Bright and right isn’t enough

Humour me for a few minutes with a small story.

Its from history. Its one I still see tripping up even the brightest leaders.

His answer was brilliant.

Strategically sound. Clear.
And they rejected him.

At the time. Across history.

Quintus Fabius: The Delayer. Not Quintus Fabius of strategic patience. Not Quintus Fabius who refused to engage Hannibal’s elephants and mercenaries head-on.
Instead, he strained their supply lines. Drove them back. Saved Roman lives.

It wasn’t enough. Where was the leadership in that? The heroism?

Minucius sneered. Called Fabius a coward.
Then stepped forward. Brave. Fast. He took the fight to Hannibal. With the Roman people behind him. Head-on.

He filled the space with action.
A popular choice.

Decimation followed. Retreat.
Fabius saved the day. And was grudgingly allowed to lead again.

Human nature, all of it.
I’ve done the same.

Minucius fell into the trap.
The deep need to prove himself. To himself and others. To be seen. To silence the nagging doubt in his head. To move fast. To feel the exhilaration. To achieve something, and it be seen.

He’d got hooked by an answer.

The one that let him move.

The one that felt good.

But it wasn’t the real challenge. It was the version he wanted to believe.

The one he couldn’t resist running towards. One he could sell to himself. And others.

He turned out to be leading them up to the peak of mount stupid. With elephants.

Fabius fell into another trap. Whereas Minucius couldn’t see the world clearly, the world didn’t see Fabius. They didn’t get him.  

Fabius was so into the strategic complexity. Duty. Responsibility. The weight of command.
So fixed on doing the right thing that he lost sight of those around him. Of how it looked. Of how it felt to others.

I may not be as brilliant as Fabius but I’ve been here too. Focused on a clever solution, blind to everything else.

In leadership, being bright and right isn’t enough. Culture is what people experience. It shapes what actually happens.

Do others understand your plan? Are they with you? Have you managed the egos? The expectations?

Are you creating the space for others to believe in it, not just go along with it?

I've made these mistakes too. I know both sides of this.

Sometimes, the cleverest move is to wait.
To hold.
To do nothing.

Not out of indecision. Not paralysed in analysis. But taking the radical step of choosing not to do. On purpose.

But do people know why you are waiting? If not, someone else will rush in and undo your plans.

There is another way.

To combine the urgency of Minucius with the insight of Fabius.
To act with pace and patience. To lead complex change while bringing people with you.

This is Clarigility. Clear and agile. Fast and thoughtful. Strategy lived, not lost.

Hard? Yes.
That is why so few do it.

But when you do, it matters.

If you recognise yourself in any of this… well, you’re not alone. I’m building a new programme on exactly this. Watch this space.

In the meantime: make haste, slowly.