When the ground shifts beneath their feet, leaders face an ancient dilemma: should they hunker down in their carefully constructed fortresses, or sprint towards the nearest exit? The past few decades have served as a brutal examination of executive mettle—global recessions, a pandemic, geopolitical upheavals, and technological disruptions have separated the wheat from the chaff. Two distinct leadership archetypes have emerged from this chaos: the Legacy Builders, who plan meticulously for the long haul, and the Moment Chasers, who rely on speed and opportunism to survive.
The question is no longer academic. In a world where a single tweet can topple share prices and artificial intelligence rewrites business models overnight, which approach actually wins?
The fortress mentality
Legacy builders operate on a different timescale to most mortals. They think in decades, not quarters, viewing success through the lens of institutional durability rather than immediate gains. Their philosophy echoes Henry Ford’s famous declaration: “Take everything, but leave me my people—I’ll rebuild.”
“The speed of change has accelerated,” he observes, “but if your strength lies in your people, you can withstand any shock—be it a pandemic, an economic crash, or a digital disruption.”
Ravi Mishra, head-HR, BITS Pilani
Ravi Mishra, head-HR, BITS Pilani, embodies this thinking. He recalls how money transfers once took over ten days via money orders, compared to today’s instantaneous UPI transactions. “The speed of change has accelerated,” he observes, “but if your strength lies in your people, you can withstand any shock—be it a pandemic, an economic crash, or a digital disruption.”
This approach found its finest expression during the 2008-09 financial crisis. Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla’s declaration—”We should be the last man standing”—wasn’t mere bravado. It reflected years of deep investment in people and operational strength. The companies that weathered the storm weren’t the flashiest or fastest; they were the ones that had prepared methodically over years.
“Machines will rust, buildings may collapse, but people can rebuild anything—if they are skilled, motivated, and aligned with purpose,” explains Mishra. This philosophy places human capital at the centre of organisational resilience, viewing it as the only truly sustainable competitive advantage.
The speed merchants
Yet in a world spinning faster each day, agility has become its own form of intelligence. Emmanuel David, a senior HR leader, with stints across the Tata Group and others, highlights how consumer-facing businesses depend on responsiveness and flexibility. “If there’s a mistake, you can’t wait for a committee review. You need to react—immediately,” he emphasises.
“If there’s a mistake, you can’t wait for a committee review. You need to react—immediately.”
Emmanuel David, senior HR leader
His personal anecdote illustrates the point: after reporting an error in a product delivery on a website, he received a swift, apologetic response within an hour. “That kind of empowerment in frontline teams only happens when leadership believes in moment-to-moment decisions.”
In businesses with short product cycles—consumer goods, fashion, or tech gadgets—waiting for a five-year strategic review is tantamount to commercial suicide. These companies flourish by reading real-time signals, iterating rapidly, and making micro-pivots. The meteoric rise of companies such as Zomato, Blinkit, and Nykaa in India demonstrates how real-time responsiveness can create market leaders virtually overnight.
During COVID-19, Microsoft exemplified this mindset. Its cloud services and collaboration tools such as Teams saw exponential growth—not because the company waited to perfect them over years, but because it moved swiftly to meet emerging needs. The crisis rewarded those who could adapt quickly, not those who were merely well-established.
The perils of extremes
Yet both approaches carry inherent risks. Legacy building can become a trap when it prioritises grandeur over sustainability. Mishra points to Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways, once symbols of ambition and luxury, now grounded by overextension and misaligned visions.
“In their race to create history, they ignored the winds of change,” Mishra notes. “And the disruption didn’t wait.” Their pursuit of “legacy” became a burden when rooted in physical assets and inflated scale rather than sustainable operations or talent depth.
Similarly, pure moment-chasing can lead to strategic incoherence. Companies that constantly pivot lose their identity and exhaust their resources chasing every new trend.
The synthesis
The resolution lies not in choosing between the two approaches, but in synthesising them. Nihar Ghosh, a seasoned HR leader, who has worked with FMCG major, Emami, offers a nuanced perspective: “Legacy leaders are not anti-change. They are actually best prepared for change—because they’ve been planning for it.”
“Legacy leaders are not anti-change. They are actually best prepared for change—because they’ve been planning for it.”
Nihar Ghosh, senior HR leader
He defines the Three C Factor as key to sustainable leadership: Character (integrity and stakeholder respect), Conviction (commitment to long-term goals), and Courage (making tough, necessary decisions). True legacy builders aren’t rigid—they’re resilient, strengthening fundamentals so their organisations remain battle-ready.
During the pandemic, Ratan Tata exemplified this philosophy by supporting significant training and upskilling initiatives across companies, even as attrition remained high. His response to concerns about talent loss? “I’m happy they are contributing wherever they go.” That’s legacy thinking—investing in people without expecting immediate returns.
David captures this hybrid mindset perfectly: “You need to think long-term when it comes to people and culture. But for customer experience and operational tactics, you must respond to the moment.”
His COVID-19 experience illustrates this balance beautifully. When work ceased at the Tata Management Training Centre, he offered training in English, carpentry, and electrical work to housekeeping staff. “They were cooks and room boys—many illiterate. But if the centre never reopened, I wanted them to have a skill to survive.” This exemplifies long-term compassion wrapped in short-term pragmatism.
The winning formula
The dichotomy between legacy building and moment chasing proves to be a false one. The most effective leaders don’t choose—they integrate. Legacy isn’t about cementing the past; it’s about preparing for the future. It’s the quiet, invisible scaffolding that supports agility in times of chaos.
Similarly, chasing the moment isn’t about abandoning plans; it’s about flexing them with precision. The best leaders plan to react, build with flexibility, and lead with clarity—knowing that both the moment and the future matter.
In our post-pandemic, AI-driven, uncertain world, victory belongs neither to those who only plan nor those who only react. It belongs to those who build a legacy of speed and move with the patience of purpose.
The answer to who wins in times of uncertainty? Those who understand that the race belongs not to the swift alone, nor to the strong, but to those who can be both when the moment demands it.