1 August 1914 is enshrined in history as the day Germany declared war on Russia, marking the beginning of one of the deadliest conflicts the world has ever seen. It also is notable for a lesser known event: The date that Ernest Shackleton, with a crew of 27, set sail from London’s East India Docks. Their ship was the Endurance, and their mission was to cross the Antarctic continent by land.*
The seafarers of the aptly-named Endurance never reached the southernmost continent. Not long after embarking from the southernmost supply outpost on South Georgia Island, their ship became trapped in the ice floes of the Weddell Sea, where it was crushed, and still remains, some hundreds of feet below the ice. Yet, the failed expedition remains an unbelievable story of character, leadership, and human spirit, and Shackleton’s failure is not how history remembers the man. Instead, the voyage is a testament to his character, to his inspirational leadership, and a century later, still is hailed as an unbelievable triumph for Shackleton and his crew.
The story of the Endurance still captivates audiences as an adventure on the high seas before the age of advanced technology that enabled navigation, communication, and survival in the elements. The lessons of Shackleton’s leadership and character withstand the test of time and are pertinent to future Navy leaders. Shackleton was a man who not only inspired his followers, but empowered them to be greater together than any of them could be alone.
This is the charge of leaders the future Navy leaders. Our mission is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression and maintaining freedom of the seas. While we may be unable to predict the challenges that lie ahead, we must be leaders of character who inspire sailors to follow and empower sailors to be ready to meet the challenges that our Naval service will require.
Character: Be a Leader Sailors Will Follow, Even When You Ask the Impossible of Them
In January of 1915, the Endurance and its crew became stranded in the ice floes of the Weddell Sea during an unseasonably cold Antarctic summer. As the ice floes slowly crushed the ship’s hull, all hope of reaching the continent was lost. But worse, there was no way for the crew to communicate their dire situation and with the Endurance not expected to return home for several months—they would not be missed. And, England’s attention was on the Western Front, not a daring rescue mission thousands of miles away.
When it became obvious that the Endurance would sink, Shackleton ordered his crew to abandon ship and move all necessary supplies to the ice floes, with the hope of traversing the ice until they could find open water. Shackleton was ruthless about limiting the weight they would have to carry and ordered the crew them to leave all personal belongings behind. Sailors were forced to abandon mementos of their families, instruments, equipment, and journals. In short—any token of their previous lives. The journey ahead would be grueling, and Shackleton knew he couldn’t afford to let the men carry any unnecessary weight.
A few weeks later, as food supplies dwindled, Shackleton ordered the crew to shoot their beloved sled dogs. Since they would never reach Antarctica, the dogs had no practical use. Not only could the crew not afford to spare any food for them, but the dogs themselves could be a source of nourishment for weeks to come. The loss of the dogs was an enormous blow to morale, and Shackleton knew that he risked a mutiny in asking it. But he had devoted his life to forging a character that Sailors could trust, and he had faith that they would follow his lead and choose mission over self.
Throughout our naval careers, we will encounter situations in which we need to ask the impossible of those we lead. In many cases, we are not directly prepared for these challenges, but we can lay the groundwork throughout our careers to be best positioned to tackle them head on. This is the essence of character—it is the traits you exhibit not just in a single moment, but instead forged over time in the minds of those you lead.
Building a character that can motivate sailors to follow you, and to choose mission over self, is a lifelong endeavor. The Navy calls us to be leaders of character who can ask the impossible of sailors and know that they will follow.
Leadership: Making Do With the Tools You Have
After weeks crossing the ice floes, then sailing the Endurance’s dinghies across the open ocean, the crew reached the relative safety of Elephant Island. With his crew marooned just north of the Antarctic continent on the wind-ravaged island, Shackleton and a skeleton crew of five set out for the South Georgia Island whaling station. The station had been their last stop before setting off for Antarctica and lay some 850 miles to the north.
Their tools? Since the Endurance had long-since sank to the bottom of the Weddell Sea and their supplies purposed and repurposed, they had only a 22-foot dinghy, rigged with a sail of old sleeping bags and tattered clothing, a sextant, and the knowledge that only they could save themselves. And so, the sailors set out on an over-800 mile journey across one of the most dangerous bodies of water in the world. If they missed their target—an island just 40 miles wide at its broadest point— the next possible landing would be South Africa, some 3,000 miles northeast.
