Being CEO is Executive Middle Management
It's also a blast
(Hi, Devin here writing at you this week š)
Being CEO of Animalz was the best worst job of my life.
I learned helpful, tough lessons like:
Trust isnāt always the way out (or through) challenges
Youāre going to make decisions that benefit your team and also theyāll hate you for it because they donāt have exposure to all the information you have, so stop worrying about being liked.
Transparency is toxic, sorry. You have to be strategic about what you share and wrap it in a ton of context, so folks can understand the why without having all the information. This builds more trust than unfiltered truth.
Youāre still basically a middle manager balancing the demands from board, customers, team, and youāre going to get zero credit for it. In fact, youāre going to be lambasted by people everywhere, but itās part of the job, so get used to and get over it or youāre going to miss the fun parts of the job.
Misogyny exists at the executive level and itās still the fucking worst. Including that I canāt tell you exactly how without jeopardizing myself and/or having it turned into gossip. Itās enraging and unfair, and I still donāt regret participating in this broken system, because itās all worth it to me for the depth at which Iāve been able to live my life and career.
Before I digressā¦
I spoke in depth about my experience as on Joeiās new pod, Good Boss Bad Boss - episode is live in our feed this week if you want to hear the juicy details and transformative lessons that are helpful no matter what stage youāre at in your career.
The upside is you basically get paid for a masterās degree in business thatās way better than any business school program Iāve heard about from folks who went. The networking is even better, which is basically the only value Iāve heard biz school graduates name.
Also, people just kinda listen to you more. I didnāt take this for granted as a female growing up in tech. The title also got me more guest speaking opps, greater reach on LI, and connection with other CEOs.
That last one was huge. The CEOs I met were unbelievably generous, validating and probably the most humble, understanding, supportive folks Iāve met, including CEOās at companies we competed with.
Being a CEO - or really an executive leader of any kind - is nuanced, fun, frustrating, transformative and a total blast. If you can relate, this episode will validate you. If you are an aspiring leader, take heed!
Season 4 premiers next week
ā¦and weāre recording the first episode live!
You Failed at Failure, Now What? premiers on Feb 6th, 12pm ET.
Weāre talking about the impact leaders have on their teamās attitude towards failure, what to do when you feel like a failed marketer, and other failed feelings. From how you define to how you use it, failure can be an end point š or a step in a different - and often better - direction š.
Join us live, ask questions, tell stories, or just listen to us share about our failure moments and feel better about yourself š
Canāt make it? Weāll be posting the live episode to our pod feed after the live show airs.
ā¤ļø Love you bunches,
Devin & Margaret