Page 82 - Fearless Leadership

The Need to Be Right 69

Once you are on the warpath of being right, you ride it all the way until
you are “dead right.” This is what happened with two business partners—
Jake and Kris—in the story below.

Two Leaders Argue over the Need to Be Right,
and Employees Become Frozen
Jake, the CEO of seven acquired companies, purchased the major-
ity share in a software company owned by Kris. They agreed that Kris
would continue as CEO of the company for a period of three years.

What Happened. Within the first year, Jake and Kris came to log-
gerheads. Shortly after acquiring Kris’s company, Jake wanted to use
it for collateral to get capital investments. Kris disagreed with this
approach and wanted to operate with caution and avoid risk. Jake,
who acquired businesses for a living, was entrepreneurial and was
unconcerned about calculated exposure. His formula had worked
brilliantly and his successful enterprises were proof. Both CEOs
became rigid about their positions and had heated arguments. They
became so concerned about being right that nothing else was in their
line of sight.
The Impact. During the six-month war, employees became unpro-
ductive and the company began losing business. Employees did not
know whom to trust or follow, and many highly talented people left
the company. The ones who remained gave minimal effort, and a
competitor took advantage of the situation and captured a significant
portion of their market share.
The Result. Even though Jake knew he could impose his control-
ling interest and make the decision, he did not want to lose Kris as
CEO of the software company. But the chasm between them grew,
and Kris left the company. They both got to be right.

Lesson Learned. The irony of needing to be right is that you end
up killing the very thing you were originally attempting to protect.
The need to be right does not stop with a point of view—it becomes
an entrenched and deeply rooted position that people hold onto in
spite of consequences.