Why Your "Best" People ARE THE RISK (CEO Americas at Nortal, Alain Dias)
Sun Feb 01 2026
High performance deceives.
Alain Dias, CEO of Nortal Americas, knows a thing or two about building at scale..after all his team helped build the world’s very first "digital nation."
When a leader with his kind of track record speaks about growth, I'm in!
His interview is a gut-check for most organizations:
If your expansion depends on a "Hero," you aren't ready to scale.
In many cultures, we celebrate the "firefighter" who pulls the all-nighter to save the project. We give them the shout-outs and the awards.
But as Alain points out, constant heroics are actually a warning sign.
When you rely on individual brilliance to save the day, you aren't building a resilient business...you’re building a dependency.
Beware "The Heroic Trap":
- The Bottleneck: Critical knowledge stays trapped in one person’s head.
- The Single Point of Failure: Your best people become your biggest risk for burnout.
- The Chaos: As growth accelerates, clarity vanishes, and your "Hero" simply can't keep up.
What I admire about Alain’s approach is the focus on maturity.
World-class leadership is designing systems that make heroics unnecessary.
Your vision can’t outrun your systems.
Have you seen the limits of heroics?
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High performance deceives. Alain Dias, CEO of Nortal Americas, knows a thing or two about building at scale..after all his team helped build the world’s very first "digital nation." When a leader with his kind of track record speaks about growth, I'm in! His interview is a gut-check for most organizations: If your expansion depends on a "Hero," you aren't ready to scale. In many cultures, we celebrate the "firefighter" who pulls the all-nighter to save the project. We give them the shout-outs and the awards. But as Alain points out, constant heroics are actually a warning sign. When you rely on individual brilliance to save the day, you aren't building a resilient business...you’re building a dependency. Beware "The Heroic Trap": - The Bottleneck: Critical knowledge stays trapped in one person’s head. - The Single Point of Failure: Your best people become your biggest risk for burnout. - The Chaos: As growth accelerates, clarity vanishes, and your "Hero" simply can't keep up. What I admire about Alain’s approach is the focus on maturity. World-class leadership is designing systems that make heroics unnecessary. Your vision can’t outrun your systems. Have you seen the limits of heroics? ----- Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben Fanning Speaking and Training inquires Subscribe to my Youtube channel LinkedIn Instagram Twitter