The formula for success: Start with why

Have you ever heard of Ernest Schackleton? He was an anglo-irish explorer famous for an expedition he took on the ship Endurance. This expedition is so legendary because the Endurance was stranded in the Antartic for nearly two years, and no one died. You can find loads of articles all over the web about Shackleton's extraordinary leadership skills and how these contributed to these 27 men successfully braving the 22 months in the Antartica Ice when the Endurance was trapped and crushed in the ice. However, one of the most fascinating things about this story was exactly how these 27 men were recruited. Shackleton was so great by being a true leader who put his men's weel-being, both mental and physical, above all else. But was really did set Shackleton apart as a true great leader started with his selection of the Endurance crew. How did he hire the crew? Like most companies out there still do today. He placed an ad on a newspaper. And what do we usually say when we take out job ad on a newspaper or on a website? We say what we are looking for, correct? The typical job ad usually says something like this: Account Manager needed. Required skills? Minimum 5 years experience in account management. Must speak 3 languages. Come work for a fantastic company. 

Here's the job ad Schackleton posted:

Noticed any difference? Brutally honest,right? The only people who applied for the job were the people who believed in what Shackleton believed.They were people who loved adventure and insurmountable odds. Bottom line: they were survivors just like Shackleton. And this was the reason the expedition ended being a success and why they all managed to survive in the Antartic Ice for so long. I wrote this here before. Simon Sinek's inspiring message Start with why explains clearly that it's not what you do that matters.It's why you do it. This is the formula for success, no matter who you are and what you do. Shackleton knew that his goal wasn't to hire people who needed a job. He knew that he needed to hire people who believed in his cause, and who would work for him with blood, sweat and tears because they loved adventure and challenging insurmountable odds. Honour and recognition in case of success was their reason for doing this expedition. If Schackleton had hired his crew based only on their skills and experience, and only on the fact that they could do the job, probably his expedition would have had a different ending. I heard about this story for the first time in another inspiring keynote presented by Simon Sinek and thought it was really worth sharing.