Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was one of the main polar explorers of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. He joined the merchant navy when he was 16 and became a master mariner. He travelled widely, but was keen to explore the poles. He was part of three expeditions to the Antarctic - the first was led by the British naval officer Robert Falcon Scott on the ship, ‘Discovery’, while the other two were led by him aboard ships ‘Nimrod’ and ‘Endurance’, respectively. During his third trip to the Antarctic, his ship 'Endurance' became trapped in the ice, and ten months later sank. His crew had already abandoned the ship to live on the floating ice and eventually reached Elephant Island. Taking five crew members, Shackleton went to find help in a small boat, spent 16 days crossing 1,300 km of ocean to reach South Georgia and then he trekked across the island to a whaling station. The remaining men from the 'Endurance' were rescued. The astonishing saga of his survival for over a year on the ice-bound Antarctic seas, as Time magazine put it, ‘defined heroism’. This once-forgotten explorer’s actions have made him a great role model for leadership and a great name in crisis management.