Sun, Mar 11, 2007 page12

• How management conquered the freezing Antarctic

  • THE GUARDIAN
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  They marched up the glacier, a sharp wind slicing at their faces, buoyed by the thought that they had joined an elite club of people who have stepped on the remote mainland of Antarctica. At their destination -- a pristine white ridge mid-way up an enormous slab of ice -- the men and women unfurled their flags.

  The corporate banners of a dozen companies, including BP, Kroll and Coca-Cola, fluttered above the last great wilderness. One man took a photo of a Coke bottle wedged in the ice. Another stripped to his boxer shorts.

  This week, the graduates of a controversial new brand of leadership training returned to their desks. For its corporate supporters, who paid US$11,600 per employee for the trip, the course instills executives with teamwork skills and, crucially, an environmental conscience.

  For its critics, including a few of last week's participants, it is an indulgent booze-cruise on ice masquerading as corporate social responsibility.

  The training was led by motivational speaker Robert Swan, the first person to walk to both poles, and according to the course brochure: "The master of how you may change your life."

  Swan has taken business clients on awareness-raising voyages to Antarctica before, through his company 2041. But this was the first expedition tailored to a growing demand among multinationals to prove their green credentials.

  The Leadership on the Edge course began three weeks ago with a slideshow in Ushuaia, on the southern tip of Argentina. Beside the managers, vice presidents and chief executives, Swan used additional sponsorship from Coca-Cola to bring along a handful of students, teachers, environmentalists and journalists.

  The 67 participants learned about Swan's life, his 11-point leadership plan, the basic tenets of climate change and how to take good photographs in the snow. They were introduced to Hugh, an attitude adjuster, and Pete, a belief builder, who would navigate them through the emotional journey ahead.

  Swan held aloft a pink handbag with the word "toolbox" taped to the side -- a reminder of everyone's personal skillset -- and rewarded individuals who displayed leadership qualities with plastic orange whistles.

  When the 85-meter icebreaker MV Ushuaia finally left port, the team gathered on deck in uniform black jackets. Swan stood in the middle, in white.

  "This is no longer a game, people," he shouted. "This is it. We're going to Antarctica. OK?"

  That night the ship passed Cape Horn and sailed into Drake Passage, one of the most treacherous stretches of sea in the world. Thirty-six hours later, pallid faces emerged. A shrill wind battered the windows. Outside, penguins plonked in and out of the water.

  "Team Inspire! Team Inspire! Team Inspire!" bellowed the ship's loudspeaker.

  The first destination was King George Island, a barren moonscape of mud and rock where, six years ago, Swan helped clear 1,000 tonnes of waste from a Russian base. In return, he was given permission to build a cabin to host an e-classroom through his foundation.

  The expedition inaugurated the small hut that Swan had said would "educate the world's youth" about the continent via daily Internet dispatches. It was to be powered by the latest in solar and wind technology which, unfortunately, had not arrived.

  A Russian orthodox priest blessed the building, and the crowd scattered, deflated. A BP executive found a penguin waddling alongside 100 discarded oil drums bearing his company's logo.

  Swan said the drums would be cleared and reassured the group the e-classroom was "a piece of history."

  "I'm sorry if a few of you were disappointed," he said. "My friends, let's remember why we're here." He tapped a map of Antarctica. "The mission."

  The ship headed south into a frozen paradise. By day, they toured islands around the Antarctic peninsula, zipping to shore in inflatable speedboats, weaving between magnificent shards of ice and photographing hundreds of penguins and seals.

  They passed a gargantuan tablet of floating ice -- a remnant of the Larson B ice shelf, a 3,350km2 blanket of ice that collapsed in 2002 -- due, scientists said, to rapid warming. As if on cue, an entire cliff-face crashed into the sea, leaving a haunting crevasse of cyan blue ice.

  "Wow," said one man, his eye stuck to a camera lens. "All we need now is a massive whale to go past."

  When they weren't on ice, they stood on the bow and watched minke and fin whales dance in the water, compared photographs, and took part in leadership workshops. They watched two presentations about the small steps people can take to reduce their carbon emissions -- for example, by travelling less -- and a promotional film about BP's plans for hydrogen power.

  The evenings and large chunks of the day were spent in the bar, or on deck, drinking whisky and "million year old ice" hacked off an iceberg. For many, the most exhilarating moment was camping on a glacier. Majestic peaks stood guard over the serenity. The campers, cheeks reddened by alcohol, made snowmen, carved pictures into the ice and hugged one another. Then they started to sing along to made-up tribal chants, howling into the wilderness. In the morning, one group played what could be the first game of cricket on an Antarctic glacier.

  Back on the ship, a fancy dress party marked the end of the training. A disgruntled few complained they had not been told anything about how global warming had affected the places they had visited. They asked the barmaid, a marine biologist with a PhD, to give a talk.

  The next day, she said the air temperature around the west Antarctic Peninsula had increased by more than 2oC in 50 years, making it one of the fastest-warming places on the planet. The glaciers were receding fast, she said, and the Adelie penguins they photographed were moving south.

  Finally, each member of the course was asked to deliver a 30 second speech. Nearly everyone said the experience had changed them. They promised to do more for climate change and said they would make sure their boss sent someone on next year's course.

  Then a man who had pledged to plant trees when he returned to Australia walked into the middle of the circle. He wanted to do that tribal chant thing one last time.
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