By Angela Gorall, ICMA-CM

Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton are arguably names most widely known as the greatest figures of the heroic era of Antarctica exploration. A village administrator from Wisconsin will never be among them.

The amazing privilege to take an expedition to visit Antarctica (I prefer to not call it a vacation) and return with a deep appreciation of its value to the world, provided me with some lessons for my chosen management profession, particularly on the young adult view of the world. Let me explain.

Enjoying the Company

My solo journey to Ushuaia, Argentina, followed by an expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula is challenging to describe without the use of my more than 3,000 photos and videos. It's not the visuals of the journey, however, that really stay with you after traveling. I found it's the experience you have with the people who shared your journey.

It was the young people on my excursion that stuck with me most. Some having saved every dime and spent all their savings to make this single trip, others who had been traveling for months as nomads of South America, some highly professional in their chosen fields, and almost all already well traveled.

I, on the other hand, taking the longest trip of my life, had been meticulously planning every aspect of my journey for almost a year. I read about the history, science, wildlife, and politics of this continent as if studying for a final exam. The younger travelers were not as "prepared" as I would define it.

While I may fall in the final year of what qualifies me as a millennial (according to the most liberal definition), I don't identify as one. It took a trip to the bottom of the world to help me better appreciate my generation's work-life view.

Valuing Unique Journeys

Members of this age group are right: Experiences are more important than stuff. While most generations would likely agree, this is more than just about materialism. There is true value in having camped a night on the Antarctica peninsula that can't be quantified in material terms.

In other words, texting a picture of your new car is not as cool as texting a picture of a selfie next to a penguin in Antarctica. Is getting that selfie just another self-involved trophy? Maybe for some, but I believe it's more about having achieved a goal of a unique experience.

Saying yes and having policies that may allow an employee to take that multi-week adventure is sometimes hard to accomplish, if not impossible. Saying no and not allowing early career workers to meet those life goals, however, will likely mean they will find somewhere else that will.

To not explore this planet and experience the enduring value of travel is a compromise many won't make and shouldn't. I had more than one conversation with travelers who noted if their boss didn't approve their time away, then they just would have quit.

Embracing the Future

Younger adults are our future, but they won't wait that long. Waiting for their turn as leaders or policy advocates whether locally, nationally, or globally is also a nonacceptable compromise. For the travelers I spent time with, they didn't leave Antarctica as tourists, they left as ambassadors.

These global citizens of the world may be residents in our local governments, asking us why in our latest vehicle purchase a hybrid option wasn't considered or to pass a resolution on meaningful local efforts to combat climate change. Understanding that these views or questions can come from a sincere and optimistic view of the future is worth embracing.

Finally, I found that the younger adults I shared this journey with embraced the diversity of others sharing in their experience. Meals included significant discussions learning about others and what brought them to Antarctica—a veritable drive to learn as quickly as possible in the short time we had together about where people were from, where had they been, and what they did.

This was the trophy to be earned: Having met a person from a foreign land with a unique life story different from their own.

From an employer perspective, we must attract and maintain recent graduates and early career professionals as part of our workforce. From a government perspective, we know we must listen and involve them to achieve our goals. If you're not already doing this, it's time to listen because I think they got it right.

Angela Gorall, ICMA-CM, is village administrator, Bellevue, Wisconsin (agorall@villageofbellevue.org).