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The Sad Truth About Developing Executives

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Re: The Sad Truth About Developing Executives

#11

Post by jnem »

harryh wrote: post #5
angersock wrote: post #3

Unfortunately, especially in a startup, there aren't many friendly ways of saying "Hey, CEO, I think you're sucking at leading and sales. What gives?" Especially if you're an early employee and not in the elevated founder class.

Sure there is. You go talk to the CEO and say "I think you're sucking at leading and sales. And I think that because of reasons X, Y & Z." They might not listen to you but you can certainly tell them.

I disagree. Ive seen too often the person who is willing to say X,Y,Z is wrong, but cant offer a solution to solve X,Y,Z. Its the solution that matters. Bringing your CEO or any higher-up a problem without a solution is just adding to the noise that busy person already has to deal with. The whole purpose of an employee is to take an existing or new problem off of the CEOs plate.

Re: The Sad Truth About Developing Executives

#12

Post by mpdehaan2 »

I think it's also missing the obvious, "they don't know what they are doing when they are playing in other orgs". It's sort of implied that helping someone is something the CEO doesn't have time for, but it's a little unclear that they might not need the help, and their job is to just coordinate, make sure to hire the right execs, and remove friction (+ raise funds).

Some of the best advice I ever got (not for exec things) was "just be sure everybody thinks you're helping, no matter what they do".

Re: The Sad Truth About Developing Executives

#13

Post by harryh »

jnem wrote: post #11
harryh wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure there is. You go talk to the CEO and say "I think you're sucking at leading and sales. And I think that because of reasons X, Y & Z." They might not listen to you but you can certainly tell them.

I disagree. Ive seen too often the person who is willing to say X,Y,Z is wrong, but cant offer a solution to solve X,Y,Z. Its the solution that matters. Bringing your CEO or any higher-up a problem without a solution is just adding to the noise that busy person already has to deal with. The whole purpose of an employee is to take an existing or new problem off of the CEOs plate.

You're 100% right and I definitely should have said that. Presenting a good solution to the problem is critical.

Re: The Sad Truth About Developing Executives

#14

Post by javajosh »

angersock wrote: post #3

Unfortunately, especially in a startup, there aren't many friendly ways of saying "Hey, CEO, I think you're sucking at leading and sales. What gives?" Especially if you're an early employee and not in the elevated founder class.

That's a terrible thing to say to your leader. Indeed, if you really believe it, you should leave, roughly for the same reasons in the OP's article! That is, you don't have the time or the knowledge to mentor a CEO.

Far more actionable is when an executive seems to be operating under an incorrect assumption about the world (people, customers, technology, etc) and you offer what you believe is a solid refutation of their incorrect belief, ideally without ego or rancor. Employees that can do this consistently are extremely valuable to an organization.

Re: The Sad Truth About Developing Executives

#15

Post by nostrademons »

harryh wrote: post #5
angersock wrote: post #3

Unfortunately, especially in a startup, there aren't many friendly ways of saying "Hey, CEO, I think you're sucking at leading and sales. What gives?" Especially if you're an early employee and not in the elevated founder class.

Sure there is. You go talk to the CEO and say "I think you're sucking at leading and sales. And I think that because of reasons X, Y & Z." They might not listen to you but you can certainly tell them.

Better is "Why aren't we doing X, Y, and Z to improve sales?" That phrases it in a positive tone, with concrete solutions, and gives the CEO an opportunity to tactfully tell you why your model of the world may be wrong.

Beware that very often the response is "Well, I never considered that, but it sounds like a good idea. Why don't you lead a project to do X, Y, and Z and we'll see how it turns out? Oh, and be sure to get your regular work done too."

Re: The Sad Truth About Developing Executives

#16

Post by harryh »

nostrademons wrote: post #15
harryh wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure there is. You go talk to the CEO and say "I think you're sucking at leading and sales. And I think that because of reasons X, Y & Z." They might not listen to you but you can certainly tell them.

Better is "Why aren't we doing X, Y, and Z to improve sales?" That phrases it in a positive tone, with concrete solutions, and gives the CEO an opportunity to tactfully tell you why your model of the world may be wrong. Beware that very often the response is "Well, I never considered that, but it sounds like a good idea. Why don't you lead a project to do X, Y, and Z and we'll see how it turns out? Oh, and be sure to…

I agree on both points. Though I would point out that #2 can, in some situations, be a big opportunity.

Re: The Sad Truth About Developing Executives

#17

Post by mpdehaan2 »

nostrademons wrote: post #15
harryh wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure there is. You go talk to the CEO and say "I think you're sucking at leading and sales. And I think that because of reasons X, Y & Z." They might not listen to you but you can certainly tell them.

Better is "Why aren't we doing X, Y, and Z to improve sales?" That phrases it in a positive tone, with concrete solutions, and gives the CEO an opportunity to tactfully tell you why your model of the world may be wrong. Beware that very often the response is "Well, I never considered that, but it sounds like a good idea. Why don't you lead a project to do X, Y, and Z and we'll see how it turns out? Oh, and be sure to…

Or better "have we possibly considered" vs "why aren't we doing" :)

Re: The Sad Truth About Developing Executives

#18

Post by beloch »

"You should be extremely clear up front that you expect your executives to be world-class in their functions. If they are not, they will not keep their jobs. Furthermore, you will not be able to make them world-class, because you are not world-class in their areas."

I see two big problems with this statement:

1. It falls into the "everyone must be extraordinarily excellent" trap. The average employee is... average. Odds are your hiring practices are average too. It is better to focus on getting people's best than it is to focus on having the best people, because very few companies actually do have the best people. If you think your company is different, you had better have a compelling reason.

2. Even for good employees, it takes time for them to adapt to your company and perform at their best. Obviously you need to let some people go, but if you hold a noose over their heads from day one they're just going to worry about looking good for long enough to collect their options/bonuses/etc.. Looking good in the short-term and doing good in the long-term are often incompatible goals.

Re: The Sad Truth About Developing Executives

#20

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

jnem wrote: post #11
harryh wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure there is. You go talk to the CEO and say "I think you're sucking at leading and sales. And I think that because of reasons X, Y & Z." They might not listen to you but you can certainly tell them.

I disagree. Ive seen too often the person who is willing to say X,Y,Z is wrong, but cant offer a solution to solve X,Y,Z. Its the solution that matters. Bringing your CEO or any higher-up a problem without a solution is just adding to the noise that busy person already has to deal with. The whole purpose of an employee is to take an existing or new problem off of the CEOs plate.

This is fine in theory, but most solutions require time, resources, people, money... all things that employees lower down the hierarchy are unlikely to have.

If you're saying 'Bring a suggested solution but don't try to implement it without buy-in', that's a slightly different process.

The issue of who notices/fixes/prioritises/analyses tactical and strategic problems, and who assigns resources for the fixes, can make or break companies.

It's not a simple problem. I suspect a lot of popular solutions are probably sub-optimal.

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