Shackleton's Way

It was the summer of 1915, and the great Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton was trapped. Ice floes in the frigid Weddell Sea had locked in his ship, the Endurance, for a polar winter so cold that the crew could hear the ice freezing around them.

By September of that year, grinding icebergs had crushed the ship's hull, leaving Shackleton and his men stranded on a vast ice sheet 1,000 miles from the nearest inhabited land.

And you thought it was bad at couldabeenacontender.com.

In a new book, Shackleton's Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer (Viking 2001), coauthors Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell tease out Shackleton's remarkable leadership methods -- strategies the explorer employed for 19 months while leading his crew across treacherous ice, through uncharted waters, and over a murderous mountain to safety. The book examines all of Shackleton's expeditions and includes testimonials from Shack-heads like secretary of the U.S. Navy Richard Danzig; Apollo 13 commander James Lovell; and business leaders from Jaguar, TheStreet.com, and Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette.

In a recent interview, Fast Company asked Morrell and Capparell how Shackleton can guide leaders facing disaster and disappointment in today's icy economic climate.

Why did Shackletonmania escalate to a fever pitch in the past five years?

Capparell: This turn of the century resembles the last in that there's a lot of energy and excitement in business right now. I think people are once again interested in the pioneering spirit and explorers who venture into new territory -- whether that's the South Pole or cyberspace.

When Shackleton returned to Europe at the tail end of World War I, the war hero took the spotlight from the explorer. Now the war hero is fading, and we're looking again to pioneers for inspiration.

Morrell: A number of books were written about Shackleton in the 1950s too.

Capparell: The United States and Russia were exploring space then. It seems that whenever a generation is looking for pioneers, it turns to Shackleton.

How would you characterize Shackleton's leadership?

Capparell: Shackleton never got any kick out of control. He had a genuine concern for his men -- for each individual, as well as the group. He was nurturing when the crew needed nurturing, and he gave pats on the back when people needed it. He focused on each individual's needs, but he also took a very broad view of the world, and that showed in his leadership.

Morrell: One friend called him a Viking with a mother's heart. Shackleton was the oldest of ten children. He had eight sisters and one brother. He learned to motivate, punish, and nurture a group of disparate personalities very early in life. He became the alpha male with a nurturing, even feminine, side.

You suggest Shackleton learned to be a great leader, but so much of his leadership seems instinctual. In his interviews for the Endurance voyage, for instance, he asked candidates if they could sing. Readers get the impression that Shackleton could peg any personality within five minutes. Can those leadership instincts be learned?

Capparell: Shackleton undoubtedly had a natural instinct for listening. A lot of leaders fail to watch and listen to their people. Shackleton did listen -- and that made him a powerful psychological leader.

Morrell: Shackleton cut his teeth in the merchant navy. By the time he led his first expedition, he had developed a formula for great leadership by watching the captains he worked with. There's no doubt in my mind that he learned an enormous amount in the seven years between his first expedition and the Endurance.

Who is Shackleton's antithesis?

Morrell: General George Patton -- the old-economy model of a leader.

Capparell: The best modern-day contrast was Vladimir Putin's handling of the Kursk. If he knew anything about Shackleton, he would have handled the Kursk situation very differently.

Did Shackleton ever borrow strengths from the Putin-Patton model?

Morrell: Shackleton would say, "What's the point?" He knew you sometimes have to shout down insurgents, shove them, or threaten to shoot them. In general, though, he didn't believe in belittling, intimidating, badgering, or prodding his people. You get better work done faster if you inspire people rather than crack the whip behind them. He needed to keep his team together during the grueling Antarctic winter, and he succeeded brilliantly.

Sidebar: Five Guiding Principles of Shackleton's Leadership