Brad Borkan - Decisions Under Pressure: What Antarctic Explorers Teach Us About Leadership and Resilience

S2:E7 In this episode of Secrets of Learning and Development, hosts Valerie and Julia welcome Brad Borkan, an author and decision-making expert with a unique approach to leadership inspired by history. Brad’s career spans from roles at tech giants like SAP and Oracle to becoming a published author, exploring how historical figures navigated complex decisions under extreme conditions.

Brad shares his journey from the corporate world to writing, driven by a fascination with the decision-making processes of early Antarctic explorers. He delves into lessons from his books, including insights from Ernest Shackleton’s pivotal choices and the remarkable achievements of figures like the Wright Brothers, Teddy Roosevelt, and Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Through these examples, Brad illustrates timeless strategies relevant to modern leaders and individuals facing challenging decisions today.

In addition to discussing his career shift, Brad reveals practical strategies for making tough choices, such as embracing course correction over perfection and building effective small teams. His latest book, It Takes Two or Three: The Superpower of Small Teams, examines how close collaboration fuels innovation and impact, using examples from history and popular culture.

Key Takeaways
Decision-Making Without Perfect Information: Brad discusses the importance of making decisions even when all information isn’t available. He highlights that in high-stakes environments, such as the Antarctic expeditions, waiting for perfect information wasn’t an option. Instead, explorers learned to take action based on what they knew and relied on their resilience to adapt. This approach encourages modern leaders and individuals to act decisively and course-correct as needed, rather than falling into analysis paralysis.

Setting Achievable Milestones Even if Goals Aren’t Reached: Brad shares a powerful lesson from Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition, where Shackleton, realising he couldn’t reach the South Pole without risking his team’s survival, chose to pivot and set a new milestone within 97 miles of the goal. This taught the importance of acknowledging progress and setting achievable milestones, even when the ultimate goal isn’t feasible. This approach is valuable in personal and professional pursuits, where focusing on incremental achievements can provide a sense of purpose and accomplishment.

Guest Information:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradborkan/
https://extreme-decisions.com/
brad.borkan@gmail.com

Chapters

• 2:03 Introduction
• 4:15 Decision Making Lessons from Antartic Explorers
• 5:44 From Big Tech to Authorship: The Pivot
• 14:02 The Power of Small Teams
• 19:56 Setting Milestones When Goals Aren't Achievable
• 22:20 Course Correction Over Perfection
• 24:29 Brads Key Takeaway