Five experienced leaders died because they couldn’t say no.
The 1996 Mount Everest tragedy wasn’t about weather or equipment failure. It was about decision-making under pressure. Two expedition leaders, Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, along with three others, perished after reaching the summit because they failed to enforce their own turnaround times.
Hall charged clients $65,000 each. Fischer ran a competing expedition. Both emphasized strict turnaround protocols to ensure safe descent before nightfall.
When the moment came, both leaders abandoned their own rules.
The Sunk Cost Trap
Doug Hansen had failed to summit Everest the previous year. This time, he was determined to reach the top regardless of delays. Hall, invested in Hansen’s success and his own reputation, pushed forward past the safe turnaround time.
The same psychology destroys nonprofits daily.
I see this pattern repeatedly in nonprofit organizations. Leaders continue failing programs because they’ve already invested significant resources. They pursue grants that no longer align with their mission because the application took months to complete.
Over half of all nonprofits are destined to fail within a few years due to leadership issues and lack of strategic planning. The mountaineering parallel is exact: smart, experienced leaders making fatal decisions because they can’t cut losses.
The Leadership Development Crisis
Hall and Fischer were both accomplished guides. Their expertise wasn’t questioned. But neither had developed adequate backup leadership or succession protocols.
Nonprofits face an identical crisis. Only 30 percent of C-suite roles in the nonprofit sector were filled by internal promotion in the past two years. That’s half the rate of for-profits.
When crisis hits, there’s no one ready to take command.
Communication Breakdown
The Everest expeditions had limited radio communication. Critical decisions were made in isolation. Team members became separated without clear protocols for regrouping or decision-making authority.
Sound familiar?
Just 29% of nonprofits have written succession plans. Even fewer have clear crisis communication protocols or decision-making hierarchies when leadership is compromised.
The Competitive Pressure Factor
Hall and Fischer were running competing expeditions. This created subtle pressure to match each other’s risk tolerance. Neither wanted to appear weak by turning back early.
Nonprofit leaders face similar dynamics. Board pressure, donor expectations, and peer organization comparisons all influence risk assessment. The result is often the same: pushing forward when prudent strategy demands retreat.
What Everest Teaches Nonprofit Leaders
The mountain doesn’t care about your investment, your reputation, or your previous failures.
Neither does organizational reality.
Effective leaders establish non-negotiable protocols before crisis hits. They develop internal leadership pipelines. They create communication systems that function under pressure.
Most importantly, they practice saying no when the stakes are highest.
The five deaths on Everest weren’t caused by inexperience or bad luck. They were caused by experienced leaders who couldn’t enforce their own best judgment when it mattered most.
Your nonprofit faces the same test every day.