One of the greatest leadership stories ever told is that of Sir Ernest Shackleton.It is detailed in Shackleton’s Way: Leadership Lessons From the Great Antarctic Explorer, by Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell. Morrell has been a student of Shackleton’s life and work since 1984 and developed a leadership training program based on her published work, and Capparell continues to lecture and write on Shackleton.

These authors put it this way: “He has been called ‘the greatest leader that ever came on God’s earth, bar none,’ yet he never led a group larger than twenty-seven, he failed to reach nearly every goal he ever set, and until recently he had been little remembered after his death. But once you learn the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his remarkable Antarctic expedition of 1914-1916 you’ll come to agree with the effusive praise of those under his command. He is a model of great leadership and, in particular, a master of guidance in crisis… That’s because Shackleton failed only at the improbable; he succeeded at the unimaginable.”

Sir Ernest Shackleton sailed for Antarctica in 1914 with the seemingly unlikely goal of crossing the continent on foot. His ship, the Endurance, became stuck in the ice for months and eventually sank. Shackleton was left with his crew of 27 stranded more than 1,200 miles from civilization.

They drifted on ice floes in freezing cold with limited provisions, eventually launching their tiny lifeboats and landing on a small island where they set up camp. With a handful of men, Shackleton braved 800 miles of buffeting seas to reach a whaling station on South Georgia. He then returned by ship to rescue the rest of his crew. Every man survived after more than a year and a half of this incomprehensible ordeal.

Tags: Determination, Drive, Ethics, Leadership, Leadership Problems, Responsibility