Not a life lost and we have been through Hell

It is a cold May 1916 day in Elephant Island. A flock of penguins is observing with awe and interest a group of beings struggling to stand together against the fury of the wind. The birds have never seen those large bipeds in that latitude (61° S).

Ernest Shackleton is looking at the same 27-people group. He knows them inside out. He recruited them for the now-failed expedition that was supposed to cross the Antarctica. He has shared with them seventeen long months of a strenuous survival journey. Ten months trapped inside the Endurance in the frozen waters of Weddell Sea followed by six months living on a floe and finally one week on three tiny boats trying to reach solid ground. Today is therefore a day of immense joy for those individuals. However, Shackleton, known as ‘the boss’, is aware that victory resides still far away, and the flame of hope is cold and almost invisible.

Nobody is going to rescue them from this remote, ice-covered mountainous island. He has resolved to take one of the boats and navigate to South Georgia Island, “just” 850 nautical miles away, a spot in the middle of the ocean, the same spot they departed from 17 months ago. Shackleton is going to break this terrible piece of news to the team and he is going to ask for volunteers to join in that leap of hope.

He has actually already made up his mind on who he wants on that journey: Worsley, the navigator who can decipher their position just with a ray of sun, Crean, the loyal sailor that understands Shackleton just with just a gesture, with just a look, McCarthy, who has impressed the boss in the boat journey to Elephant island, McNish, the carpenter who rebelled on the ice, and Vincent, the fittest in the crew but also the one that had created trouble in the journey.

Shackleton, in this critical moment, gives an amazing leadership lesson not only by selecting the best team that can help him reach South Georgia Island, but also by looking further and defining the best team that can be left behind in Elephant Island, can cope with the atrocious conditions and wait patiently for weeks or months to the return of the rescue party.

Some weeks before, whilst on the ice, he has shown a similar leadership gesture by making sure that McNish and Vincent stayed in his tent, sacrificing a better company for the sake of the team stability and cohesion.

It takes them 16 days in an epic journey to reach South Georgia Island. Unfortunately, they land on the uninhabited side of the island and Worsley, Crean and Shackleton become the first three humans to cross the ice-covered and perilous stretch of land in yet another epic 26 hours to reach the whaling stations.

Three months later, the persistent boss manages to get back to Elephant Island after several failed attempts. The survival mission is completed and once they all arrive to firm land, he sends a short letter to his wife Emily. The document contains a sentence that summarizes one of the greatest prowess the human eye has seen: “Not a life lost and we have been through Hell”.

Shackleton provides many leadership lessons during this expedition but to me the concept of “sacrifice” and looking for the greater good is particularly inspiring.

-      When was the last time that you, as a leader, took a decision that meant a sacrifice for you (for example, allowing a promotion to wait for yours, getting your hands on the mud or just taking time with a slow learner)

-      Do you always take the best men for your critical tasks or do you consider the bigger picture and the impact for the team as a whole?

If you have the time I really encourage you to watch any of the documentaries or read one of the books about the incredible Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.