The Most Uninhabitable Place On Earth
Antarctica is the most uninhabitable place on Earth. And yet, 11 babies have been born there. The questions are why and what does it mean for leaders?
According to this article, two countries, Chile and Argentina, want rights to the land.
Argentina dispatched (and yes, I chose that word specifically) a woman who was seven months pregnant to the continent. On January 7, 1978, this lady, who also happened to be married to a military official, gave birth to Emilio Marcos Palma. As a result of having the first natural born citizen on Antarctica, Argentina felt they had rights to the land.
Not to be outdone, Chile later sent a young couple to the island to both conceive and give birth to a newborn baby. On November 21, 1984, Juan Pablo Camacho Martino was born. Chile now felt their claim on the land was more solid.
Both countries continued to have babies in Antartica, 11 in all. Interestingly, all 11 have survived giving Antarctica the lowest infant mortality rate in the world.
Leadership Lessons
The following are the leadership lessons we learn from this unusual story:
Leaders Go First
Leaders are always breaking new ground. They go places no one else has gone before. So when no one had rights to this continent, a leader was going to figure out how to get them.
John Maxwell says, “A leader knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”
Smart Leaders See Great Value In Things Others Overlook
The average person would look at Antartica and see nothing but snow and ice. “Only penguins would enjoy this place,” they would think. But much like how America and Russia battled over space, Chile and Argentina saw strategic value where no one else did.
Leaders Must Be Willing To Pay A Price Others Are Unwilling To Pay
Let’s take a moment and think about the young men and women willing to give birth in Antarctica. I would imagine the birthing centers and care units were not up to the standards of the local hospitals they left behind. But for the good of their countries, they made the sacrifice.
Leaders sacrifice a lot for the good of their organizations. They work longer hours, sometimes go without paychecks, have hard conversations, and carry a level of stress no one can understand unless they are in a leadership position.
But they pay that price because they are leaders.
Conclusion
So which country, Chile or Argentina, owns the rights to Antarctica? Well, neither. It is still governed by a group of international countries who signed The Antarctic Treaty on December 1, 1959. It is land set aside for peace and science.
In conclusion, leaders go first, see value in overlooked things, and pay a price others are unwilling to pay. This is what we learn from 11 babies being born in Antarctica.
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