During one of my early attempts to ski unsupported to the geographical North Pole, a fuel leak from a damaged fuel can in my sledge contaminated our radio batteries. The fuel caused the battery to short and without power the radio and other vital safety equipment could not be used. This was a major setback and a serious blow to the team who had spent two years preparing for this journey. Fortunately, I was carrying a small emergency beacon that I activated to alert our home team that we had a problem.
Two days later a light aircraft appeared and, using ground to air VHF radio, I was able to explain the situation. Unfortunately, the aircraft had no spare batteries onboard. It was decision time. With no radio link to our home team do we continue, or do we abort? It would take too long for the aircraft to return with a new battery, as the Arctic sea ice would melt before we reached the Pole creating even greater risks. I made the decision to abort.
However, landing an aircraft on a frozen Arctic Ocean is not straight forward because aircraft need large areas of flat, obstacle-free stable ice to land on. After looking for somewhere nearby to land the pilot informed us that the closest safe landing strip was some thirty miles away - behind us. We had no option but to retrace our steps and rendezvous with the aircraft later.
The decision to abort did not sit well with some who, understandably, were focused on reaching the Pole having invested so much time and energy over the preceeding months, and despondency began to surface. This could be dangerous in the Arctic where a lack of focus can lead to serious accidents, and we still faced a long journey ahead. Although disappointed at the situation, I had to quickly move on from the setback, refocus my mindset and critically refocus team efforts onto the new plan and ultimately return everyone safely - which we did.
Not every act or decision you make will be fully supported by your team. In fact, there will be times as a leader that you may feel very alone. This is when a leader needs the courage to make the decisions that are for the greater good of the team, and having made those decisions, work to realign team efforts to new goals and objectives. As HRH Prince Phillip said to me on my return ‘discretion is better than disaster’.
Explore more at Leading High Performance Teams
Two days later a light aircraft appeared and, using ground to air VHF radio, I was able to explain the situation. Unfortunately, the aircraft had no spare batteries onboard. It was decision time. With no radio link to our home team do we continue, or do we abort? It would take too long for the aircraft to return with a new battery, as the Arctic sea ice would melt before we reached the Pole creating even greater risks. I made the decision to abort.
However, landing an aircraft on a frozen Arctic Ocean is not straight forward because aircraft need large areas of flat, obstacle-free stable ice to land on. After looking for somewhere nearby to land the pilot informed us that the closest safe landing strip was some thirty miles away - behind us. We had no option but to retrace our steps and rendezvous with the aircraft later.
The decision to abort did not sit well with some who, understandably, were focused on reaching the Pole having invested so much time and energy over the preceeding months, and despondency began to surface. This could be dangerous in the Arctic where a lack of focus can lead to serious accidents, and we still faced a long journey ahead. Although disappointed at the situation, I had to quickly move on from the setback, refocus my mindset and critically refocus team efforts onto the new plan and ultimately return everyone safely - which we did.
Not every act or decision you make will be fully supported by your team. In fact, there will be times as a leader that you may feel very alone. This is when a leader needs the courage to make the decisions that are for the greater good of the team, and having made those decisions, work to realign team efforts to new goals and objectives. As HRH Prince Phillip said to me on my return ‘discretion is better than disaster’.
Explore more at Leading High Performance Teams
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