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Shackleton's Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer

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Sir Ernest Shackleton's well-documented story of his ill-fated attempt to cross the Antarctic Continent and his heroic efforts to save his crew of 27 after the crushing and sinking of his ship Endurance is indeed the material for a major network mini-series. However, Shackleton's Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antartic Explorer, is an unglamorous and non-preachy lesson in leadership with authority, integrity, humor, and compassion.

I do have a slight criticism, an important lesson in leadership was skipped - balance. Shackleton's ability to coach and encourage, listen and build a sense of community, and focus on meeting the needs of others while developing and bringing out the best in them did not extend to his family. The authors Morrell and Capparell do mention his neglected family. However it was glazed over and they failed to offer insight on how we the reader might learn from this shortcoming. Clearly he was a self-directed and other-focused man, but he lacked balance. He devoted his life to his work and crew while his family settled for scraps of time and attention. It is important that we learn from success and failure, not just the stuff that makes for great TV and/or big screen movies.

While Shackleton's Way was admittedly a bit dry at times, I thoroughly enjoyed the mixture of history and practical applications of servant leadership in today's business world. The book provides a glimmer of hope in light of the recent corporate ethics scandals. I am impressed by Shackleton's pioneer sprit in exploration and leadership. He certainly did not have Covey, Greenleaf, Hunter or Autry to reference. How lucky we are to have Sir Ernest.

Whether you are searching for a historical biography, travel journal, adventure story or a desktop guide to servant leadership you just might find something more than you bargained for in Shackleton's Way.

This book gives a beautifully pared-down account of an extraordinary story and provides remarkably appropriate analogies in our present day. It should inspire many to read more on the subject of Shackleton and the Endurance expedition,particularly Endurance by Alfred Lansing.Whether you are a leader or among the led in any facet of your life there are lessons to be learned and remembered here. They are laid out in a clear and concise format and illustrated by the ongoing saga of Shackleton and the amazing group of men he brought through an unbelievably harrowing adventure. The book reminds us of the power of good, of compassion, perseverance, and honesty. It is well worthwhile reading for anyone interested in a marvelous story and how it relates to all of us in the here and now.

In 1914, Ernest Shackleton and 27 others started on a journey to be the first people to cross the Antarctic Continent. Their ship was caught in the ice, eventually crushed, and the story of how they all survived has become a classic. In this book, the story is retold with new insights and information. The authors focus on Shackleton as leader. The conclusions are very well drawn, and the connections and insights regarding "leadership" are true, valid, and extremely worthwhile. They make sense, they are useful, and they work! I've been to South Georgia and Elephant Island, and thus have some appreciation of the difficulties Shackleton and his men faced. His leadership skills came through for his team then, and the lessons learned are more than appropriate for leaders of today.

Leadership is all about character, determination, consideration, vision, and fidelity. Under horrible circumstances, leaders usually become much better or worse. Even the harsh Captain Bligh found himself fulfilling a hero's role as a leader after the mutiny. Sir Ernest Shackleton was a fine man who became even finer under pressure.

If you don't know the story, let me outline a few details. During World War I, Sir Ernest led a small expedition to Antarctica from England in an attempt to cross that continent through the South Pole. The pole itself had already been reached by Amundsen and Scott. En route to land, the expedition's ship, Endurance, became locked in the pack ice. The crew drifted with the ice for over 10 months before the ship was crushed by the ice. Pulling lifeboats over the ice, the men reached open sea more than five months later. They reached a small island, Elephant Island, where most of the men remained while Sir Ernest and a few men made an 800 mile three week sea voyage to their starting point, South Georgia Island. Arriving there, they faced a horrible trek over almost impassable terrain to get to the settlement. Sir Ernest immediately left to rescue the men left behind on Elephant Island. All those on board the Endurance survived.

Throughout this rescue, Sir Ernest proved himself to be resourceful, flexible, considerate, and indomitable.

Shackleton's Way recounts Sir Ernest's life, and summarizes key points about his leadership style. Each chapter ends with a commentary by someone who learned from Sir Ernest's experiences to be a better leader.

As a leadership book, Shackleton's Way has a number of weaknesses. First, leadership and management are not separated. The bulk of the points made in the book relate more to management than to leadership. I think the book would have worked better if it had narrowed down to leadership, rather than including management. Sir Ernest seemed to be a fairly ordinary manager, while being an outstanding leader. With the two messages combined, the lessons are diluted.

Second, Sir Ernest is treated with kid gloves in the book. That may no be warranted in all cases. For example, if he had abandoned the expedition before the Endurance became stuck in the pack ice, all of the suffering would have been avoided. Clearly, he may well have made some errors in judgment that led to the crisis.

Third, most people can tell you what they would like leaders to do. The same people find it very difficult to do those things, even under good conditions. Under horrible conditions (as occurred here), the average person becomes a below-average leader. What were the things that Shackleton did in his mind to maintain the self-discipline to be a good leader? The book provides little insight into that critical point.

Fourth, the key lessons are not elaborated on nearly enough. Flexibility is critical, for example, because leaders often misperceive the real situation, or find that their forecasts are wrong. An effective leader then must be looking for improved information, and be thinking about what actions could be taken should circumstances shift or be shown to be different than perceived. A whole book could be written about the significance of this point. Very little more attention is paid to this critical element than is to the idea of being optimistic, as a way to keep the mind and spirit resourceful.

