From the Stage: Don’t Be Motorola

From the stage

At Legrand in 2017, an executive named John asked me the question every audience eventually gets to: what do my people do Monday morning? I didn’t have a checklist, but I had a cautionary tale.

“I actually went into Motorola in 2005.”

It was a global leadership meeting. The Razr was the hottest phone on the planet and BlackBerry was nibbling at the edges. Instead of talking about what was coming, the meeting turned into an argument over how to divide up the R&D budget.

“There was no focus whatsoever on the opportunity.”

My advice to Legrand was four words long: “Don’t be like Motorola.”

Why it matters

Every leadership team has a version of that meeting. It’s the one where the agenda is about protecting this year’s slice of the pie rather than asking where the next pie comes from. It feels responsible and it’s measurable, but it’s how market leaders miss the turn. The iPhone arrived within two years, and Motorola’s handset business went on to change hands twice.

The good news is that the opposite is just as true. Even a fallen brand can be reinvented: the Razr itself came back as a foldable. But someone has to decide the meeting is about the future, not the budget.

The takeaway

• Legacy doesn’t protect you. Momentum does.
• If your leadership meeting is about dividing budgets rather than chasing opportunity, you’re having the Motorola meeting.
• Put one “what’s coming that could hurt us?” item on every leadership agenda.

Related: Case Study: Legrand — Buildings Were Becoming Connected, Intelligent and Software-Driven · Event Highlight: Legrand, Connecticut · Earlier: What Should You Do Monday Morning? (2021) · Understanding Hubris (2022) · Manufacturing & Industrial

From the Stage is a weekday series of short clips from more than 30 years of keynotes, and the leadership lessons that still matter.