The Greatest Man…

[ Read the SemperVerus article, SemperVerus Brotherhood/Sisterhood™ Launches to Help People ‘Stay True’ ]

“The greatest man is he who chooses right with invincible resolution, who resists the sorest temptation from within and without, who bears the heaviest burdens cheerfully; who is calmest in storms, and most fearless under menaces and frowns; whose reliance on truth, on virtue, on God, is most unfaltering.”

—19th-century cleric William Ellery Channing

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Be Like Ernest Shackleton ]

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• By semperverus
• Posted on 06/22/202006/22/2020
• 2 Comments on The Greatest Man…

Be Like Ernest Shackleton

In August 1914 Ernest Shackleton sailed with 27 men from England to the Antarctic continent with the goal of being the first to cross Antarctica—the land with the coldest temperature ever recorded on earth: minus 128.6 degrees—via the South Pole. Early in 1915 their ship, Endurance, became trapped in pack ice, and ten months later was crushed and sank. Shackleton’s crew had already abandoned the ship to live on floating ice in the most hostile place in the world.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Navy SEAL Reveals 8 Secrets To Grit And Resilience ]

In April 1916 they set off in three cramped leaky open lifeboats for a 17-day, 800-mile journey in stormy seas, eventually reaching a jutting rock called Elephant Island. Taking five crew members, Shackleton went to find help. Again in a small open boat, the six men spent 16 days crossing another 800 miles of swirling frigid ocean to reach South Georgia island and then, with a pocket compass, trekked across two snowfields, four glaciers, and three mountain ranges to a remote whaling station. The remaining men from the Endurance were rescued in August 1916. Not one member of the expedition died, a two-year feat of magnificent unparalleled leadership.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, SemperVerus and the Noble Foundation of Scouting ]

In his memoir, Endurance, Frank Worsley, the captain of the Endurance, wrote this about his leader:

He was not only a great explorer; he was also a great man….And what of him as a man? I recalled the way in which he had led his party across the ice-floes after the Endurance had been lost; how, by his genius for leadership he had kept us all in health; how, by the sheer force of his personality, he had kept our spirits up; and how, by his magnificent example, he had enabled us to win through when the dice of the elements were loaded most heavily against us.

According to the book Summoned to Lead by Leonard Sweet,

“The story of the Endurance expedition has a postmodern feel. Shackleton was a man clearly of his time, but a man also clearly living before his time. He combined the prophetic and priestly functions of leadership. He reached out to where his crew was (priest) and reached out to where his crew was not but needed to go (prophetic). He could ‘tell it like it is,’ but was willing to tell it like it is not but ought to be. Reaching people where they are is how leaders form relationships. But reaching people where they are not is how leaders form hope for ‘what you can be’ and help construct an imaginary future toward which people can direct their steps.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Questions to Ask Yourself ]

The SemperVerus Brotherhood / Sisterhood seeks to model the accomplished leadership virtues of Ernest Shackleton who remained positive even in supreme strife amid heaving waters.

        

        

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Invite SemperVerus to present its 5 life-changing success-generating components—prepare, aware, be, know, do—to your organization to inspire and motivate your members.

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• By semperverus
• Posted on 06/09/202006/10/2020
• 4 Comments on Be Like Ernest Shackleton

SemperVerus and the Noble Foundation of Scouting

The SemperVerus Brotherhood / Sisterhood rests on foundational personal virtues to which members commit themselves to practice with every decision they make every moment of every day in order to be the best and highest achieving person they can be (“Stay True”). It can be likened to the goals of Scouting.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, 15 Maxims for Being Reliable ]

The international Boy Scout movement was founded in Great Britain in 1908 by cavalry officer Lieutenant General Robert S.S. Baden-Powell, who wrote the book, Scouting for Boys (1908). He succeeded in creating an organization that motivated boys to learn new skills and self-confidence in their journey toward responsible manhood. As they advanced in their education and practice, they were awarded badges of accomplishment to certify and celebrate their successes (much as the SemperVerus wristband signals the wearer’s personal commitment to daily live virtuously and “Stay True”).

[ Read SemperVerus articles on developing rich personal leadership character of exemplary moral and ethical quality. ]

Even as adults, it’s worthwhile for us to review and remember Scouting’s noble objectives:

Scout Motto:  Be prepared.

Scout Slogan:  Do a good turn daily.

Scout Aims:  Life Skills, Character, Citizenship, Personal Fitness, Leadership.

Scout Oath:  On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

Scout Law:  A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.

Scout Mission:  The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law.

Visit scouting.org.

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Invite SemperVerus to present its 5 life-changing success-generating components—prepare, aware, be, know, do—to your organization to inspire and motivate your members.

Join the SemperVerus Brotherhood™!

• By semperverus
• Posted on 05/27/202009/28/2023
• 3 Comments on SemperVerus and the Noble Foundation of Scouting