Taking On A New Leadership Role? Don’t Be the Lion Who Destroys the Pride

Christopher Roberts

A pride of Lions typically consists of two strong male Lions and around eight Lionesses Once male cubs hit a certain age, they are pushed out of the pride and they roam in the wild as bachelors with their male siblings. When they become big and strong, they challenge male lions from other prides in the wild. They don’t negotiate or softly introduce themselves. They fight the old lions, and if they are stronger, they defeat the old ones and chase them away from the pride. The old lions then roam the wilderness alone until they die.

The two new leaders of the pride then do something even more brutal. They systematically kill all the cubs. The main reason is that this is the only way the lionesses will mate with them and they can now begin their own bloodline. Interestingly, the lionesses know this is the circle of life and do nothing to protect their cubs.

It’s nature’s way of establishing dominance and control. But while this behavior may work in the savannah, let me be very clear: Leaders who behave like this in the corporate world destroy much more than they create.

And yet, many new leaders, especially those stepping into a CEO or senior leadership roles enter the organisation and instinctively behave like the young lions. They eliminate everything associated with the previous leader. They remove people who were loyal to the former boss. They dismantle systems and practices that the organisation relies on. They kill ideas and initiatives; sometimes even the ones that were delivering results.

They believe it establishes power and clarity. In reality, it destroys morale, fractures culture and destabilises customer experience.

When you kill the cubs in a company, the pride doesn’t respect you. It fears you. Then it disengages. And eventually, it leaves you.

In corporate leadership, you will not get brownie points for killing the cubs. But you will be respected and admired for building the pride without breaking its spirit. In other words, not throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Do Not Destroy What Was Working

Here’s a leadership truth few people talk about. Every predecessor, no matter how imperfect, leaves behind something valuable. It may be a strong team, or a great product, maybe a well-designed process, a unique value proposition, a well-crafted brand, or a precious loyal customer base, even a healthy culture that people genuinely care about, or a rhythm of communication.

The worst thing that a new leader can do is come in and bulldoze everything simply to show authority. When you deliberately remove:

• people loyal to the previous leader;
• practices that are good for the business;
• cultural strengths;
• long-standing routines that give people comfort; and,
• initiatives that have delivered results

it becomes quite apparent to your teams that you are driven by a combination of insecurity and ego. You end up changing the organisation by killing morale.

As a result, employee engagement drops, culture takes a hit, customer experience suffers,
and suddenly, all that initial excitement about a ‘new era’ turns into quiet resentment.

A leader should build on what exists; not burn it to prove a point.

This article is my invitation to every new CEO or business leader who is stepping into a fresh role. Whether you are taking over a small team or an entire organisation, here is what to do… and what absolutely not to do… if you want to lead with Impact, Trust and achieve Long-Term Success.

Case Study: The New CEO Who Killed the Cubs… and the Pride

Now, let me share a story that shows exactly how leadership can become extremely destructive when ego overrides wisdom.

This organisation hired a new CEO to replace a longstanding and well-respected CEO. These were clearly big shoes to fill. The outgoing CEO had done exceptional work by building a clear, powerful Customer Value Proposition (CVP) that made the brand unique in a crowded market. Customers knew exactly why they should choose this brand over others. Employees understood the unique value proposition and were personally committed to breathing life into it. The value proposition and organisational values had a strong link to staff’s personal values and purpose.  As a result, the culture was strong and staff stayed for years. Customers were loyal and growth was driven primarily via word of mouth and referrals.

Unfortunately, the new CEO, behaved just like the young lion taking over a pride by killing the cubs to mark dominance. Instead of preserving what was working beautifully and building on it, the new leader began dismantling it such that:

• The unique CVP was diluted so the brand lost its point of differentiation
• Employees and leaders loyal to the previous CEO were sidelined or pushed out
• Practices that created success were scrapped
• Staff who embodied the brand values felt dismissed
• The emotional connection customers had with the brand evaporated
• Stakeholder feedback and insights collected via staff and customer surveys were ignored

And the results were devastating.

Employee engagement nosedived. Customer satisfaction collapsed. The once-unique Customer Value Proposition lost its power, thus turning the brand into just another player in the market with no clear differentiator. Key stakeholders who had supported the brand for years lost trust and withdrew their involvement. Customers stopped advocating for the brand; in fact they started making disparaging comments and discouraging new customers from selecting the brand. Market reputation suffered.

What made it worse was the new CEO was not willing to listen, learn or fix things. Instead, they doubled down on removing legacy aspects that the previous CEO had built over many years

That is what happens when leaders enter with the intention to ‘start afresh’ rather than ‘build forward’ in a situation that needs no fresh starts for processes and practices that are working in favour of the organisation.

