Success Magazine 1st Editorial Piece

It’s time to dive into lessons in leadership and this time from a source that some of you may have heard of. Let me take you back to 1914 to an  expedition that was set to cross the Antarctic Continent for the first time ever. 

In 1914 Sir Ernest Shackleton took the Endurance on an expedition to Antarctica with 28 men, but they would never get there. The ship got stuck in ice floe and they were stranded there, far away from civilization. The ship eventually sank and the men were forced to camp on the ice under freezing weather. The good news for them was that they saved the lifeboats and items from the ship before it sank, they survived off eating penguins and seals for many months. As it got hotter the ice melted around them,and they were finally able to sail for a week on their lifeboats and reached land. They landed in a place called Elephant Island, where the majority of the crew stayed for months, huddled under two overturned lifeboats while Shackleton took five men and sailed 800 miles in another lifeboat to the closest inhabited island. 

When the smaller Shackleton team reached the island there was yet another adventure. Shackleton still had to cross a frozen mountain range that was almost impassable! As they crossed it cautiously they reached a whaling station on the other side of the pass. Immediately upon arriving, Shackleton turned around and set out to rescue his crew from Elephant Island. After having challenges finding a large enough boat, he finally got help and reached his isolated island. 

In his failure he had reached a new zenith in leadership. He had led all his crew to safety after the expedition had failed almost from the get go. They were rescued in 1916. The journey was nothing more than a miracle and his return to England in 1917 was lost in history for a long time because his return happened in the midst of WWI. What would have  been a triumphant return, ended up being drowned out by the severity of the war. 

Shackleton’s expedition is similar to our current atmosphere. As we begin to shift out of a COVID world we have lessons that we can all learn from. Oftentimes we are thrown into situations without truly understanding what to do. We can be caught off guard and can collapse under the pressure of so much uncertainty. Let’s take a look at Shackleton’s leadership lessons that we can apply to our lives to help us process uncertainty better. 

As we study more about Shackleton’s journey we can outline 3 important lessons. Lessons that we can apply to our lives. 

Lesson number 1. It’s up to you to change your current situation. This is a common theme among leaders. Like Shackleton, great leaders take full responsibility for their actions and know that any situation can have a better outcome if reactions are controlled. Leaders know they can’t control disasters, made or natural, but they know that they can control their response. A leader takes action and brings people together through the right mindset and approach. Clearly, Shackleton kept his team going and kept them together! You must watch your reactions to all critical situations! 

Lesson number 2. It takes more than one person to succeed. Shackleton had previously been part of other expeditions and he understood the importance of having the right people around him. People that made each other better. He hand picked his team that he took to Antarctica. In the same way you must look into who you surround yourself with daily. The way you think will be highly determined by those you surround yourself with. When things go wrong those around you will respond with solutions or with problems.  Choose those close to you wisely! 

Lesson Number 3. Flexibility is the key to dealing with uncertainty. Nothing is set in stone and being able to understand that things will never go as planned is tantamount. One thing we can all agree on is that the world we live in now moves faster than ever! Everyday the world we live in requires us to be more flexible and adaptable. The one amazing thing about flexibility is that the art of adapting is a habit and habits can be created with practice. Shackleton had built up his ability to adapt over the years from many expeditions he’d been on.

The one thing that will help you learn to adapt and change is actual practice. Keep on pushing yourself to do new things and to be in new situations. It’s an actual scientific process, “Long-term potentiation is how successful connections are reinforced. Here’s an example. Let’s say neuron A connects to neuron B. Neuron A fires; this causes neuron B to fire immediately after; and this leads to a successful outcome, like getting a test question right or sinking a three-pointer. Electrical and chemical mechanisms at the synapse react to all this, and the connection is strengthened so that in the future neuron A firing is even more likely to lead to neuron B firing.”

As the world changes around us we can either adapt or remain the old self we are comfortable with. Newness demands change, and change demands growth. One quote epitomizes who Shakleton was and also shows what kind of leader we should all strive to be. The quote that follows is from the book, “Shackleton’s Way”

This topic is so much more complex and deep because our core survival process is chemically driven. This also determines how we react to others, the release of oxytocin and vasopressin influence our bonding and connections, which also determine how we react to situations around us. Just remember one thing from all of this, most of us can rewire our brain through consistent and continual focused action. It’s up to you to change. It’s up to you to make a difference in your life and lead those around you! It’s the Shackleton way! 

In the next few weeks and months I want you to ask yourself, “Are the actions I’m taking today allowing me to grow into a new version of myself 12 months from now?”