Last week, I picked up (for the third time) one of my favorite books: South!: The Story of Shackleton’s Last Expedition 1914-1917. One particular passage piqued my interest:
“We had eighteen fur bags, and it was necessary, therefore, to issue ten of the Jaeger woollen bags in order to provide for the twenty-eight men of the party. The woollen bags were lighter and less warm than the reindeer bags, and so each man who received one of them was allowed also a reindeer-skin to lie upon. It seemed fair to distribute the fur bags by lot, but some of us older hands did not join in the lottery. We thought we could do quite as well with the Jaegers as with the furs.”
Why would Shackleton defer? Shackleton was the second oldest member of the expedition and the leader. If anyone deserved to have one of the warmer bags, it was him. One could argue that the younger members of the team were better fit to withstand the hardships of their situation.
I believe they deferred because, quite simply, Leaders Eat Last. This mindset is one way leaders demonstrate care and commitment to their teams. Simon Sinek puts it this way:
“Marine leaders are expected to eat last because the true price of leadership is the willingness to place the needs of others above your own. Great leaders truly care about those they are privileged to lead and understand that the true cost of the leadership privilege comes at the expense of self-interest.” It’s a visual presentation of the value of the team.”
The reason this passage stood out to me is that I’ve had some recent conversations about succession planning within TTI. In my opinion, succession planning is really about demonstrating care for those we lead. Coaching, mentoring and guiding those who will someday replace us are primary skills for effective leaders. And not only planning for my own replacement but also helping my subordinate managers understand the value of succession planning creates success across the organization. Because, at the end of the day, it’s never about me, but about making my team successful and in so doing, making the organization successful.