Most CEOs Get Fired for the Wrong Speed, Not the Wrong Plan
HBR's Nitin Nohria argues CEOs are replaced more often for moving at the wrong pace than for picking the wrong strategy.
Prompted by “How CEOs Set the Tempo”, HBR (Nitin Nohria).
Nitin Nohria's point cuts against how most leaders think about their job: strategy gets all the attention, but tempo — how fast you move once you've decided — is what actually determines whether you arrive. He argues CEOs are replaced more often for operating at the wrong pace than for picking the wrong strategy.
His clearest contrast is Theranos versus BlackBerry. Elizabeth Holmes moved fast on science that wasn't ready, and the gap between claimed progress and reality became unrecoverable. BlackBerry moved too slowly once the iPhone redrew the market, dismissing touchscreens until the market was already gone. Same failure, opposite direction.
Who tells you your pace is off?
Here's what doesn't get said enough for a company your size: you don't have a board forcing you to notice which tempo you're actually running at, or a stock price publicly grading the decision. A $20M company can drift at the wrong pace for a lot longer before anyone outside the building says so.
If you're an owner-operator, the problem compounds: you set the tempo, but you're also the one inside every initiative — selling, running ops, closing the books — which means you're the worst-positioned person in the company to notice your own pace is off. There's no board to tell you you're too cautious, and often no one on payroll with the standing to tell you you're moving too fast. The tempo you're running right now is almost entirely a function of your mood this quarter, not a deliberate choice — unless you build in a way to check it.
Test it out: pick one initiative that's been moving in your company for the last month and ask yourself honestly: is the pace right for what it actually requires, or did you just default to how fast (or slow) you personally move? If you're an owner-operator, don't stop at asking yourself — ask the one person in the business who'd actually tell you the truth, and let their answer count more than your own instinct.
A room of peers with no stake in your business is a good place to find out whether you are moving too fast or too slow. That is what OCTET is built for.
Looking for a place to discuss issues like this with other local business leaders? Join one of our no-cost Rochester CEO insight sessions and test your ideas with your peers.
Originally posted on LinkedIn ↗