The CEO who thinks ‘stay the course’ is bad advice
Persistence is celebrated in business, but Tsebo CEO Dr Chris Jardine thinks there is a point where it becomes something rather less admirable: stubbornness.
“Stay the course” is, in fact, the piece of business advice he considers most overrated.
“Persistence matters, but so does recognising when the facts have changed. Too often we celebrate persistence when what we’re really seeing is stubbornness. Sometimes the best decision is not to stay the course, but to change it,” says Jardine.
It is a lesson Jardine has learnt from experience. Years ago, he was advised to become less emotionally attached to things he had built or helped grow. He ignored that advice more than once, holding onto assets or initiatives longer than he should have.
“The lesson wasn’t about money. It was about understanding that every asset, business and strategy has a season.”
Jardine has spent more than a decade at Tsebo, holding several leadership roles as the business has grown and evolved. His broader career has included senior executive and director-level roles across IT, logistics, telecommunications, industrials and financial services.
Experience has also changed his thinking about why some people succeed. Earlier in his career, Jardine believed success was mainly about being smart and working hard.
“I’ve since come to appreciate that relationships, timing and a degree of luck play a much bigger role than most successful people are willing to admit,” says Jardine.
There is a side of Jardine that may be less apparent to the people who work with him: he is an introvert.
“People often assume CEOs are natural extroverts, but I get my energy from quiet time, reading and thinking. I enjoy engaging with people and spending time with teams, but I recharge by reflecting.”
Jardine is equally candid about the things he is not particularly good at. “I hate admin, and I sometimes struggle with being patient.”
Unfortunately for Jardine, neither is easily avoided when running a business.
“Unfortunately, both are necessary if you’re going to lead effectively. I’ve learned that some parts of the job aren’t about what you enjoy; they’re about what the organisation needs. So I just have to knuckle down and get on with it.”
Reading provides an escape, with Jeffrey Archer as his favourite fiction author.
“I love language and the art of storytelling, and he’s one of the best. His books are full of larger-than-life characters, ambition, setbacks and reinvention, which makes them endlessly entertaining.”
But there is something beyond entertainment that appeals to him. “I’ve always believed that stories are how we make sense of the world, and Archer has an exceptional ability to bring people and situations to life on the page.”
Take away the CEO title, meanwhile, and Jardine doubts he would stray very far from what he already enjoys doing.
“I’d probably still be building something. It might not be a business, but I’d be part of creating, improving or transforming an organisation. There’s something deeply satisfying about taking an idea and turning it into something real.”