Leaders are not issued all the tools required to be successful, yet we are charged with accomplishing the mission as if we had every resource available. As leaders, we must make do with what we have to get the job done, and sometimes that requires ingenuity to ensure success. If we are successful in empowering those around us, we can amplify the power of the tools we do have. It is a leader’s charge, therefore, to empower those they lead to be more than they thought possible, and sometimes with fewer resources.
In the case of Shackleton, his crew was successful in part because he chose the skillsets he needed to complete his objective, then allowed his crew to excel in their skills. He empowered his men to succeed, but then gave them the free rein to do their jobs as only they could. This basic tenet of leadership holds true for today’s naval leaders—it is our charge to employ the tools we have and empower Sailors to meet the challenges.
Leadership: “We’ve Done It”
After navigating hundreds of miles of open ocean with only a sextant and the stars, Shackleton and his crew of five sailors, in gale-force winds with rollers close to 40 feet, reached their destination. Seventeen months had passed since they last set foot on the island, and the crew had long-since been assumed lost. South Georgia Island, just north of the Antarctic circle, is a forbidding strip of land, with rocky coasts and ice-covered peaks that tower some 10,000 feet above sea level. The interior of the island was, and still is, deemed impassible.
Shackleton and his crew almost miraculously hit the island, but they came ashore on its western coast, which had no settlement. It was in fact the opposite side they had intended to reach, but the winds were not favorable to sail around the island. Their only choice: climb over the mountain range.
In 1955, with proper clothing and climbing gear, mountaineers attempted Shackleton’s 1916 journey across the interior of South Georgia Island. And they did successfully traverse the island, but when they viewed the mountain pass he chose, they opted instead for a longer, but easier, route. Shackleton’s shorter route was deemed possible solely because he and his men absolutely had to do it, but even the mountaineers of 1955 would not attempt it.
According to journal entries from his crew, Shackleton’s words on reaching the shore of South Georgia Island were, “We’ve done it.” We—as in the entire crew. One of the most enduring lessons of Shackleton’s leadership was that each and every member of his crew played a critical role in the survival of the group. No achievement was credited to an individual. They shared in each other’s accomplishments the same way they shared in the grueling tasks that, step by step, led the crew to safety. It was this same leadership trait that allowed the crew to traverse an impossible terrain. It could not be done individually, but had to be accomplished as a group.
The Navy’s mission calls us to prepare to win the nation’s wars. Some of the most difficult challenges leaders in the Navy will face are only overcome when the entire crew can work together and benefit from the strengths of the collective group. We cannot expect to win wars without understanding the critical contribution we each make to mission success. Similarly, leaders must be prepared to incorporate all the strengths that sailors bring to bear so that they can be confident that “we” as in everyone together, can accomplish the task at hand.
Character: Follow through
When Shackleton and his men arrived at the South Georgia whaling station, he immediately set out to rescue the crew he had left behind on Elephant Island. Though he was deemed too exhausted for the journey, Shackleton insisted on making the trip. It took three attempts on three different ships before Shackleton finally reached the island, and he went ashore himself to meet his crew.
Often, it is the last mile that is the most difficult to travel. But, our character shows through in how we lead at the end of a journey, when energy has waned and strength has given out. How we travel that last mile is how we will be remembered, and is how we will show those around us how important each of their contributions were to the mission. As a leader in tomorrow’s Navy, the way we end a mission is as important to those we lead as how we began. And so it was with Shackleton, and his failed expedition to cross the Antarctic continent.
A century later, Shackleton’s failure to achieve his original objective is remembered as a triumph of character and leadership. Not a single member of his crew perished in the two-year journey across some of the harshest conditions on the planet. In order to meet the challenges of tomorrow, naval leaders must be willing to sharpen both their character and leadership skills throughout their careers, and use these skills not just to motivate, but to inspire, Sailors to achieve mission requirements as a team. There may come a time when character and leadership are some of the few tools you have left to accomplish the mission—let them be sharp tools
*Accounts of Shackleton’s journey are taken from: Lansing, Alfred. Endurance (New York: Basic Books, 2014).
