May 2025 Executive Edge
April was a turbulent month for many companies, marked by significant economic policy
shifts, market volatility, and supply chain disruptions. The on-again, off-again tariffs and
escalating tensions between the United States and China triggered massive declines in the
stock market, driving it into bear market territory for the first time since 2020. Challenging
times test our resolve, yet also create the opportunity to demonstrate leadership
excellence.
This month’s edition of Executive Edge explores potential leadership solutions in “Who’s
Steering the Ship?”, “Stop Thinking About the Org Chart” and “Moving from I to We”. “The
Consequence of Omniscience” highlights the danger of hubris or self-confidence,
especially in one’s knowledge, and how it can blind a person from reality. “Seeing Around
Corners” offers a tool to assess the risks and opportunities facing your business.
Communication is more important than ever in times of crisis and “How to Tell a Powerful
Story” provides advice on how to leave a lasting impression. Finally, in the face of
uncertainty it is often to a good time to revisit your long-term strategy, as evidenced in “The
Power of Strategic Fit” and “The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift”.
Who’s Steering the Ship?
It’s been a long time since the last serious economic downturn in 2008-2009 and the
attendant uncertainty and volatility that accompanied it. Business people hate
environments like this, and the doom and gloom can spread wider and deeper than it
should, paralyzing the willingness to make decisions and take risk.
At times like this, CEOs must manage their teams and themselves. It can be hard to point
to a story about a bright future when a leader isn’t sure there is one. But if he or she
doesn’t, their followers will make one up… and it probably won’t be positive.
Chief Executive Magazine reminds us that Leadership is the difference. To that end, here
are some ideas for thriving in uncertainty, cribbed over the years from the CEO community
as well as some of the best minds in business (Ram Charan, Jim Collins, Patrick Lencioni,
Fred Reichheld, Marshall Goldsmith, Verne Harnish, Adam Echter and many more). The
hidden message: Volatility feels risky, but within is opportunity as well. Many great
companies were started in tough times.
If you look, you’ll find the “The Opportunity in Volatility.”
The Consequence of Omniscience
The Shoe Button Complex is a mental model coined by Charlie Munger and Warren Bu>ett
used to describe when an individual’s success in one area leads them to believe they
know everything there is to know about all other areas. Munger’s grandfather had
managed to corner the market on shoe buttons back around 1900. His grandfather
exercised a virtual monopoly over their production and sale. Emboldened by his business
acumen, the old man grew to believe that he not only knew more than anyone about shoe
buttons but that he knew more than anyone about anything — and he preached and
proclaimed at length on such. Munger and Bu>ett named the syndrome the Shoe Button
Complex, as they encountered it frequently in their dealings with successful business
practitioners.
A short article from Inc. Magazine suggests that the shoe button complex is alive and well
today and is no respecter of which end of the political spectrum from which it
originates. The article looks at Elon Musk’s activities in the Trump administration running
DOGE and Ben & Jerry’s CEO David Stever whose stands on public issues may be
damaging their brands.
We are all entitled to our opinions, but their expression by company leaders can have
consequences to a brand in the short term, and the company’s fortunes in the long term,
fair or not. Before you become one, learn about the risks of The Activist CEO: Have Elon
Musk and Ben & Jerry’s CEO David Stever Damaged Their Brands?
Seeing around Corners
The two most important variable in business are opportunity and risk. In times like
these when lack of clarity and waves of uncertainty make decision making di>icult, it helps
to have an anchor and a process to help you think through your business.
What is needed is a tool that will help us focus on the various “risk triggers” that may
impact the industry and a process to think through. A recent article from McKinsey o>ers
the helpful graphic above and more that will help you in Seeing Around the Corners to
anticipate the impacts of risk along the value chain.”
How to Tell a Powerful Story (In one easy lesson)
Communication is about what we hear and what we say, and what we believe about,
and what changes as a result. Having a model to assess incoming and outgoing
communication is vital. Marketing guru Seth Godin offers a powerful but elegantly simple
model for evaluating whether the communication of the moment is manipulation, noise,
facts… or something more. He observes that “The stories we tell are a choice. Reciting
facts lets us off the hook, but telling a true story that causes change is a powerful
responsibility.”
Mr. Godin oCers an insightful one page graphic and a few comments on how to tell if
something is “A Powerful Story” or something less effective…. or honest. If you find
this helpful, check out another great one page blog post from Mr. Godin Ode: How to tell a
great story
The Power of Strategic Fit
Companies that don’t align the essential elements of their strategy won’t be able to
create su>icient value for their firms and their stakeholders to sustain long-term success.
Too many leaders, facing heavy pressure to increase the worth of their company, use
simplistic “spreadsheet strategies”: They set financial goals that will meet analysts’
expectations and find ways to back into them. They don’t address the essential elements of
strategy or improve the fit and synergies among them.
Drawing on the example of Self Esteem Brands—a fitness, health, and wellness company—
the authors, partners at Bain & Company, show how to create a cohesive strategy that
unleashes the power of strategic fit. They identify seven strategic factors: the mental
model, purpose and ambitions, stakeholder value creation, macro forces, markets
and products, competitive advantages, and the operating model. Aligning seven factors
creates greater value for a company and its stakeholders and generates beneficial
multiplier effects.
Moving from “I” to “We
Gary Burnison, the CEO of Korn Ferry, has just written a new book titled “Love, Hope and
Leadership – A Special Edition”. In it he reflects on his life and recalls those moments of
di>iculty when someone stepped in and believed in him. In fact, our primary role as
leaders is inspiring others to believe and enabling that belief to become reality.
Lost in unfamiliar territory, we are the stranger’s guidance. Stressed and overwhelmed, we
are the one who reaches out. Worried and concerned, we are the compassionate friend.
And when the way forward is unclear, it’s our responsibility to extend a hand to
others. This is the essence of leadership.
In a heartfelt letter, Gary encourages us to turn “I” into “we”.
The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift
At age 35, Taylor Swift has been at the top of the music industry for two decades. She’s one
of the top 10 best-selling artists of all time and the most financially successful musician of
her generation. Her Eras Tour, which set o> a global frenzy, was the highest-grossing tour in
history. While the music business has undergone profound technological and business
model disruptions, Swift managed to thrive throughout all the changes.
The secret to Swift’s long-term success, this article argues, can be attributed to four
behaviors: targeting untapped markets, finding opportunities to create stickiness,
maintaining productive paranoia, and adapting to radical shifts in platforms. By
studying the sophisticated moves she has made, business leaders can draw valuable
lessons on innovation, reinvention, and strategic thinking.
Her success is about much more than her music—and innovators can learn from it.
Stop Thinking About the Org Chart
Daniel Goldman, author of Emotional Intelligence, addresses the concerns resulting from
the recent economic turbulence, climbing burnout rates, and the existential
uncertainty brought on by AI. The world is changing—and everything needs to change
with it. As a result, many leaders are asking themselves a quiet but potent question: Am I
really built for this?
In an article from Korn Ferry, Goleman describes a radically different solution using human centered design and entrepreneurial leadership to offer leaders a chance to shift from
reactive leadership to regenerative leadership