Why Bold Moves Trigger Backlash (and Why That’s a Good Sign)
If you’re the most popular person in the boardroom or C-suite, you’re probably not the one leading the company.
That’s because leadership isn’t a popularity contest. You can’t measure your success as a CEO in handshakes, smiles, and birthday cards.
True leaders make the tough calls that ruffle feathers, bruise egos, and put their own reputations at risk.
They forge consensus out of dissent.
They raise standards and expectations.
And they hold themselves and their teams accountable.
That kind of leadership earns CEOs a more valuable currency than popularity: respect.
Change Creates Enemies Before It Creates Results
“If you want to make everyone happy, don’t be a leader. Sell ice cream.”
— Steve Jobs
When was the last time you made a decision that made someone angry — because it needed to?
Good companies that never make the leap to great often place too high a value on comfort. If numbers are steady and the vibe in the break room is positive, the CEO will shift into maintenance mode, doing everything they can to keep the company chugging along.
It’s usually not until the company hits a speed bump or rolls off the cliff that the CEO realizes this comfort zone was actually a plateau. If safety and steadiness become a BIGGER goal than growth, the company won’t have the resources or the vision it needs to face a pandemic, a tariff war, a slick new competitor, or the departure of a key C-suite executive.
Every bold choice you make as a CEO is going to disturb someone’s comfort zone. But is your sales manager going to be more miffed about the challenge of pushing a new product, or the challenge of finding a new job if company growth grinds to a halt?
Pivots, innovation, and fresh talent, by definition, challenge the company’s status quo. It’s the CEO’s job to show other employees that change is good, that discomfort leads to growth, that fear of failure isn’t one of your core values.
The CEO should also mine the inevitable backlash for insights that will improve the new strategy. Somewhere in all that grumbling from employees, board members, and shareholders is a blind spot, a tweak, an assumption that deserves to be challenged. If you can address weaknesses or incorporate ideas from other stakeholders into your plan, you’re going to generate more trust, more buy-in, and more respect.
Save up enough of that goodwill and your company will push back a little less when you make your next BIG uncomfortable choice.
Case Study: Netflix Bets on the Future
“There’s a finite market for DVD-by-mail, and the growth over the next 10 years will be in streaming.”
— Reed Hastings
In 2011, Reed Hastings made anyone who had ever used, invested in, or worked at Netflix uncomfortable when he split the company’s profitable DVD-by-mail business into a new service.
Qwikster was a disaster. Netflix lost almost a million subscribers and its stock plummeted. Hastings sterling reputation as a rock star tech CEO took a BIG hit.
But those were just short-term consequences.
In the long-term, of course, Hastings was right. He had learned from the first competitor he’d disrupted and toppled, Blockbuster, which had failed to see past its own comfort and expand beyond brick-and-mortar rentals. Hastings saw that DVD-by-mail was the future of video rentals when he founded Netflix. Now, at a critical pivot point, he saw that cheaper, more widely available broadband internet was the future of all entertainment.
While Netflix did reunify its services, the Qwikster debacle pushed the company to invest more in streaming while competitors were still focused on discs and cable TV bundles.
In 2023, Netflix mailed out its last red envelope. And today, it’s still the BIGGEST streaming platform in the world.
Case Study: Starbucks Closes its Stores to Fix its Experience
“We are passionate about our coffee. And we will revisit our standards of quality that are the foundation for the trust that our customers have in our coffee and in all of us.”
— Howard Schultz
In 2008, Howard Schultz returned to the CEO role as the company tried to turn around sagging sales.
Some experts blamed a slowing economy and new, cheaper competitors like McDonald’s. But Schultz believed that scaling and speeding up service had cost Starbucks some of its soul. Expanding the menu had filled the air of stores with deli smells, rather than the aroma of fresh brewed coffee. Many stores had started using automatic espresso machines, which couldn’t recreate a lovingly crafted cup prepared by a skilled barista. Instead of cultivating a special “third space” where folks could really enjoy their coffee, Starbucks was becoming just another fast food chain.
So, on February 26, 2008, Schultz closed all 7,100 U.S. Starbucks stores for three hours. Store managers retrained every barista on the art of making the perfect espresso and refocused employees on delivering an exceptional customer experience.
Investors and franchisees were furious about lost revenue. Employees weren’t thrilled about an extensive training session. Critics thought Schultz was performing a desperate PR stunt while also admitting to the public — and Wall Street — that the company was in trouble. Pouring a prettier shot of espresso wasn’t going to solve Starbucks’ problems, especially in a recession.
But Schultz wasn’t just fixing the espresso — he was fixing the core customer experience and empowering his employees to take more pride in their work. The retraining sent a powerful message that Starbucks was returning to its foundational focus on the quality of its coffee and its cafes.
Crucially, Schultz wasn’t so nostalgic for “the old Starbucks” that he failed to look to the future. The My Starbucks Idea platform gave customers a way to share opinions and ideas for improvements, many of which were implemented. Starbucks was also one of the first coffee chains to develop an app for online ordering, including a loyalty rewards program.
The Great Recession lasted for another year, but by the end of 2009 Starbucks’ stock was up 143%.
How to Hold Your Ground Without Becoming Defensive
“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”
— Jack Welch
“Because I say so” isn’t going to win over an anxious strategy session.
When stakeholders resist something new, they’re not questioning the CEO’s authority. They’re questioning the plan, which should be open for discussion.
So don’t fall back on your title or your track record when trying to persuade healthy skeptics. Instead:
Reframe backlash. Resistance is not a bug, it’s a feature of real leadership. And if no one is pushing back then you aren’t pushing the right buttons.
Communicate “why” relentlessly. People fear what they don’t understand, especially if they think their jobs might be impacted. Maintain a clear, consistent message in every email, Slack, and hallway chat. Make every employee feel like they’re “in the loop” and they’ll buy in quicker.
Build an inner circle that will challenge you privately but support you publicly once the strategy has been established. A healthy mix would include longtime company executives, mentors, board members, your CEO coach, and maybe even your spouse.
Separate noise from signal. Some doubters just want you to fail (noise). Others are hoping that you’ll make the right call (signal). Tune into the signal from loyal team members who might supply you with valuable data that will improve your plan and build more trust across the company.
The Real ROI: Respect Over Likeability
“Nice Guy isn’t a job.”
— Mark Moses
The CEO shouldn’t want their people to “like” them all the time. They should want their people to respect them enough to keep following them and furthering the company’s vision.
So stop avoiding that tough decision you’ve been tabling because you fear the backlash more than you believe in the outcome. If you have a vision, if you’ve worked backwards to establish all the actionable steps and metrics, and if you have the best people working for you, then success will silence the naysayers, rally true believers for your next leap, and keep Making BIG Happen.
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