Really important lesson today as volatility, pace of change increases. He goes back. I mean part of it was his own posture and continence, but how did he connect with the people that they believed that about themselves? What have I got in this scientist? The ship is battered into pieces and the men live for the rest of the time in tents with lifeboats on the ice. So when he sees a man’s, for example, energy flagging and this happened a number of times, over the course of the time that they were stranded, he will order up hot milk for everyone. It’s 1916. The radio doesn’t work. NANCY KOEHN: So his first expedition which happens in the very first few years of the 20th Century, is an expedition under the command of a Naval Officer named Robert Falcon Scott. ADI IGNATIUS: On our next episode of “Real Leaders,” Nancy Koehn and I will be talking about the writer and environmentalist, Rachel Carson. Driven by exploration and innovation, our company is built on the life and values of polar titan Sir Ernest Shackleton and exists to inspire and equip people to live courageously. His ship, the Endurance, never reached Antarctica. They have to walk across the entire island. But this is a man who’s been thirsting for fame and glory for all his life in some sense, or since he first decided to join the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. It was a time when nations and patriotism were duking it out at some level in an international race, along exploration lines. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. NANCY KOEHN: And this is as dreadful as the open boat journey was to get to Elephant Island. They mixed. They discover lessons in building a team, learning from bad bosses, and cultivating empathy. These small things that without making a person embarrassed, give them more confidence, give them more strength, give them more resilience. NANCY KOEHN: Exactly. Safe return doubtful. And he puts the call out and says, you know, “My lads, let’s go again.” And amazingly about 12 come right back to London to join the boss. I think that was part of the story too. They will live on the ice for almost two years. It’s such a big storm that it sinks a ship with over 500 people on it in nearby waters, although the expedition doesn’t know that. So, Nancy, what happened in that? Wholesale Orders ADI IGNATIUS: Legend has it that that’s the job ad Ernest Shackleton used to recruit the crew for his expedition to Antarctica in 1914. It is reported that Shackleton placed an advert in The Timesnewspaper saying: ‘Men wanted for hazardous journey. I can’t get to my original goal. So May becomes June. Sometimes we just talked about the seal meat that cook just made. How Shackleton did that has become one of the most famous leadership case studies. ADI IGNATIUS: The rest of the story is like something out of an adventure movie. This is South Georgia Island. So, 1914 he returns to Antarctica for his third mission and this is the one that becomes so famous. Shackleton understands that. And he understood it long before we were writing about it here at places like the Harvard Business School. So they’re going to face these huge weather obstacles. NANCY KOEHN: Absolutely the latter. ADI IGNATIUS: Better to just hand out some warm milk. The date is clearly wrong, making far from an auspicious beginning for the truthfulness of the ad. This is long over, but we’re not retreating with our tail between our legs. I don’t have to pay you from the moment the ship goes down.” He says, “I’m going to pay you out of my own pocket. Shackleton and the crew of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition landed on the mountainous, ice-covered island today known as Elephant Island. But even now it’s not exactly story over. Second thing he does is he understands something that all parents come to understand, which is that routine is incredibly important to creating stability and confidence and belief in self for human beings. Who would answer such an ad, which Shackleton placed in a London newspaper seeking recruits for his 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition? I think for lots of high achieving, highly controlling, highly successful people. He was arguably reckless, or a little bit cavalier. Interesting how history shifts with one laudatory book. NANCY KOEHN: Hand out warm milk and show the men that you are, you are on it. You don’t walk into the office and sit at your computer and —. So he was very careful about choosing his ensemble. Shackleton got that kind of thing as well. This is our problem. So this idea that routine and camaraderie prevents doubt and disillusionment and it’s relative despair and then discord among the team, he understands very well and he acts to prevent that. They’re in four corners. It would not have even made sense for Shackleton to place an ad in the paper. ADI IGNATIUS: This episode was produced by Anne Saini and edited by Curt Nickisch. NANCY KOEHN: And it is a hellacious journey. NANCY KOEHN: Wanted, men for hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful, honor and recognition in case of success. NANCY KOEHN: He wants more. Letter of application. So Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 men are stranded on an ice floe near Antarctica with no idea when or how or if they will ever be able to get home. One of the important things he does is say, in violation of Maritime Law, to the troublemaker, the person who wants to mutiny, he says, “Look, I know the ship went down and my Maritime Law you’re not allowed to be paid. So Shackleton and five men head out in a lifeboat that they have sort of converted into sailboat. The personal and the large-scale leadership that he evidenced over and over again. NANCY KOEHN: Extremely important lessons. NANCY KOEHN: No, it’s not. That is what they were living in. Full as a tick.” So he understands in this empathic intuitive way that my most important resource is my men’s self-belief and their belief in their group ability to get home safely. You have ended my four day lengthy hunt! What kind of attitudes do I have? There were plays. So there’s an element of not I. I’m not going to be the man who sees 27 men and myself die on the ice. 2. And that’s so important for leaders in a transforming organization or a very volatile time. ADI IGNATIUS: Amazing. Right? A company, let’s say, that isn’t succeeding, it isn’t producing for month after month after month and just trying to survive and at some point people saying, “This isn’t working. So Shackleton didn’t use this language, but here’s what he did and I’ll say a word about how. 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