The Endurance:

A true story of
leadership and victory

Meenakshi Raina
 Sir Henry Ernest Shackelton
(1824-1922)

Born on February 15 1824, years later liked

to recall he shared his birthday with Galileo.

Grew up with unique self confidence in

Anglo Irish lineage.

The family came originally from Yorkshire but moved to

Dublin near Ireland.
A rolling stone which gathered no moss. Joined Navy at
the age of 14 which was the entry limit. Fascinated by
sea and expeditions since childhood.
NATIONAL
ANTARTIC
EXPEDITION

THE NIMROD
EXPEDITION

THE BIRTH OF ENDURANCE

September 13, 1900: applied for
National Antarctic Expedition.

Shackelton joins as editor

and the team publishes first
SOUTH POLAR TIMES.

Sent home as invalid but

resolves one day would
return to Antarctic

In 1908 sailed back to Antarctic with British

Antarctic Expedition.
Returned back due to lack of supply of food.
Some dreams
seldom die,
“ENDURANCE”
was one such
.
1911 Ronald Amundsen
claims the prize to pole.

1914, Shackelton embarks

a new challenge:
“to cross the entire
continent on foot from
Wendell to Ross Sea.”:

The expedition was named

ENDURANCE
Men
wanted
28 crew members
69 sledge dogs and
cat
Honest truths
Common goals
ENDURANCE SAILS
Sir Ernest Henry Shackelton: Leader
Frank Wild: Second In Command
Frank Worsely: Capitan
Lionel Greenstreet: First Officer
Ship was originally named Polaris but
Shackelton re-christened after her
ENDURANCE.

The Shackelton Family motto was:

“By Endurance, we conquer”
ENDURANCE crashes into ice packs.

The ship wrecks.

Team walks through the ice.

The whole journey lasts for 2 years but the team believes in their
leader, Shackelton.

Set up an ocean camp.

Celebrate the moments in gloom and

Uncertainty.

Finally Shackelton says to his team:

“ships and stores have gone, now we go home.”
home
Patience Camp.
Kill the puppies born on board and including Mrs. Chirpy, the cat.

Men pull the life boat but reach no where.

Shackelton decided to go sail through the cold sea water and walk 1400
miles to get help for team members.

The team waits for their leader to return.

The captain, and second in command follow Shackelton.

Sail in a wrecked boat and walk past 14000 miles in

South Georgia.
Returns back after two months to save his team.
Leadership Lessons from below zero
 ONE
Keep sight of the ultimate goal but focus energy on
interim objectives.
Shackelton was ever riveted on the safety and
survival of his men.  
When morale severely plummeted at one point,
Shackelton organized a trek to cross 314 miles of ice
floe to an old food cache. 
It floundered, but the collective endeavor restored
the crew’s life-sustaining esprit.  
 TWO
Use symbolic actions to send indelible messages.
  Shackleton knew that disposing of all unessential
personal effects would be vital for the crossing, and
he insisted that each man carry no more than two
pounds. 
 To drive the point home, he visibly disposed of his
own gold watch and coins. 
 Three
Engender optimism. 
 As a sustaining contrivance,
Shackleton openly plotted their next
expedition – to Alaska.
 Four
Sustain your stamina.  
When a crew member succumbed to
the numbing temperatures,
Shackleton was quick to dispense
extra clothing. 
 Five
Maintain your team.
“Little cliques and factions would
grow up,” recalled one crew member,
but Shackleton’s tact and diplomacy
soon destroyed” the divisions.  
 six
Minimize your differences.  
Ten of the 28 castaways were forced to
use inadequate sleeping bags after the
ship sank, and Shackleton assigned the
sub-par bags by lottery – except for one
that he assigned to himself.     
 seven
Diffuse conflict. 
 Shackleton arranged for two of
the crew’s most difficult and
disruptive personalities to share a
tent with him. 
 eight
Celebrate. 
On December 5, 1915, one year after their
departure, crew members knew they should
have been on a triumphal return to England. 
Mindful of the potentially demoralizing
anniversary, Shackleton arranged a holiday to
commemorate their great success in surviving
a full year. 
 nine
Risk nothing needlessly, bet everything when essential.

 When the crew finally reached an inhospitable Elephant Island at the

edge of the Antarctic, they stood on land for the first time in 497 days.
 Yet the welcome patch of terra firma offered no respite.

 The nearest point of civilization – South Georgia Island – still lay 800
miles across the one of the most daunting sailing courses in the world.
 With virtually no navigational aids, Shackleton set out with five others
to cross it in a 22-foot craft.

 Eighteen days later, in one of the most daunting feats of steerage and
survival ever, their tiny boat landed on South Georgia.  
 ten
Never, never, never give up.
  Shackleton unfortunately landed on the wrong side of the
island, and he would still have to make a perilous crossing of
uncharted mountains and crevassed glaciers to a whaling
station on the far side.
  It required 36 hours of extreme climbing, but at 3 PM on
May 20, 1916 he announced to a startled station manager,
“My name is Shackleton.”  
On August 30, he rescued the remaining crew he had left on
Elephant Island, 634 days after first setting out.