Of Rogue Waves and Leadership by Jodi Guerra
They went on through the night, walking, walking and walking. Shackleton said later:
“It might have been different if we’d had only ourselves to think about. You can get so tired in the snow, particularly if you’re hungry, that sleep seems just the best thing life has to give. And to sleep out there is to die, to die without any pain at all, like Keats’s ideal of death. But if you’re a leader, a fellow that other fellows look to, you’ve got to keep going. That was the thought, which sailed us through the hurricane and tugged us up and down those mountains.”(Morrell, 194)
At one point they did stop to rest:
“They found a little sheltered spot behind a rock and sat down, huddled together with their arms around one another for warmth. Almost at once Worsley and Crean fell asleep, and Shackleton, too, caught himself nodding. Suddenly he jerked his head upright. All the years of Antarctic experience told him that this was the danger sign –the fatal sleep that trails off into freezing death. He fought to stay awake for five long minutes, then he woke the others, telling them that they had slept for half an hour.”
(Lansing, 269)
Finally, at 7 a.m. they Shackleton heard the factory whistle at the whaling station. The three men stood, smiled and shook hands. “Let’s go down,” Shackleton said.
After making their final descent, the men entered the village. Schoolboys ran from them in horror. Noone comes in or enters the village from that direction; strangers would be coming from the docks, not the mountains. And they probably wouldn’t look like these guys looked: heavy beards, ragged clothes, black faces from the oily smoke.
Whaling Factory in South Georgia
When they finally were taken and then appeared before the factory manager, he didn’t recognize them.“Who the hell are you?” he inquired. “My name is Shackleton,” the Boss replied.
The men were treated as heroes by the whalers. They couldn’t believe the voyage and trek across the mountains they had made. They were treated to a dinner that night.
After the dinner, Worsley left on a whaler to go to the other side of the island to pick up McNeish, McCarthy and Vincent.
In less than seventy-two hours, Shackleton was off attempting to reach Elephant Island. It took him four attempts and more than three months to do it, but he did finally get through the ice on August 30,1916.
The men on the island were in the habit of getting up getting going. Wild would yell out, “Lash up and stow! The Boss may come today!” Of course, many men were beginning to doubt that.
One day, however, he did finally come. As the men were huddled around eating lunch, Marston, the artist, came running in announcing the appearance of a ship. Of course, everyone ran out of their little hut. To much cheering the ship drew closer. A small boat was lowered, and Shackleton and Crean were in it. Shackleton had already counted out all twenty-two figures on the shore through his binoculars. “Are all well?” Shackleton shouted. “YES!” came the reply.
Awaiting Rescue
Epilogue:
Ernest Shackleton’s famous journey is a brilliant example of servant leadership in action. His story and the story of his ship the Endurance, named after the Shackleton Family Motto, is nothing short of miraculous. It teaches us about the living nature of teamwork and about the unselfish, emergent nature of leadership. It also teaches us about astonishing possibilities that miracles do happen.
Whenever someone points out an example of a great leader, I like to compare the person to Shackelton. If there were a “gold standard” of leadership Shackleton would certainly be it. Few are not moved by his story.
May it continue to inspire us to emulate his example and change the world for the better.
Shackelton and his Crew
