The incredible journey of Ernest Shackleton aboard the Endurance, revisited by American author Patrick Lencioni in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, offers powerful insights for today’s business leaders.
In 1914, Irish explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton set out on one of the most extraordinary adventures of the age of exploration: to cross Antarctica on foot. What began as a bold expedition quickly turned into a fight for survival when his ship, the Endurance, became trapped and eventually destroyed by ice. For nearly two years, Shackleton led his men through inhumane conditions until they were all rescued — without a single loss of life. Over a century later, this feat remains a classic case of leadership, resilience, and teamwork.
Interestingly, the challenges Shackleton faced — born in 1874 — resonate deeply with modern ideas on team dynamics. In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, American author Patrick Lencioni identifies the factors that sabotage collective performance: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. Though Lencioni writes within an organizational context, these principles are universal. And few situations test a team more than the frozen edge of the world.
Trust — understood as the willingness to be vulnerable — is the foundation of every functional team. Shackleton built that trust from the start, carefully selecting his men not only for their skills but for their character. Throughout the expedition, he showed genuine concern for their well-being, shared duties and decisions, and openly admitted uncertainty. His men trusted him — not because he had all the answers, but because they knew he would never abandon them.
In contrast, many organizational leaders pretend to have certainty, and team members hide mistakes out of fear of judgment. Shackleton taught us that a leader’s vulnerability is not weakness — it’s the glue that binds a team during storms.
Lencioni argues that teams without trust avoid productive conflict, opting instead for the safety of silence. On the Endurance, Shackleton encouraged open discussion. He listened to his men’s ideas, welcomed disagreement, and knew when to make the final call. He didn’t avoid tension — he managed it. He understood that respectful conflict strengthens cohesion and brings out the best in people.
In companies, conflict is often seen as a threat. But ignoring it allows underground tensions to grow until they implode the team. Shackleton didn’t allow this. He constantly monitored the emotional temperature and acted with diplomacy and firmness when needed.
When teams don’t engage in debate, they don’t commit to decisions. Shackleton avoided this by involving everyone in the planning — even in small tasks like cleaning routines or improvised entertainment. Even in chaos, there was structure. Everyone knew where they were going — literally and metaphorically — and what their role was.
Commitment isn’t born from imposition, but from a shared sense of purpose. In the corporate world, leaders who don’t communicate a clear vision or exclude their teams from decisions might get obedience, but not commitment. Shackleton got 27 men to follow him even when there was no land in sight.
A committed team holds itself accountable — not just to the leader, but to each other. During the expedition, every man knew his actions — or inaction — could mean the difference between life and death. That interdependence created mutual responsibility: if someone faltered, another would step in, but it didn’t absolve anyone of their duty.
In dysfunctional teams, accountability gets diluted: “It’s not my job,” “I did my part.” Shackleton didn’t tolerate that mindset. He understood that shared responsibility is not only operational — it’s moral. One person’s failure is everyone’s failure.
Finally, Lencioni notes that when ego, comfort, or personal agendas override a shared goal, the team fails. For Shackleton, the goal shifted from crossing Antarctica to saving every one of his men. Every decision — from food rations to what songs to play on the gramophone — was guided by that objective.
In the corporate world, focus is often lost amid personal goals or poorly aligned metrics. Shackleton prioritized one clear, vital outcome, and structured everything around it. The result wasn’t a KPI — it was life itself.
Sir Ernest Shackleton never read Lencioni. But he lived — with rawness and courage — each of the principles we now apply in modern management. The Endurance story is an eternal lesson on how to lead teams into the unknown: how to inspire trust, encourage debate, drive commitment, hold each other accountable, and never lose sight of what truly matters.
In a corporate world full of PowerPoints, metrics, and diagnostics, maybe what we need is a little more snow in our boots and ice in our gaze to remember what leadership really means.
By Hernán Tello, Partner at OLIVIA