CEO Briefing:

The uncomfortable truth:
Most change initiatives do not fail because the idea is bad.
They fail because leadership does not change as the system matures.

The Pattern We See Repeatedly

Across industries and geographies, the same failure pattern appears:

• Early promise leads to internal excitement
• Proof of feasibility leads to pilot success
• Growing traction leads to unexpected resistance
• Momentum stalls leads to initiative quietly deprioritised

At this point, leadership often concludes:

“The idea wasn’t right after all.”

In reality, the leadership model was no longer right for the stage.

From Signal to Scale: The SRL Journey

Every successful innovation follows a predictable journey – from weak signal to market tipping point.

At each stage, progress is blocked by a different set of “yes, but…” constraints:

• Yes, it’s interesting… but is it real?
• Yes, it works… but does it fit?
• Yes, it fits… but it threatens something.
• Yes, it launched… but will it last?

These are not technical problems.
They are leadership capability mismatches.

Why Leadership Strengths Can Become Liabilities

Most senior leaders are strong in two or three phases of this journey. Usually the ones they have personally lived through.

That is normal.

What is not normal – but increasingly common – is assuming that:

• The same leaders should lead every phase
• Execution excellence equals innovation readiness
• Scaling skill implies discovery skill

It does not.

In fact, applying the wrong strength at the wrong stage is one of the fastest ways to kill momentum.

NEPTUNE: A Practical Leadership Diagnostic

The NEPTUNE model identifies seven necessary and sufficient leadership capabilities that become critical at different readiness stages:

• Navigator – sensing direction before certainty
• Empath – understanding human and societal impact
• Plate-Spinner – managing multiple fragile experiments
• Transcender – resolving contradictions rather than trading them off
• Umbrella – providing political and reputational cover
• Ninja – removing obstacles decisively
• Elephant – stabilising and institutionalising success

No individual has all seven in equal measure.
No organisation has them all present at the right time by accident.

The Question CEOs Should Ask First

Before launching any major “innovation”, “AI”, or “transformation” initiative:

Which NEPTUNE capabilities do we actually have — and which will the next stage demand?

This single diagnostic question:

• Reduces execution risk
• Prevents premature scaling
• Avoids political ambush
• Increases the odds of reaching true tipping point success

The 1%er Advantage

1%er leaders are people who:

• Recognise which stage they are truly in
• Change how they lead as readiness evolves
• Bring in complementary capability before the system demands it

They do not confuse activity with progress. Or launch with success.

Bottom Line for CEOs

Getting new things done failure is almost always a misalignment between readiness and leadership capability.

Before asking:

“What should we build?”

Ask:

“Are we equipped to lead what comes next?”

That question alone separates signals that fade from systems that scale.