Caring vs. Performance
Choose one?
Gustavo Razzetti recently shared a newsletter with an article title--CEOs Who Care vs. CEOs Who Perform
Here’s a snippet from the very beginning—
I turn away CEOs often.
Not because I don’t want the work. But because not every leader truly cares about culture. Many just want to look good.
Working with leaders who only want a show is a waste of time. So before I take on a client, I run a simple test.
Here’s what I look for.
If a CEO says culture matters but has no time for it, avoids hard conversations, or won’t take push back — I pass.
Not because they’re not smart. But because they’re not ready.
There’s a big difference between leaders who truly care about culture and those who want a performative culture.
The ones who care actively participate and engage. They ask “Is this really who we are and how we behave?” They challenge others and are open to being challenged, even if they feel uncomfortable.
The performative ones? They nod a lot. They love values posters and culture decks. They want a big, exciting launch. Then they disappear when things get hard.
Culture doesn’t fail at the launch. It fails when leaders fail to do the hard work.
Companies that get culture right don’t have better launch plans. They had better conversations from the start.
My reaction is not about Gustavo’s article per se. It’s about the implication that we must choose between being caring and performance-focused as a CEO / Leader.
I’m of the mind that you can do both.
Now, many seem to see it differently. For example, Jack Dorsey, who just laid off 4,000 of 10,000 employees at Block, saw performance as key.
Or the DOGE efforts that rattled our US government agencies with reactive layoffs without clearly thinking things through.
They are clear examples of weighing performance over caring. And, in at least the DOGE case, I don’t think things demonstrably improved. Instead, we simply have service gaps that will continue to haunt the American population. The jury is still out for Block, but I could guess at the outcome ☹
And these sorts of examples far outweigh examples of caring leaders. Of course, they are there, but often they’re in non-profits or in smaller companies. For example, a few role models for me include Richard Sheridan, Neal Shah, Joshua Anderson, David Rasch, Ralph Kasuba, and Shaun Bradshaw.
Quick Question:
Do you think most of the healthcare system leaders lean into Caring or Performing? For example, the CEOs of United Healthcare, Humana, BCBS, Cigna, CVS Health, or Elevance.
I know where they should be leaning, but I wonder if that’s true. I guess we can look at their annual reports for the answers 😉
Back to my point
But getting back to my point, I’m wondering why caring leaders can’t also inspire and drive performance?
Is it inherent that the Elon Musk’s of this world are the only ones who will be successful and performant?
Your experience may be different than mine, but I have worked with several leaders who chose to do both. And they did it well.
So, I close thinking that it’s not one, the other, or both. It’s simply a leadership choice. What will you choose?
Stay agile, my friends,
Bob.