A great adventure story, leadership lessons and inspiration to never give up when you face hardship
Overview - which also gives you 5 good reasons to read this blog article:
1. The incredible journey of the Shackleton Expedition
2. Shackleton's leadership principles were crucial, and they are learnable
3. The story has provided inspiration for teaching materials, literature, and films
4. Bonus materials about polar expeditions
5. What Ernest Shackleton can teach us about the Covid pandemic.
1. The incredible journey of the Shackleton Expedition
In December 1914, an expedition from England started on something that had never been done before. Expedition leader Ernest Shackleton had set out to cross Antarctica, and the 26 men, he had selected (and a blind passenger) sailed with him from the Norwegian whaling station Grytviken on the island of South Georgia off the southern tip of South America on December 5, 1914.
However, they never reached their destination, for as early as January 18, 1915, the ship was stuck in an unusually thick pack ice in the Weddel Sea near Antarctica. As it got colder and colder in the Antarctic winter, their ship “Endurance” was slowly crushed by the ice, and on October 27, 1915, the entire crew had to move out on the pack ice and watch as the ship was screwed down and crushed.
509 days on the pack ice
Before the shipwreck, they had moved supplies and the 3 lifeboats out on the ice. The 28 men tried to pull the ship's lifeboats over the pack ice out to open sea, but they had to give up. They found that the ice moved them the wrong way faster than they could pull the boats even with the greatest effort. They then camped in the darkness of the polar winter until the ice broke up in April 2016.
14-day boat trip to Elephant Island
They then managed with great effort and despite a lot of suffering to sail to an island through turbulent waters which was still filled with ice flakes.
Five men sailed to South Georgia and got help
The lifeboat James Caird was the only one which was covered, and it was therefore chosen for the next trip. Then Ernest Shackleton and 4 others set out on an 800 nautical mile voyage (1,500 km) in this only 7-meter-long boat with short masts and small sails and oars. In addition, a homemade pump, and a sextant for navigation. They had to go through several storms, and they succeeded, but they were very worn out when they landed.
They had landed on the uninhabited side of the island, so the 3 least exhausted had to walk over mountains and glaciers for 3 days before reaching Grytviken whaling station in May 1916.
Grytviken was the harbor they sailed out from in 1914, but Ernest Shackleton was so marked by fatigue that he was only recognized by his voice.
Four attempts to rescue the men on Elephant Island
Only after the fourth attempt with different ships did Ernest Shackleton manage to get through new pack ice and save every man. The rescue took place almost 2 years after the shipwreck.
The stories about how they managed to cope with all the challenges, how they kept up their spirits, and how everyone survived in spite of all the odds have been described in a large number of books, articles and films. Courage, perseverance and excellent leadership can be experienced through the detailed descriptions.
It is recommended to read:
Alfred Lansing (1959): “Endurance. Ernest Shackleton's Incredible Voyage ”
Alexander, Caroline (1998): The Endurance - Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
2. Shackleton's management principles were crucial, and they are learnable
One can not imagine that everyone would be saved without the leadership that Ernest Shackleton carried out in every phase of the drama. But Shackleton was not the born leader. He learned these qualities through his Irish childhood, boarding school upbringing, time in the English navy and on previous expeditions.
In the book “Leading at the Edge. Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition” the leadership practice and principles of Ernest Shackleton are described. The result is several strategies for success that all leaders in business, schools, and school classes - in fact any type of group - can learn:
“
⁃ Instill optimism while staying grounded in reality
⁃ Have the courage to step up to risks worth taking
⁃ Consistently reinforce the team message
⁃ Set a personal example
⁃ Find something to celebrate and something to learn about
⁃ Never give up - there´s always another move!
“
A friend made me aware of this book. He wrote: "I had the book lying around during the Covid era, because it was also about perseverance - and I think some of the principles told me something and could be translated when courage to keep up my spirit needed support."
Dennis N. T. Perkins: Leading at the Edge - Second Edition. Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition”.
Also available as audiobook.
Historian Nancy Koehn has also been inspired by this story of great leadership. She has included Shackleton as one of 5 examples of extraordinary people who survived crises in different but inspiring ways.
These are - in addition to Ernest Shackleton - president Abraham Lincoln, the abolitionist (opponent of slavery) Frederick Douglass, the Nazi opponent pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the environmental activist Rachel Carson.
Source:
Nancy Koehn (2017): Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times.
