Sometime in the not-so-distant future, there was a story about two great leaders: Ava and Clara. They worked for the same company, ran similar divisions, and had the best talent on their teams you could find.
Ava shared her team’s results widely. Internally as well as externally. On social media she was the one who embodied the company. She got her team together and got them all psyched up as she told them “Are you aware, that you are the best team in industry!”. That gave them a boost! That made them celebrate.
Clara shared her team’s results too, but with a different tone. She stayed grounded, aware that favorable winds had helped. That was also the tone of her presentation. When she told her team that: “Let us make time to celebrate today! We earned it. See how our projects paid off. Let us not lose focus and keep working on them.”
The first three years were exceptional. Nobody expected such a growth was possible. Everyone celebrated: the board, the employees, the stockholders. They even made it to the front cover of many business magazines. There was a lot of praise about their performance. Ava became its poster child.
At the beginning of the fourth year, the board recognized the exceptional performance of both leaders. To determine which of the two leaders was best suited for the CEO role, Clara was put in charge of Avas team and Ava was made responsible for Claras team. The one who could motivate her team to keep outperforming industry would have the best chance to be promoted into the CEO role.
That year, however, was tough for the company. Nobody saw it coming, and the board convened a difficult meeting. Ava explained to the board, ‘Under the current economic conditions, we still outperformed the market. Even when it does not translate into the growth we expected.” Clara had a different message, she also explained how the current economic downturn had hurt their performance but: “we identified this downturn a couple of months ago. The projects we had initiated didn’t bring results as quickly as we had expected.” During that meeting, it became clear to the board that they had to issue a profit warning.
After the profit warning was issued and their stock price crashed, Ava got her team together. After her presentation she concluded: “As you see, in the current economic climate we performed like the best. These things are out of our control.” Her tone became energetic again. “No worries, I know you are the top-tier performers in industry, so as soon as the economy picks op pace again, we will be back on track.” Her team didn’t need that pep talk. They had already internalized the lessons Clara instilled over the years: stay focused, keep improving, and don’t let success or setbacks define you.
Clara had to approach it differently. Her team was frustrated and kept spending time in blaming the circumstances. They even started to blame each other. Clara gathered her team in a quiet, tense meeting. “We’ve faced challenges before,” she began, her tone firm but empathetic. “Blaming the market or each other won’t help us grow. What can we control? Where can we improve?” Slowly, her words began to resonate. Frustration gave way to brainstorming. By the end of the meeting, they had a list of ideas—not solutions yet, but a starting point. It wasn’t easy, but the team left knowing they had a role to play in their own recovery.
The fifth year brought a turnaround. The company was back on track.
Ava’s team performed better than ever, and she proudly highlighted how their efforts had turned things around. She made sure her team knew how well they performed and gave them credit. Her team celebrated, but kept grounded. They learned that there is no guarantee for success. Over the last four year they worked equally hard. Some year went better than others. They knew where they had to get better and would keep working on it.
Clara’s team also improved, but not as strong as the other team. Her team had to overcome all the conflict it incurred to itself. The blame game from the previous year caused more damage than expected. It took her the first half of the year to convince them that they need to keep focusing on improving instead. By the end of the year, some of the brainstormed ideas were implemented. As these results became visible one of her team members spoke up: “I wasn’t sure at first, but Clara was right—we had to focus on what we could control.”
During the sixth year Ava was appointed as the new CEO. The board valued Ava’s ability to inspire confidence and maintain high morale, particularly during tough times, qualities they believed were critical for a CEO navigating volatile markets.
Three years later, the company continued to thrive. They entered new markets, achievements that made the stock price soar. Ava remained a visible presence, just as before.
That year, a paper written by a business school student took a different view. He interviewed employees who had been there during the challenging fourth year. Most praised Clara. “She made us rethink how we work,” one employee said. Another commented, “Her leadership wasn’t flashy, but it built something that lasts.”
When asked about Ava’s role, one employee remarked, “I didn’t see it back then, but her style fueled competition and conflict. The results masked it all. No one noticed the cracks forming.”
The student’s paper concluded: “Loudness often hides weaknesses. But sometimes, the quiet strength of a leader lays the foundation for the loudest successes.”