What Real Leadership Looks Like

Whether or not it was senility, insanity, or a misguided spirit of adventure remains to be seen, but the fact is that Jill and I decided to take a break from our international traveling ministry by going to Antarctica! We sailed across some of the roughest waters in the world in our small ship, and then boarded tiny Zodiacs (inflated rafts with outboard motors). We landed in remote places inhabited only by seals and penguins while albatrosses circled effortlessly above and whales blew and breached to their hearts’ content among towering icebergs.

In between these landings we attended lectures including a historical review of Antarctic exploration. We heard much about Sir Ernest Shackleton and one day we stood by his grave in a quiet bay overlooking the remains of the ships and factories of the old whaling industry.

Our lecturer poured scorn on the fact that Shackleton was being used as a case study in some MBA programs. The intrepid explorer achieved none of his objectives - most of his men were never paid and he left a trail of debt behind him. Perhaps Shackleton does not belong in a Master’s program on business administration, but there is no doubt that he belongs on the top of the heap when it comes to leadership qualities.

When his ship, “The Endurance,” eventually sank, he held his crew together as they drifted for five more months on ice floes. Eventually arriving on Elephant Island, he left 22 men and set off in another lifeboat on an 800 mile voyage to get help. He traversed glaciers and high mountains before arriving safely at a whaling station. But 22 of his men remained across the ocean barely surviving, and another advance party awaited him on the other side of Antarctica, not knowing that he would never be able to get there. So he set off to get help from the Falkland Islands and South America.

After four perilous crossings of cruel seas, he reached Elephant Island. The 22 men had two days food left. They had survived there for over three months. Each morning they had been roused by Frank Wild, Shackleton’s right-hand man, with the instruction, “Lash up and stow, men. The boss may come today.”

And come he did! Standing in the bow of the rescue ship, Shackleton shouted, “Are you all well?” and to his delight he heard the reply, “We are all well, boss.” Once the rescued men were safely ashore in South America, Shackleton set out for New Zealand to lead the search for his advance party on the other side of Antarctica. Three of those men had perished in a blizzard, but he brought the rest home to safety.

We need to make a distinction between administrators and leaders in the church today. Leaders without administrators can easily lead into chaos, while administrators without leaders can all too easily manage the status quo which eventually becomes exceedingly quo. While administrators keep their noses down on the details and attend to what is, leaders lift their eyes to the horizon and see what could be.

But if nobody is following, leaders are not leading and this is where Shackleton shone. I’m intrigued how he did it. Shackleton was universally known simply as “boss”. His men loved him! Even when they escaped by the skin of their teeth and were never paid, they volunteered for his next expedition!

In the desperate days on Elephant Island they held out hope simply because they had seen Shackleton in action. Month after month drifting on the ice floes they had observed his spirit, his energy, and his self-sacrificial attitude. He literally risked life and limb repeatedly for them. They knew his caliber.

I worry that sometimes the modern church appears to be content with “leadership” that oils the process of maintaining the “same old, same old,” and that keeps the membership comfortable and well cared for. The days in which we live call for a church that is mobilized into action, ablaze with vision, nerved with Holy Spirit determination and venturing into unexplored territory in search of what God may have hidden from immediate view.

This requires leadership that, like Shackleton’s, sees a vision, instills it in the hearts of others, has selfless commitment to the followers’ well-being, and in the face of adversity, shows courage and determination that instills hope in the fainthearted.

Shackleton was no saint. But he knew how to lead. We need men and women like him in the church today!