The Most Expensive Mistake I Made as a CEO - And What CHROs Must Learn About Strategic Focus
Introduction: The Real Strategic Risk for CHROs
If you are a CHRO trying to decide where to invest limited HR budget, this is the real challenge.
Not access to information.
Not a shortage of vendors.
Not a lack of ideas.
The challenge is deciding where to focus.
The most expensive mistake I made as a CEO was not a bad hire.
It was misallocating attention and capital because I listened to experts who were not accountable for my full strategy.
The real risk is not a lack of information. It is spreading yourself too thin chasing it.
That mistake is easy to make.
And CHROs are especially vulnerable to it right now.
What Was the Most Expensive Mistake I Made as a CEO?
I hired experts instead of building a strategy filter.
Over the years, I hired business coaches across marketing, systems, scaling, branding, AI, and operations. Many were excellent.
But they all taught their lane.
None of them sat across from me and said:
Here is where you should play.
Here is where you should not play.
Here is where your limited time and money actually belong.
They were not responsible for my whole business.
I was.
Sometimes their advice worked.
Sometimes it was a distraction.
Sometimes it cost real money.
The mistake was not trusting experts.
The mistake was confusing expertise with enterprise strategy.
Why Is Strategic Focus So Hard for CHROs?
Because the modern CHRO operates at the intersection of risk, growth, talent, technology, and capital allocation.
You have:
- Limited headcount
- Limited budget
- Limited executive attention
- Increasing board scrutiny
At the same time, you are being pulled into:
- AI enablement
- Workforce planning
- Culture acceleration
- Leadership capability
- Organizational design
- Compliance and regulatory risk
There are areas you must play in. Compliance, risk, legal exposure, core HR operations.
You do not get to opt out.
Then there are areas you could play in.
Some will drive enterprise value.
Some will create noise.
Some are shiny objects.
In a world flooded with webinars, consultants, tech vendors, and persuasive service providers, everyone wants your budget.
They will teach you what they know.
But they are not accountable for enterprise outcomes.
You are.
How Should CHROs Decide Where to Invest Limited HR Budget?
Start with enterprise priorities, not HR trends.
A strategic CHRO asks three questions before approving major investments:
- Does this directly support revenue growth, margin protection, or risk mitigation?
- Does this build a capability the business will need in three to five years?
- What will we deliberately stop doing to fund this?
If the answer to the third question is unclear, you are not making a strategy decision. You are adding workload.
Strategy is restraint.
It is deciding where not to spend energy.
It is connecting inch-deep knowledge across domains into one coherent direction.
That is executive work.
Why Experts Alone Cannot Guide Enterprise HR Strategy
Experts operate inside functions.
A CHRO operates across the enterprise.
What makes you a C-suite executive in HR is not knowing everything about AI, benefits, engagement, or talent systems.
It is your ability to connect the dots across:
- Legal risk
- Growth targets
- Talent gaps
- Capital constraints
- AI disruption
- Board expectations
That connective judgment is a fiduciary responsibility.
And it is a muscle.
If you do not deliberately sharpen it, it dulls.
If you isolate yourself, it narrows.
If you surround yourself only with vendors and specialists, it gets pulled in competing directions.
What Is the Smarter Model for Strategic CHRO Decision Making?
Peer-level pattern recognition.
You need people who sit in the same chair you sit in.
People who have defended the same budget.
People who have said no to expensive distractions.
People who have seen initiatives fail at scale.
The collective knowledge of a real CHRO peer group becomes a strategy filter.
It sharpens judgment.
It helps you see around corners.
It reduces expensive mistakes.
It accelerates enterprise-level thinking.
The smartest CHROs I know are ruthless about where they play.
Key Takeaways for Strategic CHROs
- Strategy is choosing where not to play.
- Experts provide depth. CHROs must provide integration.
- If you cannot name what you are stopping, you are not being strategic.
- Enterprise impact matters more than functional optimization.
- Peer-level perspective strengthens executive judgment.
The question is simple.
Who is helping you decide?
Frequently Asked Questions About Strategic CHRO Decision Making
What is the biggest strategic mistake CHROs make?
Spreading limited HR resources across too many initiatives without anchoring decisions to enterprise priorities. Activity increases, but measurable business impact does not.
How can a CHRO become more strategic in executive meetings?
Translate every HR initiative into financial, risk, or growth language. Frame talent decisions in terms of capital allocation and long-term capability building.
How should CHROs evaluate AI investments in HR?
Do not start with tools. Start with enterprise outcomes. Identify where AI supports productivity, risk mitigation, or scalable capability. Then evaluate vendors.
Why are peer groups important for CHRO strategy?
Peers provide pattern recognition across industries and business cycles. That shared experience strengthens judgment and reduces costly missteps.
What makes a CHRO truly strategic?
The ability to allocate scarce resources in a way that drives enterprise outcomes, not just HR excellence.
If you are a CHRO at an organization with over 500 employees and you are serious about becoming more deliberate about where you play and where you do not, book a strategy call with me.
Cindy Lu
Founder, CHRO Mastermind Groups
Request an invite to the BigHR Event the 2nd Friday each September.
For CHROs, CPOs and direct reports
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