Most of what we think we know about leadership is wrong. Not just slightly off – fundamentally backwards. The executive who waits for crisis before changing course? They’ve already lost. The leader who maintains tight control over transformation? They’re guaranteeing its failure. These aren’t controversial opinions anymore, but somehow they’re still how most organizations operate.
Enzo Carpanetti has spent his career proving these assumptions wrong. Across continents and megaprojects, he’s built a different playbook – one where reinvention happens during success, not failure, and where the best leaders focus on making others shine brighter than themselves.
We met with Carpanetti to unpack why so many leadership truisms are actually traps, and what really works when you’re steering infrastructure projects that span multiple regions and cultures.
Everyone talks about waiting for the right moment to transform an organization. You say that’s completely backwards. Why?
Because stability is often deceptive. People think you need urgency to drive change, but I’ve learned the most effective time to evolve is when the organization feels confident, not complacent. That’s when you have trust, clarity, and bandwidth to challenge assumptions and reframe direction. Reinvention isn’t a defensive move. It’s strategic discipline. If you wait for urgency, you’ve already lost momentum.
There’s this idea that global strategy is about creating one brilliant blueprint. What’s wrong with that picture?
Everything. Strategy without context is abstraction. I’ve led across regions where the same blueprint would fail unless adapted to cultural nuance, regulatory complexity, and operational realities. My role is ensuring global ambition lands with local relevance. That means listening deeply, empowering regional leadership, and translating transformation into language people can act on. The true measure of vision is its ability to inspire execution.
Most leaders think transformation means disrupting operations. You disagree?
Completely. Transformation must be anchored in operational discipline with long-term impact. I’ve seen brilliant strategies falter because execution wasn’t protected. You need to build resilience into the system. Clear governance, empowered teams, and feedback loops that catch friction early. Change doesn’t succeed by bypassing operations; it succeeds by reinforcing them. The goal isn’t disruption for its own sake. It’s precision, continuity, and relevance at scale.
What about this notion that leaders need to have all the answers?
That’s probably the most dangerous misconception. The best leaders I’ve worked with are curious, humble, and never believe they’ve arrived. They surround themselves with people who challenge them, and they welcome it. Jack Welch said good leaders make a religion out of being accessible. That’s not just a quote, it’s a discipline. Leadership isn’t about control. It’s about coherence, momentum, and making others shine brighter than yourself.
People assume complexity shows sophistication. Your take?
Complexity is often a symptom of insecurity. Speed, simplicity, and self-confidence – those are what matter. When people are clear on the mission and confident in their role, they move faster and with more purpose. My job is to remove friction, not add layers.
There’s this rush toward AI and instant decision-making. Are we missing something?
Daniel Kahneman had it right – fast thinking is useful, but slow thinking builds resilience. “What you see is all there is” – that’s the trap. Leaders must resist the illusion of completeness and seek disconfirming evidence. AI can help, but it’s our responsibility to ask better questions, not just get faster answers. Strategic clarity comes from pausing, zooming out, and challenging what feels obvious.
The biggest misconception about leadership today?
That it’s about traditional management. Leadership today is less about managing and more about vision, ownership, and accessibility. You create a vision, articulate it clearly, and drive it relentlessly, but above all, you stay open. That means connecting with people through real, human dialogue, not just formal channels. My purpose? To empower others and help them shine brighter than me. That’s not philosophy, it’s operational.
What strikes you after talking with Enzo Carpanetti isn’t his rejection of conventional wisdom. Plenty of executives claim to think differently. It’s that he’s built an entire methodology around these inversions. Where others see stability as safety, he sees it as the perfect moment for reinvention. Where others impose uniformity, he demands local adaptation. Where others chase quarterly wins, he ignores them entirely.
Maybe the biggest misconception about leadership isn’t any single wrong belief. Maybe it’s thinking that what worked yesterday will work tomorrow. The leaders who thrive aren’t the ones following playbooks – they’re the ones willing to question why those playbooks exist at all.
For more insights into Enzo Carpanetti’s approach to global leadership, visit his website or connect on LinkedIn.
