Leadership Lessons from the Antarctic

Carol and I just spent two weeks cruising in the Antarctic. In another day will be disembarking in Ushuaia. Our suite was filled with travel books and many on the topic of Antarctic, so I took advantage of the opportunity. There is something special about reading the history of a geographic area you are traveling in.

Some of the books I read:

-Shackleton, a biography by Rudolf Fienner

-Shackleton Forgotten Men, by Lennar Bickel

-Madhouse at the End of the Earth, by Julian Sanction

-Life Lessons from Explorers, by Felicity Aston

At the risk of flaunting my shallow understanding of how explorations in the South Pole/Antarctic regions go, I was struck by comparisons with the four men who contributed to the saga, and all were contemporaries.

These four were all involved in claiming the prize of reaching the South Pole. (NOTE: You may wish to skip down to my comparative take-aways below and then come back to the bio.)

Adrien de Gerlache: Though less known than the other three names, he captained the Belgica which spent a winter in the Antarctic sandwiched between ice floes. His first mate was Amundsen. When he made his push on foot to the South Pole with two other men, the weakest forced him to turn back a few hundred miles of the goal. That man’s name was Earnest Shackleton.?Lessons were learned. First, the importance of meat to prevent scurvy. Second, horses don’t usually do so well on the ice. Third, proper clothing and smaller agile vessels are essential when the ice comes.

Sir Ernest Shackleton: ?He was a poor businessman. Even his wife Emily stated, “No one has ever accused my husband of being good in business.” However, he was a tremendous storyteller and salesman. Over his lifetime he made far more income from speaking (USA and UK) than he ever did exploring. Shackleton was indisputably a great leader once on board a ship. He treated all men equally, when they were seriously sick, he would act as personal caregiver, confidant, chaplain, and friend. He remained unwaveringly positive in the harshest of conditions. In the final days after their failed attempt to reach the South Pole, and 24-48 hours from the camp, he shared his “biscuit” with a friend who later was quoted to say, “That biscuit would have sold for 1000 pounds”.

That sailor had his remains transferred to be buried next to Shackleton. Shackleton’s heroics when he left 24 of his men on Elephant Island, traveling 600 miles in a 22-foot boat to South Georgia Island, then climbing over the mountains in the snow without sleeping bags or food supplies, to the opposite side sliding down hills on their rear ends to find a whaling village, is a story worth reading. It was that final segment of the story that told how, when the other two men with him needed to sleep after 24 hours, Shackleton said, “Go ahead”.

He knew if he joined them, none would awaken, so he let them sleep for 5 minutes then woke them saying, “You have been asleep for 30 minutes”. He got them to safety. He then took two ships back to Elephant Island to rescue the men left behind.

They were unable to land. He at first saw only two men, then eight, and finally all 24 alive and waiting. His greatest achievement “I did not lose any of my men.” On his second assault on the South Pole, he was forced to turn around just 100 miles from the goal. He returned one more time around the age of 47 but died of heart ailments while still enroute. He was buried in South Georgia Island. His wife said, “I know that is where his heart was.” Biographers are kind, but he had substantial faults. He was an unfaithful husband, neglectful father, did not pay back debts to his creditors, and played loose with the truth.

Captain Robert Scott:?Had the official backing of the British government. He was well funded, scientifically astute, did what he said he would do and was dependable. He laid claim to Port McCurdy. When Shackleton landed there, Scott never forgave him. The sense of “rights” and “places claimed” because a person had been there first is hard for me to understand.

Amundsen was pushing in from another direction, unknown to Scott. When Scott arrived at the Pole to find evidence Amundsen had already been there. A flag was planted on the pole site and some supplies left for Scott and his men. Scott simply wrote, “This is a very sad day.” He had reached the South Pole on January 17, 1912.?He had all the benefits of modern science on his side including mechanical devices, but they quickly froze and were useless. He had money but he traveled too heavily, and on the return, the last three remaining explorers died in their tent just 11 miles from their next food drop.

Roald Amundsen: Amundsen was headed to the North Pole. That was the given purpose of his funding and his assignment. Before beginning his expedition, he heard Robert Peary had already successfully reached the North Pole. Around the same time the Nimrod Expedition led by Shackleton failed to reach the South Pole.

He was worried his sponsors might not approve of his new direction, so he went without checking. He simply informed his crew the South Pole had been his objective all along, but he had kept it secretive to give them the edge to be the first. He knew Robert Scott was already headed there and had the financial backing of a national undertaking, with motorized sledges and all modern equipment.

He determined to go using a small crew, dogs not horses, to remain flexible, and the lessons learned from the indigenous people of the North.

He also opted for small ships to navigate the ice floes which caused problems for other explorers. His plan was to leave food drops along the way with a team approaching from the opposite side.

When snowed in, he kept his team working on details. Designing ski boots, upgrading the sledges, and eliminating unnecessary waste. Details, details, details.

When in doubt, he took lessons from the Netsilik people up north that he had spent time with. He figured out how they lived in these conditions and would draw from decades, if not centuries, of life experience. He was especially enthralled by their use of dogs for transportation.

Result. It was Amundsen with five men and four sledges with 52 dogs who first planted the Antarctic Pole. 41 days ahead of Scott, the man who was commissioned to go to the North Pole went South. He said, “Never has a man achieved a goal so diametrically opposed to his wishes.”

He boasted, “Victory awaits him who has everything in order. Luck people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck.”

I wonder what he would have said after he and his five companions’ plane disappeared in the northern ice in 1928 without a trace. Perhaps he would have claimed it was a failure to adapt…not bad luck?

Gene’s observations:

De Gerlache: Never came seriously close to the South Pole but influenced those who did. Our mistakes become the base of other’s success/progress. Not only do we stand on the shoulders of other great men, but we sometimes are also the shoulders on which achievements depend. Without Gerlache there would be no Scott or Shackleton.

Shackleton:?Failed to reach his goal, failed in his marriage, failed as a father, failed in his business dealings, but often recognized as an admirable leader of men.

Scott: Reached his goal, but too late to be first. Does close only count in grenades and horseshoes?

Amundsen – He achieved his goal but his assignment (target of the expedition he was entrusted with/funded) was on the opposite end of the world.

Question: Who would YOU say the winner was?

·??????All of them

·??????None of them

·??????One of them