There is a certain type of startup executive that I’ve developed an allergy to.
It is what I call the empty suit executive.
These are the types of leaders who are above the work, who want to manage the work, and who scoff at the idea of doing the work themselves.
My friend Blakely Cragun and I call this “playing pretend”. The same way that our children play house - an empty suit executive is playing business.
They are status seekers, not doers.
They are often MBAs, who have been sold a Fortune 500 story that they want to be true in a startup. It’s not true in a startup.
They really want to be involved with strategy. What does strategy mean? They Don’t know. But it’s high status, so they want it.
And since most startups don’t have that type of role, they often seek out product management. Why? Well it has the word management in it. High status.
- The empty suit executive doesn’t really talk to customers directly. That’s other folks job. Delegated. A real executive craves customer interaction every day.
- The empty suit executive believes they are above selling, and that it’s the revenue orgs job to hit the number. The real executive knows that selling is everyone’s job and they feel the weight of the number too.
- When there’s a massive bug, the empty suit executive drafts a mealy-mouthed mass email to give some half ass explanation. The real executive calls every customer directly and does what it takes to make it right.
- When there’s churn, the empty suit executive thinks about it abstractly, as a trend, on a slide. The real executive thinks every customer is a blessing, and an actual person, and gets on a plane and does what it take to win the customer back.
- The empty suit executive attends lots of conferences and sits on lots of panels. The real executive gets hives if they think about going to a conference for any other reason than to meet with new or existing customers.
- The empty suit executive doesn’t know how to handle in office conflict, so they often run to HR to outsource the one hard conversation they need to have. The real executive gets two people in a room and hashes it out.
- The empty suit executive doesn’t speak or write like a human - they adopt corporate robot speak. The real executive speaks plainly.
- When crisis happens, the empty suit forgets that these are real humans involved. The real executive remembers.
- When a Customer complains on twitter, the empty suit executive hurries and tells the support team to reply from the corporate account so they can keep things under control. They be sure to use “we are so sorry for your experience, please DM us so we can help!” Bullshit. The real executive replies from their personal account and gives the customer their direct phone number.
- The empty suit executive can’t be bothered to read NPS scores and App Store reviews or review sales demos. The real executive reads every single one before bed at night.
- The empty suit executive works fewer hours than the team. The real executive won't get outworked.
- The empty suit executive uses phrases like "my team." and "reports to me." They care a lot about reporting structure. The real executive uses "us", "we", and doesn’t give a shit about formal reporting structure
- The empty suit is overly formal. The real executive is informal.
- The empty suit is fake. The real executive is authentic, warts and all.
We all have a little empty suit in us.
A good goal: be less of an empty suit, don't be above any of the work. Be a real leader.