A CEO recently told me about an Integrator they have been tolerating for two years.
Two years.
This person is expensive. Very expensive. And not doing the work. Not dramatically, that would almost be helpful. It happens in the normal, boring ways companies plateau: meetings go sideways, decisions come back half-built, and people quietly work around the person who is supposed to be leading.
And still, the CEO says, “Maybe we should give it more time.”
More time for what? You already know.
I’ve seen the same thing with a sales leader whose own team hated working for him. Everyone knew. Leadership knew. The team knew. But knowing creates a decision. And decisions create consequences.
And that’s the part people avoid.
Confusion means you don’t know what’s true. Discomfort means you know exactly what’s true and don’t like what you have to do next. So you wait, you explain, and you gather more evidence for a conclusion you already reached six months ago. Meanwhile, you’re paying for the delay in money, momentum and culture!
The decision isn’t hard because you don’t know. It’s hard because you do.
You know they’re not doing the work, the team is tired, and the role has outgrown them. You know the business needs something different.
I help CEOs navigate this part.
Because once you stop negotiating with the obvious, something usually happens fast:
the room changes
the team exhales
the business moves
And inevitably:
“I should have done that sooner.”
What do you already know?
