75% of CEOs Think a Fellow CEO Will Be Fired Over AI | Clarity at the Top

Are you one of the 75% of CEOs that believe that a fellow CEO will be fired because of a bungled AI implementation? Here's another statistic. 62% of CEOs report that their boards are actively pressuring them to deliver measurable AI-driven outcomes. Does this feel close to home? Here's some more pressure for you. 56% of CEOs admit that their competitors have stronger AI strategies than they do. Than you do. Are you feeling this pressure? Is this your reality? You're not alone. Every leader feels this pressure today, is under this pressure today. And let me explain to you why, how you got there, and then how to get through this successfully. And it's not about PowerPoint, okay? How you got here as a CEO, as a leader, you're sitting there with these tremendous pressures. As I just said, I have more statistics all over, all around me right now. You don't need statistics, you need solutions. You need a friend. I'm your friend. And let me explain to you, I'll talk to you as a friend. The reason why you're in so much pressure today The reason why you feel so much uncertainty today is because your entire leadership team around you and you— but let's start with the leadership team, then we'll talk about you. Your entire leadership team around you was built on the way your company has been driven, has been focusing on what are their KPIs and goals, the pipeline, what are the sales targets, what is the definition of the industry leading up into 2026. You've done a great job. They have done a wonderful job. But 2026 is not 2025, 2024. We've never seen what AI has done to industry, redefining what is industry, redefining what is possible. Within the healthcare industry, you're seeing cures for diseases that we've never been able to cure before. We're seeing pharmaceutical companies where where they say it's taking them 12 years typically from the day that they have the idea of a drug to they bring the drug to market, they can do it in 6 months. Time windows are changing, business models are changing, expectations are changing, and your leadership team hasn't. Your leadership team represents the way your company has been. But not the way your company should be. I'm not saying that they're bad. I'm saying that the way the, the expectations of what is to be delivered on an hourly basis is so exponentially more And when you look into your leadership team, this is what you need to do. You need to look at all of them as a group and look at each individual one and ask yourself, is that person capable of making the change to drive this company in an AI world? And what that means is, what does AI world mean? AI world means that every employee in the company is using AI. And when they mean using AI, what does that mean? It means that they're using AI agents, which means every employee is using 20 or 30, let's say, other employees. Everybody has a team of 20 or 30 people for them. No matter what task they have, everybody has 20 or 30 people working for them on that one task. And that your leader sitting there, your leadership team, they have to manage all the people under them multiplied by 20. What is the level of accomplishments, things to be done? How many questions are going to be? What is the cultural transformation of this organization? Are each of your leaders, one, aware that that's their role, two, capable of managing such a huge workforce? Those are a lot of resources. Are they able to handle mentally, intellectually, Physically, all the questions are gonna come just from their existing group of people that they have under them multiplied by 20. Can they handle that? Are they able to not just handle it? Because handle again is past tense, but they— can they manage it? Or more importantly, what is their individual strategic plan to leverage it to leverage every one of the employees that reports to them, multiplied by 20? What is their strategic plan to elevate their individual business unit or their region or their country? Have you heard their plan? That is what your expectation should be from your leadership group, leader group team on the individual basis. That is how they should be thinking. They, if they have X number of employees multiplied by 20, because AI agents and all this information comes from all these questions, all these results, right? It doesn't take any more, it doesn't take a week or two weeks to do it, have research or due diligence on a client or a situation. It takes minutes. We're talking about they, your leading group team, that individual, we're just talking about one, right? But we're talking about all of them. Let's just keep that one we've been talking about. He or she should be coming to you how much, how much more per hour with input, with new ideas, new business models, new strategies, new financial models, competitor information. Do they? If your leader group team, that individual, all the individuals on your leader group team do not come to you much more often with all these things I just mentioned, they represent the past. To succeed in the future, to succeed and to get rid of the pressure that you have right now, today— forget about the future, let's talk about today— the pressure you have today You need a leader group team that represents that one can handle and prosper. Prosper loves this situation of every employee multiplied by 20, loves the fact they're getting input and data and ideas, love the fact that they have a strategic plan and they want their employees to come to them. They rise, they shine, and when they come to you, they come to you enthusiastically like a kid. You know what? I got a great idea. This is what we should do. This just happened. We could do this. This is— you want that in every single person in your group team. So that is why you're in the situation you're in, because most likely you don't have that culture around you, do you? How are you going to get out of it? You need to first hire, find someone who'll be honest with you. You know, like the friend that you've had, a really good friend somewhere in your past, maybe you have it today, who'll be honest with you, will look you in the eye and say, you're messing up. Just stop. Just stop. You need to have someone in your business world who's doing that for you. I see all of these big consulting firms, they will sell you hours, they will sell you PowerPoint. That's what my— my statement about PowerPoint. But they won't sell you honesty, they won't sell you the truth. They'll sell you the truth of your situation after 3 months in charge. You God knows how much. But does a friend take 3 months, or does a friend take 3 seconds to tell you, this is who you are, this is who you become, and you better change? This is what I see, and then this is what you need to do. This is what you need as a leader. This is what everyone needs, everyone needs, all us humans need. But you, with all the pressure you have as CEO, as a leader, as a group leader, region leader, vice president, whatever, You need someone who's honest with you because you're under tremendous amount of pressure and you need to know what to do and when to do it. The work environment— everyone expects you to have the answer and you don't have the answer for everything. Everything has changed. There's no way you have the answer to AI. Because it's happening now in real time and we've— none of us ever lived through it before. But the uncertainty is not so uncomfortable when you have someone you trust and you're talking to them and you're not, um, exposing yourself to your people as a, as a leader who doesn't know the answer. But if you have someone you trust who you can talk openly about and strategize with Now you're a great leader. Now you're on your way. It's not about shouting. It's not about getting rid of your leader group. The first most important thing before you look at your individual leaders and do what I was telling you a moment ago is to check yourself. Am I that person that I expect each one of them to be? And if not, who can help me get there? That's what you need to do. That's the most important thing. Because once you're there, you're now the living embodiment of it. You are the living role model. Each one of your leaders from the leader group team, they'll know what to be. They'll know how to be. And then the expectations are not ridiculous because they're looking at you going, "I better get myself together," or they'll understand why you're having that one-on-one with them saying, "Thank you for where you brought us, but you can't take us to where I need you to take us." And that's okay. This transition is tough and is really tough on you. But what you need is trust. You need honesty and you need solutions. And that comes from a trusted voice. That is how you get through this. But also, that voice needs to understand where you're at, needs to understand the industry. Find that person, you will find your way out of this. And it's really quick because it's always in life is that epiphany moment where you just click. You go, I got it, I got it, I get it, I get it, right? You go, mm. Or you go, mm. That's who you're meant to be. I'm Thomas Anglero. This is the Clarity at the Top podcast. Reach out to me if this resonated with you. I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'd love to know what you're thinking. I would love to know what you're experiencing. Let's have a conversation. You can contact me at anglero.com or email me at Thomas@anglero.com. I believe in you. I know you get yourself through this. We can get you through this. You're not alone. All these statistics I have in front of me here prove you're not alone. That's number one. Number two, the advantage you have is you now know how you got there with your leading group team, and now you know how to get out of it and prosper. Go forth and spread beauty and knowledge. Until next time.