he and his crew would row their lifeboat towards South Georgia island where there was a whaling station. Although the Falkland islands were nearer, he knew that the prevailing winds at the time would make it impossible to reach them. He took on the responsibility to lead his crew on a dangerous voyage but not an impossible one.

8.?Perseverance can move mountains.

For 16 days, they rowed in icy and stormy waters….. Only to reach the wrong side of South Georgia island, which was uninhabited. Shackleton was presented with a tough choice once again: row around the island or climb some formidable mountains to reach civilization. Shackleton chose the latter in the interest of time. He left three of his crew on the other side of the island because they were in no shape to continue.

9.?Desperate times call for desperate measures. Dare to do something crazy.

If anything, Shackleton’s entire expedition was all kinds of crazy. Now he was crossing the mountains of South Georgia island, which was considered madness even by the locals. Shackleton led his crew over the mountains, into uncharted territory. After 36 hours of hiking, they had reached civilization.

10.?Keep your promises.

Shackleton then immediately set about rescuing the rest of his crew. He chartered a whaling boat to first rescue the three crew members he had left behind on the other side of the island. Shackleton faced heartbreaking failures trying to rescue the rest of his crew. His first two attempts were utter failures, running low on fuel the first time and being beaten back by ice the second time. On his third attempt, he had procured a ship from the Government of Chile and succeeded in reaching Elephant island, 128 days after he had left. Shackleton kept his promise of returning to rescue his crew.

11.?Live by your ideals, prepare to die by them.

The Shackleton family motto was “fortitudine vincimus” – by endurance we conquer. Ernest Shackleton failed in his mission to cross the Antarctic but he did endure one of the most grueling survival scenarios in the history of exploration. He had led his crew through over two years of surviving the harshest conditions imaginable and managed to keep every last one of them alive, at his own expense.

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Shackleton was a complete failure as far as his objectives were concerned. The truth however, is that he had set lofty targets for himself which were considered impossible by others. Yet, he committed to them anyway. Although he failed, he failed gloriously. There can never be another instance where someone can lead a crew of 27 for two years through a shipwreck in harsh Antarctic weather, and bring every single one of them back alive. Shackleton would later die on South Georgia island of a heart attack, leading another expedition into the Antarctic. He remains buried there to this day, close to his true love: the uncharted lands. Sir Ernest Shackleton, I salute you.