SPEED IS EVERYTHING!

The tenure relationship between business executives and their employer is a lot like the relationship of race car drivers and their construction team in Formula 1 racing in a sense that ‘speed is everything!’ 

In Formula 1 Racing, the best race car drivers are looking to drive the fastest cars, and the best construction teams are looking to have the fastest drivers behind their cars. Paired together, with a professional management of priorities, the two entities become as one team competing for podium appearances week in and week out, with a chance to becoming a world champion. 

Take for instance the recent series of events that led to Ferrari choosing Carlos Sainz in replacement of former world champion, Sebastian Vettel. Ferrari wanted someone fast and consistent to bring them a constructor championship in more than a decade, and Carlos Sainz always dreamed of a driving car like Ferrari that would give him the best chance of standing on a podium. The combination of desires eventually led to Carlos Seinz leaving McLaren and sign a contract to join Ferrari. 

Today’s business world is not a lot different, and in my opinion, the relationship dynamics between a race car drivers and a construction team serves as great inspiration for today’s business executives, especially the transformed CMOs whose role involves more and more the digital transformation of an entity. 

In the digital driven business world, the best executives are looking to drive the growth of business platforms that allows for fastest execution of strategies, while business entities are looking for executives who can drive the growth of their businesses the fastest compared to the competition. With an aligned management of priorities, it’s those teams who have mastered this relationship who will come out on top in the battle of digital transformation. 

Depending how fast the strategies are able to be put in placed and executed is also becoming determinant factor of how long the relationship between the executives and business entities last. This is evident in the 2019 report by Forbes that it was reported that there was a record number of CEOs leaving this positions, because either companies didn’t see “slow, steady growth as satisfactory,’ or CEOs were leaving because it was a ‘good time to get out on top,” leaving for other opportunities. 

In any case, in motorsport or business world, the measure of success and continuity becomes down to simple fact that Speed is everything!