Who is your “ice pilot”?

You are on a mission … Yet, before you set foot on the path that will bring you to your destination you have to reach the starting point of your journey. If it is the South Pole (quite an ambitious goal), there is a huge ocean to cross. And the treacherous waters full of drift ice just before the shores of Antarctica … All great explorers of the eternal ice around the Antarctica - Amundsen, Scott, Shackleton – to name a few, had this problem. And they solved it with great “see wolves” – captains of their ships, navigators. Amundsen called them “ice pilots”. They were essential in carrying out the expeditions, both in the approach phase as well as in escape phases, that sometimes turned out into ordeals like the Shacketon`s one. They were simply experts in ice.

And why the “ice pilots” were so essential? Because they were great at spotting danger. Not watching for ice-bergs only (they are visible, relatively clear in the surrounding water, easy to spot), but for inspecting the waters which can slowly turn into a frozen trap. The trap that silently transitions from clean waters through drift ice (sea ice or pack ice) until there is firm ice (fast ice) fastened to the shore. The ship in such a situation is suddenly engulfed by ice which can crush it – something that hit Ernest Shackleton`s expedition and turned it into the ordeal that lasted almost two years. You simply have to pay attention to things that are not necessary big or fast and easy to spot. The key attention you have to pay to is "drizzle" that can hardly be felt … The “ice pilots” of pole expeditions had to observe sea waters, currents, air, temperature, winds, general weather situation … they had to be experts in physics, meteorology …

Such people are often key to our success. Such people who are skilled, educated, who pay attention to every single detail – yet they stay in the background, never in the media (or manager) lights. From the great adventure stories we can take many parallels to business and private life. To achieve your goals you have to “set foot on the path”. But often you are even not standing on the starting point. Someone has to bring you there - in the form of preparation, training, project setup, sales – if we just look at the business aspect. Think about who are your “ice pilots”, who are the people “who have got your back” (as Keith Ferrazzi titled one of his books). Often our success is paved and backed by smart, hard-working dedicated people who stay in our shades, sometimes as almost “no-name” people (like several of “ice pilots” from the South Pole expeditions; like people from our lives – I have to add my wife to the list). Yet without such people we would never “set our foot on the ground”.

In this time of a year when we reflect the past it is great to identify and recognize and thank our “ice pilots”, the people who “have got our back”.

The end of the year is a great time to say such a big “Thank You” to all who help us to “navigate through the drift ice” – in business as well as in our private life.