Why You May Not Want to be a C-suite Executive
It's demanding, it's stressful, it pays the way to early retirement, it holds power. Is it worth it?
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* How to shift your mindset from scarcity to abundance
* How to handle the lack of guidance and direction that often occurs after layoffs and priority changes
* How to deliver value to your company during a downturn (and not lose your job)
* How to change your communication style (increase frequency, fill gaps)
* Tactics for de-stressing your fight or flight system
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(Teddy the corgi, Elevator)
There is so much uncertainty and change in the world today: climate change, geo-politics, rising Gini coefficient, mental health crisis, the rapid pace of AI development. In so many aspect of life, it is changing faster than ever, and as humans, it is debatable whether we have evolved to cope with such high levels of instability and change.
C-level executives are also under more stress and pressure than ever to ensure their companies keep up with the changes and combat the headwinds. On top of this, minorities face additional bias and cultural disadvantages, which pile up on top of these already demanding jobs. Many people are so tired or disillusioned by the time they reach Director level that the idea of going for the VP+ feels just too daunting.
The executive job is not for everyone, and not everyone who wants to be an executive will have the intellectual rigor, stamina, and luck to get there. So, is it worth it?
Pros
Impact: Executives have a ton of impact on a company’s trajectory, which often translates into impact on an industry or a community at large. A Chief Product & Technology Officer is for many companies a make-or-break role. My success is the company’s success. As an executive, unless you’re at a huge company, you can make some big bets and see tangible results on a timescale of months. A change that may be near impossible to realize as a middle manager, I could make it happen in weeks. I love the ability to cut through the bullshit, get things done, and see end user impact. When it’s a mission I truly believe in, I love having this level of impact on the company, its customers, and employees.
For minorities, reaching the executive role has additional rewards that come with being one of the few or first people to reach a place that is inspiring to others. The United States also has a culture that celebrates and even idolizes the little guys winning over the big guys.
As Mark Twain says: "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog." In literature, we have David versus Goliath, Mulan against the Huns, Gladiator against the Roman Empire, and Katniss Everdeen against The Capitol. We celebrate wars where smaller armies achieve victory over larger or more powerful opponents like the Siege of Orleans (1429) with Joan of Arc. In startup culture, this celebration of the little guy’s triumph is even more prominent: Tesla vs the traditional automakers, Etsy taking on Amazon, Netflix against Blockbuster, Spotify against the music labels, and WhatsApp against iMessage.
And so, for the minorities that ascend into executive roles, many have significant followings, and are looked to as role models and ceiling breakers in their industry. They have an outsized impact not just on the companies they work for, but on the career trajectories of future generations of minorities like them.
Control over schedule: At a good company with good management, you have more control over your schedule. Yes, I still worked a lot of hours and yes, there are fires, but the work feels less all-encompassing or last minute. This is because as a middle manager, you’re often a little late to hear about the changes, and then often asked to make them quickly. You have less control over your schedule as your meetings are dictated by your managers.
As an executive, you see further out and can better anticipate potential risks and prepare for them. And for the most part, you are the one creating work for others. That said, if the company is poorly run – a hostile or dishonest culture, a lack of critical structure or processes, or a lack of respect for work-life balance and personal boundaries -- then it makes the executive’s job almost impossible to do well. Look for well-run companies that allow you to see ahead and get work done in a stable environment with few emergencies.
Compensation: Executive roles are high-paying jobs. This affords me a lifestyle outside of work that I would not be able to maintain otherwise. First, it allows me to raise a family while pursuing a career I am passionate about. I also value being able to save for retirement, a high-quality education for my kids, the ability to travel and explore nature, and a good bottle of wine.
Cons
Overflowing stress that comes from accountability at the highest levels: Decisions that need to be made at the executive level are never simple. Those are resolved by the team. The problems that rise to the executive level have difficult trade-offs, a large amount of ambiguity and uncertainty, and high risk. The wrong decision can impact entire teams for months or quarters. One wrong call can mean the end of a career at a company. This makes it difficult to disconnect and easy for work to overflow into all the other aspects of life as you ponder difficult problems over dinner or into the night. Technology also makes it easy to work longer and longer hours to make sure the decisions are as good as they can be.
It’s lonely at the top: As a mid-level manager, there are multiple people in a similar role. As an executive, there is often just you. Sure, there are people in your role at other companies, but the context and problems they are dealing with are never quite the same, and with your busy schedules and NDAs, it’s difficult to commiserate openly and often. You are no longer a part of the team. Instead, you are now a part of the leadership or management of a company. You are no longer “one of us”. You are “the boss”. For some people, this can feel very alienating, as if you alone have to figure out these challenging, complex issues.
You are no longer in the day-to-day: At any one point, you have only a basic idea of what anyone is working on, including your direct reports. You know their goals and broadly speaking their priorities, but that is it. You lead and manage through goals and priorities and trust your team to get the job done. If you try and get in the weeds of execution, you will without doubt disrupt whatever flow the team had and create churn. For someone who enjoys sketching a design or getting into the nuances of how a data query is written, sometimes it’s hard to resist the temptations.
Say Yes!
For me, the pros outweigh the cons of the executive role. I love being able to realize the visions and strategies I helped shape. I love building teams and culture. I love the flexibility and ability to make the changes. I would much prefer to be a big fish in a smaller pond, than a medium fish in a large pond. For many others I’ve coached and worked with, the grass isn’t greener on the other side. And they’ve found equally fulfilling roles at another point in the process.
As you embark on this journey to the executive level, it’s important to be honest with yourself about what your pros and cons list looks like, and where the pendulum lies for you regularly. Again, career coaches are great partners for these types of assessments and revisit them regularly with you.
What are the pros/cons you see about the job? Would love to hear from you. Comment below!