Lecture on video: (1 hour 13 min., Video) The Shackleton-story (from minutes 13.00 to 24.00)
Forged in Crises.: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times.
3. The story has also been the inspiration for teaching materials, literature and films
The first time I heard about Ernest Shackleton was on a visit to the English boarding school Dulwich College in London with a group of my students in comparative education at the University of Copenhagen.
Up in a corner of a large auditorium was placed an old worn out dinghy with 2 short masts, and I asked why it was here. The dean explained with pride that this was the famous boat "James Caird", and it was placed here because Ernest Shackleton had been a student here at This boarding school until he was 16 before he was drafted into the navy.
It is an English tradition to highlight former students who have accomplished something extraordinary as inspiration for the character development of every cohort of students. This is also the case here.
In addition, a group of former students at Dulwich College have organized a restoration of this lifeboat, and they have also produced a new film about the former student, who now are referred to as Sir Ernest Shackleton. The film has a special focus on the journey across the Arctic Ocean from Elephant Island to New Georgia in this lifeboat.
The film was originally made for students in Primary School as a replacement for the opportunity to visit the boat and the exhibit while the school was closed due to Covid. It is hoped that many more will be interested in watching the film and using the teaching materials.
Here is the link to movies and teaching materials: https://www.dulwich.org.uk/about/history/the-james-caird
More recommended learning materials:
"Shackleton's Imperial Trans Antarctic Expedition 1914 ~ With Sound!"
Original photos and film clips from the expedition put together and with added sound effects. Ends with photos of Shackleton's funeral in South Georgia in 1922. (22 min, video) https://youtu.be/JbRvegcbyxU
“Shackleton's Captain - The Famous Antarctic Expedition - Full Movie”
The story of the expedition is described in movie film with focus on Captain Frank Worsley's important role as the one who had the skills and talent to navigate under almost impossible conditions. Quote from the movie: "In today's standard it was like being on a space station cut loose"
Can be rented on Vimeo (1 hour 25 min., Video) https://vimeo.com/ondemand/shackletonscaptain/42954748
“Survival! The Shackleton Story”
Video documentary with many original photos produced by National Geographic Creative (26 min., Video)
4. Bonus materials about polar expeditions
- There have been attempts to complete James Caird´'s journey one more time:
“Shackleton Epic: Death or Glory”
“Three-part documentary following Tim Jarvis as he attempts to re-create Shackleton’s boat journey to South Georgia. Tim Jarvis and his team of 5 sailed the 800 nautical miles from Elephant Island to South Georgia in a replica of Shackleton's keel-less whaling boat and then climbed for three days over the dangerous mountains using the same inadequate equipment that Shackleton and his men had to use.”
Part 1 (44 min., Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClZ9M_WekV4
Part 2 (1 hour, 5 min., Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SrO8a5CPNY
Part 3 (44 min., Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KvrMCi44wo
Summary by Tim Jarvis (11 min., Video): https://youtu.be/jXU1ck7Eez0
- "Shackleton talk on the Nimrod expedition. A 4-minute recording of Shackleton telling of the Nimrod expedition 1907-9. So old that it was recorded on a wax cylinder and you can hear Shackleton's actual voice."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aja8TCo5JGk
… And a link to a movie about Antarctic expeditions in general:
“Antartica - a frozen history” (90 minutes, video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SxXjN7WT90
5. What Ernest Shackleton can teach us about the Covid pandemic.
This is the title of a recent article. Though the isolation Shackleton and his crew faced tops anything we went through with Covid, then the ways in which they overcame all the troubles are still inspiring.
Here is one of the highlights:
“If Shackleton sensed one crew member was having a rough time, Shackleton sometimes ordered a round of hot milk for everybody. This avoided singling out the man who was struggling, even if it meant consuming their precious reserves.
At the same time, Shackleton was not afraid to take risks himself, like the 800-mile voyage in a 23-foot lifeboat to find help, knowing that he would need to learn his way through many uncertain situations.
And that’s especially relevant today as we have to get comfortable with a lot of uncertainty and chaos, and also little and ever-changing information.”
Source:
Vigal, Pedro 82020): Leading through crisis. What Ernest Shackleton can teach us about the Covid pandemic.
Read the whole article here:
All links retrieved November 2021.
Added March 2022:
Endurance: Shackleton's lost ship is found in Antarctic - BBC News click
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