Sublime

What makes the story of the Endurance so remarkable, however, is not the expedition, it’s that throughout the whole ordeal no one died. There were no stories of people eating others and no mutiny. This was not luck. This was because Shackleton hired good fits. He found the right men for the job. When you fill an organization with good fits, those w

While Shackleton was called the ‘Boss’ by his men, he did not differentiate himself from them, and in an attempt to help his crew get over the trauma of abandoning the Endurance, Shackleton literally served his men. Rising early in the morning, he made hot milk and hand-delivered it to every tent in the camp. His mantra of unity and show of humanit

Undeterred by failure, Shackleton would later make further expeditions to the South Pole. For decades, a story (later debunked) circulated that he had placed the following ad in the London Times:

The ship had been named the Polaris. After the sale, Shackleton rechristened her Endurance, in keeping with the motto of his family, Fortitudine vincimus—“By endurance we conquer.”

Thus, while Shackleton was undeniably out of place, even inept, in a great many everyday situations, he had a talent—a genius, even—that he shared with only a handful of men throughout history—genuine leadership. He was, as one of his men put it, “the greatest leader that ever came on God’s earth, bar none.” For all his blind spots and inadequacies

Shackleton was looking for those with something more. He was looking for a crew that belonged on such an expedition. His actual ad ran like this: “Men wanted for Hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.”