In the savannah, a lion can afford to destroy the previous generation. In business, a leader who destroys the good that already exists ends up destroying the pride itself. This example is a powerful reminder that leadership is not about replacing history, but about respecting it. If you cannot recognise the strengths of the organisation you inherit, you will lose the very foundation that you are supposed to build on.

So, what should you do? After all, as a new leader you will definitely have a fresh perspective and new ideas.  You will naturally want to make your mark on the organization.

The key is don’t throw the baby with the bath water, but definitely throw out the dirty water and replace it with fresh water.

The key is to take the organisation with you and this is how you do it.

Start With Listening, Not Roaring

New leaders often feel the pressure to immediately ‘show leadership’. They want to announce changes, restructure teams, set new systems and make big decisions quickly. But actual leadership is not about showing your strength in 30 days or making noise.. So instead of roaring from the word ‘Go’ spend time with and listen to your stakeholders that include your:

• Employees
• Customers
• Senior leaders
• Board members
• Partners
• Frontline teams
• Even your predecessor, if the opportunity exists

Believe me, your stakeholders already know the answers to almost all your questions on the reality of the business. You just need to be the leader who listens without bias or ego.

Before you change anything, understand everything.

Analyse Your Engagement, CX and Employee Metrics Like a Detective

If you want to understand the true health of the organisation you are taking over, first ask for and:

• Review the voice of the customer insights and understand key pain points and drivers
• Examine employee engagement studies to understand organisational culture.
• Examine the 360-degree reports of key leaders.

Financial figures tell you where the organisation has been so far. The employee engagement and customer experience data will tell you what the organisation is feeling and where it is heading.

Feelings always precede behaviour, Travel back into your own experience and you will resonate with the fact that:

• Every disengagement trend eventually becomes a performance issue.
• Every CX issue eventually becomes a revenue issue.
• Every culture crack eventually becomes a brand reputation issue.

Great CEOs look at both metrics to decide what to keep and what to discard.

One of the best ways to get staff engagement is to utilise quantitative data and insights to build your brand and justify your strategic approach. Nobody will argue with you if you use quantitative insights and analysis.   Sell Your Vision & Approach. Don’t Force It Upon Your New Team.

When leaders force change without explanation, people resist. This resistance is not because they hate change, but because they don’t trust the intent of a person who has not earned their trust yet. So as a new business leader, whenever you introduce something new, be it a strategy, structure or cultural shift, communicate three things clearly:

1. What are we doing?
2. Why is this necessary?
3. How can each person contribute?

When people understand the why, resistance dissolves. And when they see their role in the how, ownership increases.

When your leadership evolves from issuing orders to enrolling people in the journey, you will be respected rather than feared.

Measure Everything During The Change, Fix The Gaps Fast, Celebrate Faster

Leaders who thrive are obsessed with the right measurements especially during a period of change:

• Where is engagement dropping?
• Which teams are strong?
• What are customers complaining about?
• Which processes keep breaking?
• Where is culture slipping?

Such measurement brings in clarity and helps fix existing problems quickly before they multiply. Alongside this, it also celebrates wins loudly before they get forgotten. This is because recognition is the oxygen of a healthy culture. Such a culture fuels performance far more effectively than fear ever will.

Communicate With Empathy, Not Authority

Communication is where leaders either build trust or break it. Empathy doesn’t mean avoiding tough decisions but delivering tough decisions with humanity. When you explain your reasoning, acknowledge emotions, be transparent, show respect and invite questions, you start to build dialogue with the people that you work with.

When your own people feel heard, they follow you willingly. But when they feel dismissed, they comply temporarily and resent permanently.

Remember that for a leader, Empathy is not weakness, but a strategic strength to leverage.

Lead the Pride, Don’t Frighten It

So, if you are someone who is stepping into a leadership role or has just stepped into one, remember that you are not inheriting a battlefield, but a pride. This could be a pride with history, a pride with relationships, and a pride with its own strategic strengths. It could also be a pride with scars, but also with potential that could become your own strength.

So, as a leader, your job is not to kill what came before you, but to elevate it.

Strong leaders do not need to destroy to prove that they belong unlike the jungle. In the corporate world of humans, strong leaders:

• They build the brand
• They respect the past and better the future
• They listen to all stakeholders
• They lead with maturity instead of ego
• They leave the pride stronger than they found it

Because true leadership isn’t measured by how loudly you roar, but by how well your pride thrives under your watch.