How great leaders navigate icebergs to succeed

Leadership can be a precarious business. There’s no doubt some personalities are naturally cut out to lead. But even great leaders need motivational strategies to draw on – when times are hard and energy reserves are low how can we dig deep to keep the ship afloat, inspire staff and steer our businesses to success?

I was reminded of what it takes to be a great leader at the Shackleton: Escape to Antarctica exhibition at the Australian National Maritime Museum. Explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton set out from England in 1914 to undertake a heroic human endeavour: to circumnavigate Antarctica in a race for the South Pole. The expedition turned into a quest for survival of epic proportions when his ship Endurance was crushed by ice and sank, forcing him and his 27 crew to abandon ship and face frost bite, altitude sickness and icy gales of minus 14°F. Yet somehow he managed to keep the crew’s morale buoyed in the face of overwhelming adversity. He told his stranded, freezing, sick and starving crew that “today we’ll be going home”.

The team survived and succeeded through great courage, confidence, strength, patience, and resilience, keeping calm under pressure and sheer bloody-minded determination. These are important characteristics to cultivate for life in general as well as business leadership.

I hope I never endure the same harsh conditions as Ernest Shackleton; let’s face it, rarely are we pushed to our full human potential these days, and really why would we choose such a challenge, knowing the risks and the hardships? In fact, as we sat at lunch enjoying tender scallops and sipping fine wine, whilst listening to Shackleton’s granddaughter tell his story of survival, the polarity between his survival quest and our life of luxury was even more apparent. And yet I recognised the leadership qualities that drove Shackleton to endure those extreme climatic conditions.

Managing a successful business is rarely like sailing on calm water; often it is navigating your way through problems as immovable and immense as ice bergs. Like Shackleton, I’m an expert on icebergs – just not the cold ones. I help clients to identify a business strategy, communicate their product, change their internal culture and motivate their staff to be the best they can be – to create a higher return on investment.

Common problems businesses encounter are managing conflict. A client might not pay. A member of staff might become disillusioned or leave. You might need to manage a rebrand or a company merger. Our integrated strategic communications skills help businesses to weather these storms and come out winning.

Three essential leadership qualities of Shackleton’s that I love:

Confidence
As a leader You have to believe in what you are doing, even when there isn’t much evidence to support it.
Courage
Be brave, muster the courage to step outside the box and do something different. Follow your values and your gut instinct.
Employ great people
Create a team that will stand with you. Develop the internal culture you want. Include staff in your business, nurture and empower them by encouraging and valuing their opinions and ideas.