Leadership lessons from the great antarctic explorer

On August 30, 1916, Shackleton and Worsley and Crean arrived aboard the humble Chilean vessel, Yelcho to rescue the crew on Elephant Island. It was Shackleton's fourth attempt to rescue his crew. Shackleton wrote in South, "Food was very short, only two days' seal and penguin meat being left, and no prospect of any more arriving. ... From a fortnight after I had left, Wild would roll up his sleeping-bag each day with the remark, 'Get your things ready, boys, the Boss may com

As August drew to a close in 1916, tension was mounting on Elephant Island. As you'll see in the entries below from Orde-Lee's journal, the group's food supplies were rapidly dwindling, the snow was melting and making life in the hut even more unpleasant, Blackborrow's suppurating wound was cause for concern and worst of all, some were losing hope that Shackleton had survived the boat journey. Despite all that, as you'll see, the group is working together and playing together

From Orde-Lees journal, August 6, 1916 "It seems almost incredible but is none the less a fact that two of the men got quite talkative after their methylated spirit "dope" last night. After everyone else had got their "heads down" these two warriors went on arguing about the position of a certain "pub" in Hull for fully an hour until Wild, unable to endure it any longer, roared out, "For God's sake, shut your bleating row, you two precious dears" and incidentally woke up a go

According to a landmark Gallup Organization survey, "an increase in positive emotions can add 10 years to your lifespan." According to Endurance meteorologist Leonard Hussey, the one thing the Boss "demanded from them was cheerfulness." #Leadership #MaintainingAPositiveAttitude

#Leadership #MaintainingAPositiveAttitude #LeadingByExample

I've just been glancing through Dr. Macklin's journal and came across this thought-provoking entry written on August 2, 1916... "It is hard to realize one's position her, living in a smoky, dirty, ramshackle little hut with only just sufficient room to cram us all in: drinking out of a common pot with people suffering from dental caries, etc., and living in close proximity to a man with a large discharging abscess - a horrible existence, but yet, we are pretty happy and our h

In speaking of Shackleton and how he brought his whole team home alive from the ill-fated Endurance expedition, the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen conqueror of the South Pole, said, "Courage and willpower can make miracles." Amundsen continued, "I know of no better example than what that man has accomplished." #Leadership #Challenges #MaintainingAPositiveAttitude #Shackleton #LeadingByExample

Shackleton's Way... Again, Shackleton set the tone by his own example. “His unfailing cheeriness means a lot to a band of disappointed explorers like ourselves,” Orde-Lees wrote. “He is one of the greatest optimists I have ever know. He is not content with saying. ‘It will all come out right in the end.’ It is always otherwise with him. He merely says that this is but a little setback not altogether unforeseen and he immediately commences to modify his program to accord with

#Shackleton #Leadership #MaintainingAPositiveAttitude #KeepingUpMorale

There are parts of Shackleton's Way that I have memorized by heart but I'd forgotten about this long riff from Orde-Lees in Chapter 4 - Getting the Best from Each Individual... Orde-Lees had sciatica and suffered a particularly bad bout in late July. Shackleton privately blamed Orde-Lees’ carelessness. He had gone out in frigid temperatures “in just the ordinary things one would wear on a mild cold day in England,” as Orde-Lees admitted. Shackleton also suffered recurring bou

In Antarctica, today is Mid-Winter's Day. The sun that disappeared in early May slowly starts to return in early August. That is cause for celebration - especially for the Endurance crew stranded on Elephant Island in 1916 Frank Wild decreed that everyone had to contribute to the celebration. Thomas Orde-Lees wrote in his diary, "After supper we had a grand concert of 24 turns including a few new topical songs and so ended one of the happiest days of my life and for once one

Shackleton served as an apprentice for four difficult years in the merchant navy but during that time, he learned lessons that he put into action and served him well for the rest of his life. From Shackleton's Way... "Even after Shackleton became an explorer famous for his incredible stamina, he would speak with pride of how he made it through his difficult initiation to life on the sea and seemed always to carry some sympathy for the suffering apprentice he had been. Years o

Do your part to help create an upbeat environment at work. A positive and cheerful workplace is important to productivity. #Leadership #LeadingByExample #CommunicatingEffectively #KeepingUpMorale #MaintainingAPositiveAttitude #Shackleton

In late August 1916, the group on Elephant Island had little hope of rescue - Shackleton had been gone for over four months - and their food supply was rapidly diminishing. Orde-Lees comments in his journal that he was frequently reprimanded for being a "pessimist." He constantly worried. In this journal entry, we see the contrast between the optimist and the perpetually gloomy pessimist. In fact, the next day, the Lord provided for them spectacularly. All Orde-Lees' worrying

In this journal entry, Orde-Lees notes that Shackleton maintains a positive attitude in dire circumstances and his attitude affects, and transfer to, the entire crew. Orde-Lees' Journal Friday, 8 January, 1915 Sir Ernest is deserving of all praise. The man who should feel the greatest anxiety about our reaching our base exhibits by far the least and but for his cheery optimism we should all be despondently irritable. There is no doubt that it is far harder than anyone had exp

Monday, 4 January, 1915 The very salt beef reappeared as hash at tea tonight, but as we are now getting South a bit again, no one complained bitterly. It is extraordinary what a difference this makes on our dispositions. If we are at a stand-still everyone feels despondent and some are actually snappy, whilst a two hour wheel seems like four hours, but if we are steaming rapidly southward then everyone is good-tempered and contented. Sir Ernest alone is always cheery and opti

In this journal entry, we catch a glimpse of the extraordinary job Shackleton has done of keeping up the morale of his team and maintaining a positive despite 24 hours of darkness that lasts from early May to early August Thomas Orde-Lees journal entry, June 5, 1915 "...One would have thought that one could always see what was immediately beneath one's feet, but one cannot. When it is dark the Antarctic night can be deadly dark; but this does not depress us much, as we all se

There was nothing in the nature of a set speech. He spoke to us in a group, telling us that he intended to march the party across the land to the west; that the distance was about 200 miles and that he thought we ought to manage 5 miles a day and that if we all worked together it could be done. The necessity seemed obvious. At heart we were probably glad that the time of anxiety as to whether or not we should save the ship was over, and that the job was not up to us. I can’t