Ernest Shackleton, the explorer of Antarctica.
On his second attempt to cross the continent with twenty-eight men, he was forced to endure ten months trapped in drifting pack ice.
He was a deeply respected explorer and a great leader who saved every member of his crew. With the summit of his ambition within sight, he and his twenty-eight men survived what must have felt like an eternity inside a ship locked in ice.
He encouraged music to be played.
He asked his men to write diaries.
He documented their days with photographs.
He even created small daily tasks so that no one would fall into despair or depression.
Day by day, the crew found moments of joy and unity. He gave them the certainty that they would return home alive.
When a crew member played the banjo, when small daily rituals were shared with the sea, their anxiety was transformed into strings of hope. When faced with unimaginable hardship—carrying the responsibility for the lives of his men, knowing he must save every one of them—what must his heart have felt?
More important than reaching the South Pole was bringing every man home alive. He reflected. He acted. And in the end, he accomplished it.
Though it was difficult, they comforted one another and persuaded one another. The goal they had risked their lives for had to be abandoned; plans were changed, trajectories corrected. And miraculously, every crew member returned alive.
Today I reflect again on Shackleton’s profound ethical conviction and leadership. I continue to think about his instinct for survival.
For me, the time of Shackleton’s great expedition and his leadership is like a flower planted in my heart.
As if I were like him—or sometimes one of his crew—I try to make that flower bloom.
— On the way back from USC’s Risky Eye Institute, after my beloved son Seunghyun’s second eye examination.
남극을 탐험한 어네스터 셰클턴! 동지들을 데리고 28명의 남극횡단을 2번째 시도한
그는 10개월 동안 부빙하는 얼음속에서 견뎌내여만 했다.
그는 대원들을 모두 구한 존경스러운 탐험가이며 위대한 대장이었다. 고지를 눈앞에 두고 얼음속에서 28명의들과 배안에서 영원같은 시간을 극복해냈다
악기를 연주하고,
일기를 쓰게하고,
카메라로 사진을찍어 기록하고.., 단순한 일거리조차 만들어 절망하거나 우울해지지 않도록 했다.
하루하루 대원들은 즐거웠고 화합했으며 반드시 살아서 돌아간다는 확신을 가지게했다.
벤조를 가지고온 대원이 연주를 하거나 바다와 함께하는 매일의 이벤트는 대원들의 불안함을 희망의 스트링으로 변주되었다. 혼자가 아닌 책임 져야할 대원들의 생명을 반드시 구해 내야만 했던 상상조차 하기어려운 역경에 부딪혔을때 그는 어떤 심정 이었을까…
남극점보다 더 중요한 점은 모두 살아서 돌아가는 것이었다. 그는 고민했고 실천했고 끝내 이루어냈다.
어려웠지만 서로 위로했고 서로를 설득했다.
인생을 걸고 기대하며 바라보던 목표였지만 궤도와 계획을 수정했고, 마침내 기적적으로 대원들은 모두 살아서 돌아갔다.
어네스터 셰클턴의 깊고도 심오한 윤리의식과 리더쉽을 나는 오늘도 되새긴다
그의 생존의식을 계속 생각해본다.
나에게 ‘셰클턴’의 위대한 탐험의 시간과 리더쉽은 나의 심장에 심은 꽃이다.
마치 나도 그처럼, 때로는 그의 한명의 대원인것처럼 꽃을 피워내려한다.
- USC
“Risky Eye Institute”에 가서 사랑하는 아들 승현이 눈검사를 두번째하고 돌아 오면서–