Fifth, the end of chapter examples of others being inspired by Sir Ernest are often pretty trivial and disconnected. This was particularly true about the Jim Cramer, Eric Miller, and Mike Dale. If all of these sections had been left out, the book would have been stronger. Or alternatively, leadership experts could have spoken about examples that they thought supported Sir Ernest's principles.

As a result, Shackleton's Way ends up being too simple to be a good adventure saga or a good leadership book. To me, it seemed like a book that was aimed at young teenagers rather than at adults. If you want to read about Sir Ernest as an explorer, you will probably prefer Sir Ernest's own books. As to leadership books, there are many fine ones. You could read any of the best leadership books (such as Managing Change), and then draw your own lessons from what Sir Ernest wrote.

What qualities of leadership would you like to see in those who lead you? In this time of national trial in the United States, what lessons from Sir Ernest should be applied by political leaders?

PBS did a series some years ago based on Roland Huntford's stupendous The Last Place on Earth--the Race for the South Pole. Not only was it an exhaustive study of why Scott failed and Amundsen prevailed, but it also dealt with Shackelton's achievements in polar exploration. He never lost a man.

Now Margot Morrell takes the theme of leadership lessons from these explorations and gives us Shackleton as an example of how a leader can literally mean the difference between life and death.

The object of polar exploration is to achieve the goal (reach a certain latitude, reach the Pole first) while making it there and back--alive. These two goals are intertwined in a life-and-death game of high stakes. Shackleton showed his leadership prowess in pulling back when it meant that people would die, and also by pulling them together when the situation was grim.

Finally someone has pulled the true lesson from the heroics of the Polar explorations. This is a welcome book.

If you get bitten by the Antarctic saga, you should read Huntford's book as a study in management along with Morrell's book on Shackleton. (Scott was apolitical animal who played favorites and made decisions based on personal feelings; Amundsen lead his team with authority and squelched rebellion when he had to, yet each team member had autonomy over their own area of expertise. Both explorers held Shackleton in the highest regard; the Pole should have been his, but for Shackleton, the price was too high. A truly great man.

As a busineses executive for over thirty years, I have seldom read any business book which tells a story and helps to make the lessons so simple to understand and apply. If I were still running a large organization, this would be the book I would buy for the entire organization to inspire and teach useful lessons for those responsible for leading people through good times and bad in 2001 and beyond. While the Shackleton story has been told elsewhere, the applicability of his beliefs and behavior has never been so clearly described for all to understand and apply.

As a person who just started my own company and a huge history buff, I found this book a perfect blend of my two interests. Shackleton is a hero and one of the best leaders of all time. I loved reading about his expedition and I thought his tips on how to manage a group were fantastic and easy to apply to my own professional responsibilties. A great book for anyone interested in becoming a leader!

Heard the taped version of SHACKLETON'S WAY:
LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM THE GREAT ANTARCTIC
EXPLORER by Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell . . . this
was the perfect companion to the recent documentary I
saw on the same subject, THE ENDURANCE . . . it enabled
me to better appreciate how Ernest Shackleton and his men
survived the wreck of their ship with no means of communication
and no hope for rescue . . . the amazing thing was that not
only did every man survive--but did so in both good health
and spirits.

Shackleton was clearly ahead of his time . . . he led his men
from 1914 to 1916 using some techniques that are now
accepted by all, but I imagine were revolutionary at the
time . . . for example, the book's authors noted that
he believed in the following:

A good boss will make a burden of work seem lighter.

One person can change an entire work environment.

It was better to replace a failed goal with a more ambitious one.

Chip-in sometimes with the work you are having others do.

In trouble, danger and despair, never give up hope. The worse
can always be got over.

The newspaper advertisement read, "Men Wanted for Hazardous Journey, Small Wages, Bitter Cold, Long Months of Complete Darkness, Constant Danger, Safe Return Doubtful. Honor and Recognition in Case of Success."

Thus begins this journey, and an inside look at leadership exhibited under some of the worst conditions imaginable.

This book takes an inside look at how the leadership of the captain lead his crew to safety while on a mission to explore the South Pole in 1914. While other books are more in depth on the story itself, this one focuses primarily on the leadership styles used at various parts of journey.

What is good about this book is that it puts to rest the idea that leadership cannot be delivered with different styles under adverse conditions. Shackleton uses teamwork, reverse psychology, motivation, direction, listening and a host of other leadership traits to get his crew to safety. He demonstrates "servant leadership" when it matters most.

A great story which will keep you captivated, and some wonderful leadership lessons for use in all conditions. Highly recommended. Also, look for other books on the story and some great movies on DVD as well.

This book is a masterpiece in its own right. You are given an introduction and understanding as to the accomplishments of Ernest Shackleton, a remarkable and honored explorer and leader. While being transformed into the mind of Shackelton and his crew during the most difficult of times, the book illustrates the Endurance expedition and the leadership styles required for each situation. At the end of each chapter, Shackleton's accomplishments and lessons are applied to an array of present day situations for applicable to everyone.