Can Leaders Be Smart Before They Get Stupid?

A few of weeks ago we talked about Leaders sabotaging Leaders. Our program revolved around a manufacturing company where a new COO, John, was hired to help the President focus on shaping the business’ future and spend less time with day-to-day operations. The business had just gone through a major space increase, and significant upgrades in equipment and technology to meet customer demand and boost competitive advantage. The COO’s expectation is to sustain an efficient operation but also enable incremental vs major improvements. After about 2.5 months on the job, the President was sensing that John was having difficulty establishing credibility and influencing and connecting with his managers.
I also noted that John, age 42, had good knowledge of manufacturing, but his experience was more focused fixing troubled operations than developing them over time