This article was written by Ernie Audino and appeared in Frontlines of Freedom. BATTLEFIELD TO ANTARCTIC – LESSONS of REAL LEADERSHIP.
On 20 May 1916, three emaciated, frostbitten men trudged down from the mountainous interior of South Georgia Island to reach a whaling station, just over 100 miles outside the Antarctic Circle. A Norwegian whaler recorded the encounter: “My station manager say, ‘Who the hell are you?’ And the terrible, bearded man in the center of the three say very quietly, ‘My name is Shackleton.’ Me – I turn away and weep.”
A year and a half prior, Ernest Shackleton and the crew of 27 men he led on the HMS Endurance, had become locked in the Antarctic icepack, with little food, little shelter and completely out of contact with civilization. After 17 months, when all hope was lost and Shackleton feared his men were near the end, he set out with only five other men in an open lifeboat to cross 800 miles of angry water towards the whaling station. Four months later he was able to return to rescue the remainder of his crew. Shackleton’s leadership throughout the entire ordeal had kept his men on task and purposed for the duration. The result….he brought every man home alive.
Under such harsh conditions and constant threat of imminent death, lesser teams under lesser leaders could easily descend into infighting, indiscipline, poor morale,…to fall apart…to refuse to work…to mutiny! But under Shackleton’s steady leadership none of that happened. How does anyone accomplish that?! Read “South”, Shackleton’s book, to learn how. It’s the best book on small-unit leadership I’ve ever read.
Given the recent reports of harsh conditions and low morale on our aircraft carrier, the USS Abe Lincoln, currently off the coast of Iran, the time is right for another show on Real Leadership. My guest is eminently qualified for that discussion. US Army LTG (ret) Jeff Buchanan, former 5th Army commander, with combat duty in 82nd Airborne, 101st Airborne, 25th Infantry Division and 10th Mountain Division. I’ve long admired Jeff’s humility and leadership (and perhaps his humility is partly why he’s an admired leader). We discussed key aspects of Real Leadership that anyone can apply to improve their own leadership skills….and Jeff supported each one with real-world examples from his own experience. Click on the link to listen to our chat: https://frontlinesoffreedom.com/show-974/
