Online Reporter
Rutendo Gwatidzo
Changing Perspectives
Today marks the last Saturday of the year. Allow me to wish you all a happy ending of 2025 and a prosperous 2026. It is my hope that you enjoyed the Christmas holidays.
As we look into 2026, I would like to share a story that I’m hoping it will give someone a different perspective.
This story is real, from one of my clients’ organisation. A senior operations manager in a local manufacturing firm was widely feared and admired. In that company, he was untouchable.
He approved every decision, corrected everyone in meetings, and reminded people often that no one understood the business better than he did.
His performance was good and company profits were stable hence so no one challenged him.
Then, the company was acquired by a regional group. New systems, standards and leadership were put in place within six months.
The same man who once dominated meetings was now struggling to keep up. Younger managers adapted faster.
External consultants questioned his methods. His influence shrank and within nine months he resigned and exited quietly. Interestingly, he did not fail because he was incompetent.
He failed because he had spent too long as a shark in a pond.
What Does “A Shark in a Pond” Really Mean?
A shark is powerful, confident, and dominant. A pond is small, shallow, and limited.
When a shark lives in a pond, it looks impressive until you realise it has nowhere to grow, nowhere to swim, and nowhere to sharpen its instincts.
In leadership, business, and life, many people choose ponds because dominance feels good but, in a pond it’s short lived, before you realise it, you can die.
How do you die?
You Stop Growing Without Realising It — Growth requires resistance of which a pond offers none.
Example — You are the smartest person in your department. Your ideas are rarely questioned. Meetings end quickly because “you’ve already decided.” Five years pass.
You feel experienced, but you probably don’t realise that you are outdated.
Reality — When you are never stretched, your skills quietly expire.
Confidence Slowly Turns into Ego — In a pond, praise is easy and challenge is rare.
Over time, feedback disappears.
Example — A business owner stops asking customers what they think because “sales are fine.”
Competitors improve and customers leave gradually without realising. By the time the owner notices, the market has moved on.
Hard truth — Ego grows fastest where learning has stopped.
You Drain the Environment Instead of Developing It — A shark dominates a pond but domination is not necessarily leadership.
Example — One manager wants to approve everything. Staff waits on him instead of thinking creativity. Innovation dies and talented employees resign.
Think about it! — If everything depends on you, the system is already failing.
You Confuse Control with Impact — Control feels powerful but, impact is what matters.
Impact is about influence and results beyond your presence and existence.
Example — A department performs well only when the head is present. The moment he or she is away, performance drops.
Leadership reality — If things collapse without you, you are a bottleneck, not a leader.
Fear Creates Silence and Silence Creates Failure — People do not speak honestly around sharks.
Example — Staff notice a serious problem but do not report it because “the boss doesn’t like bad news.”
The issue grows more than it should have. Customers are affected and management is shocked.
Truth is — If people fear you, in order to eliminate that fear, they will eventually let you fail.
You End Up Competing with Those You Should Be Developing — Sharks in ponds feel threatened by fresh energy. Instead of mentoring and grooming more sharks, they tend to end up swallowing aspiring sharks.
Example — A senior leader blocks younger talent, dismisses new ideas, and labels innovation as “disrespect.”
Sadly — You will be remembered for what you stopped, not what you built.
What To Do?
Smart professionals choose the ocean, even when it humbles them. They invite challenge, not applause. They measure success by growth, not dominance. They trade comfort for capacity.
Final Takeaway!
Being a shark is not a flaw but, choosing a pond is. If you are always the loudest voice, the final authority or the smartest person in the room, pause and reflect.
What you carry is not necessarily power, be careful it might be dominance.
Real growth happens in deep waters, where pressure refines you and challenges keep you alive. And in today’s world, relevance belongs to those brave enough to leave the pond.
Remember this, comfort today is a risk tomorrow.
If you have been dominant and comfortable in 2025, hurry up and move from the pond to the ocean where you spread your wings wider before it’s too late. Happy New Year in advance.
About author
Rutendo Gwatidzo is a Human Capital Executive as Managing Consultant at The HUB HR Consultancy. She is a Multi-Award Winning Leader, Speaker and Coach. She is also an Author of Born to Fight and Breaking the Silence books. Contact detail – 0714575805/ [email protected] / Rutendo Gwatidzo_Official fb public page.
