When the leader places someone in a strategic position, the first question they should ask is not the standard question: is this the right hire? But rather a more nuanced question: will this new hire do harm? This second question helps us assess risk. Here is the challenge: those who can do really well are those who can also cause serious harm. So, the leader needs to determine how big a change is needed (and change is always needed, even if it is just improvement) before they determine who they should empower to make that change. There is an inverse relationship between risk and reward with every hire.
