Leadership’s ‘Collateral Damage’: Choo Ann NGOH on Hierarchy and Risk in Business

In a recent LinkedIn post, Choo Ann NGOH shares a powerful personal anecdote to illustrate critical lessons about leadership, hierarchy, and accountability in the business world. Choo Ann NGOH uses a vivid childhood memory of a rocket launch gone wrong to highlight how leadership failures disproportionately impact junior team members.

The ‘Thunderclap’ Analogy for Business Disasters

Choo Ann NGOH begins by challenging the common tendency to attribute business failures to sheer bad luck. Instead, the author posits that what appears as unfortunate timing is often the direct consequence of flawed leadership and inadequate protocols. This leads into a personal story from the eve of Lunar New Year, where a childhood experiment with rockets serves as a potent metaphor.

“We often blame ‘bad luck’ for business disasters. But usually, ‘Wrong Place, Wrong Time’ is just the final result of ‘Wrong Leadership, Wrong Protocol’.”

Describing the incident, Choo Ann NGOH recounts being a 7-year-old observer positioned directly behind a makeshift rocket launcher. When a gust of wind—likened to market volatility—caused the launch mechanism to topple, Choo Ann NGOH, as the most junior member, lacked the immediate reaction of older siblings who quickly retreated. This experience resulted in a burn injury, leaving a lasting scar.

The Proximity of Risk and Leadership Accountability

Choo Ann NGOH draws a direct parallel between this childhood event and the dynamics often observed in the Malaysian SME ecosystem. The author explains that when projects falter or clients are lost, senior individuals often have an escape plan, leaving less experienced team members to bear the brunt of the consequences.

The core of Choo Ann NGOH’s argument centers on the ‘Collateral Damage of Seniority.’ As the leader, often metaphorically ‘lighting the fuse,’ they possess the advantage of foresight and the ability to withdraw. However, Choo Ann NGOH argues, this leaves junior team members—the ‘observers’—exposed to the full impact of leadership missteps.

“The ‘Actual Intelligence’ Reality Check: In the Malaysian SME ecosystem, we often see ‘Thunderclaps’ topple. When a project fails or a client leaves, the ‘Seniors’ often have the exit strategy ready. They ‘U-turn’ and run.”

Furthermore, Choo Ann NGOH introduces the concept of ‘The Rotan of Accountability,’ suggesting that even if leaders initially evade responsibility, the market or regulators will eventually hold someone accountable, often tracing back to the initial decision-maker.

Lessons from ‘Near Misses’

Despite the painful memory, Choo Ann NGOH expresses gratitude for the experience, framing the scar as a relatively small price to pay for a crucial lesson. The author contrasts this ‘scar’ with a potentially catastrophic ‘Total System Failure’ that could have occurred.

While acknowledging the sentiment that the incident might not have happened if the junior person ‘was not there,’ Choo Ann NGOH shifts the focus back to leadership responsibility. The ultimate goal of a leader, according to Choo Ann NGOH, is not to avoid having team members present, but to prevent the ‘bottle’—the business initiative—from toppling in the first place.

“But as a leader, the goal isn’t to hope your team ‘isn’t there’—it’s to make sure the bottle doesn’t topple in the first place lah.”

The post concludes with a pointed question for leaders: “Are you lighting ‘Thunderclaps’ without checking which way the wind is blowing for your team?” Choo Ann NGOH also briefly touches upon an interesting aside regarding AI’s inability to generate an image of the childhood memory due to safety guardrails, offering kudos to Google for their implementation while humorously noting the unexpected outcome.