Which Crisis Would You Choose? Spencer Wixom, CEO at The Brooks Group, Weighs In

In any scaleup, tough decisions come with the territory. Leaders prepare for market shifts, operational hiccups, and competitive threats. But what about the crises that really test a company’s foundations? On this episode of Wisdom From Wizards, I asked Spencer Wixom, CEO at The Brooks Group, to pick between two difficult scenarios: addressing a major cybersecurity breach or a high-profile leadership scandal.

Spencer chose the cybersecurity breach. His reasoning cuts to the heart of organizational resilience. According to Spencer, a breach, while damaging, can be anticipated and managed if the company has done the work in advance. Training, insurance, and incident response plans give leadership a clear path forward. The threat is external and predictable in many ways.

Contrast that with a leadership scandal. When someone at the top violates the organization’s norms or betrays trust, the damage is personal and cultural. It is much harder to forecast, contain, or repair. The fallout can undermine morale, fracture teams, and shake customer confidence in ways that persist long after the headlines fade.

For tech scaleup CEOs, Spencer’s perspective is a useful reminder that not all crises are created equal. Investing in security is essential, but building a leadership culture rooted in integrity and accountability may be even more critical. It is often the internal failures that prove hardest to recover from.

Wisdom From Wizards is brought to you by Caribou Strategic, helping tech scaleups stand out and succeed.