If You’re Not Changing, You’re Not Paying Attention

When I stepped into this role in 2023, I thought I was becoming a CEO.

I wasn’t. I was becoming a COO. I was learning the business, learning the industry, the people, and the systems that had been built long before I ever imagined leading them. And for a while, that’s exactly what the company needed.

But three years later, I understand something I didn’t then: At some point, learning isn’t enough. You have to start making decisions. In these past years, we’ve experienced a lot of change. Leadership has shifted. Teams have been restructured. Policies have evolved. Expectations have been clarified, sometimes more than once. And yes, staffing has changed. More than once. More than some people were comfortable with.

That naturally raises the questions: Why? What’s next? Can I trust where this is going? Those are fair questions.

In a recent conversation with my COO, we landed on something simple: If you’re not paying attention, you’re not changing. And if you’re not changing, you’re not leading.

So let me be clear: we are paying attention.

Not to what other CEOs and COOs are doing. Not to what leadership is supposed to look like. We’re paying attention to what’s actually happening: what’s working, what’s not, and what it’s going to take to build something stronger.

There’s a version of leadership many of us inherit: get it right the first time, create stability, avoid disruption. I understand the appeal of that version. I just don’t believe it anymore.

Because here’s what we’ve learned: If you’re paying attention, you will see what needs to change. And once you see it, you can’t unsee it. You can delay. You can hope things resolve on their own. You can convince yourself it’s “not that bad.” But if you’re honest, you know.

And leadership is what you do next.

Early on, I was reacting: learning fast, stepping in where needed, trying to understand how everything fit together. That was necessary. But over time, the role shifted. I started seeing patterns: gaps in accountability, unclear ownership, and decisions being avoided. And that’s when the work changed.

Recognizing the Shift: From Reactive Learning to Strategic Leadership in a Complex Environment.

Seeing patterns requires something different from solving problems. It requires stepping back and making decisions that don’t just fix today, but shape what happens next.

The changes we’ve made (leadership, staffing, structure) aren’t random. They’re responses to what we’ve seen. And more importantly, they’re steps toward what we’re building: a company where trust is earned through accountability, roles are clear, and ownership is expected.

I don’t expect change to feel comfortable. It hasn’t for me. But I do expect it to be necessary.

Because if I’ve learned anything in this role, it’s this:

Paying attention will ask more of you than you planned to give. It will challenge decisions you’ve already made. It will require you to act before you feel ready.

And it will change you long before anyone else sees the result.

Leadership shifts don’t start with the organization. They start with you.

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This is part of a larger reflection I’m working through, on what it really means to grow into leadership, not just step into it.

These blogs are becoming something more. My book, The Unexpected CEO, is taking shape, and I’m aiming to have it finished by the end of the summer.