Ten things Bad VPs never say
Being an executive is a tough job, no doubt. However there are a set of things any rational person has to believe about executives, that don’t match their behavior. Sometimes there are good reasons for this, sometimes not.
So for fun, here’s my top ten list of things Bad VPs never say.
- It’s my fault. Many leaders fear admitting failure for their projects, much less taking personal responsibility for them. But if a VP says this and means it, they absorb blame, freeing their orgs to focus on learning from failure, rather than pointing fingers. “It’s my fault” or “I’m accountable for that” are power building phrases. You bring power to you when you re-establish responsibility for things you’re responsible for, especially in failure.
- I’m ending project X and here’s why. It can easy to let misguided or inefficient projects live are far too long. One of the roles of a VP is to be decisive, and make clear decisions, including the decision to end efforts that aren’t working to free up resources for other projects. The VP has to find a way to do the right thing (end the project) but not whitewash it. The failure however is that if too much face is saved, the lessons from the failed project are not learned by others (and those failures will be repeated).
- I’m firing Y and here is why. See above.
- Team A is more important than Team B. Like parents, most VPs tend to project equality over things that are not equal (“You’re all my favorite children” – Sure we are). In reality every VP knows which teams matter more to his organization and in private treats them as such. The fear is that people on team B will be upset if they learn their status – but I’ve seen the opposite. If team A is clearly more important towards the overall goals, and team B wants the org to succeed, it’s in their interest to prioritize around team A when appropriate. There’s no shame in playing a strong supporting role. Every team sport in history teaches that some roles, at some times, are more important. You win or lose based on how well everyone plays their role at the right time.
- The CEO and I disagree about… In rhyme: Leaders fear showing dissension, despite signs for those paying attention. Hearing a VP politely discuss a disagreement with his superior makes it acceptable for his reports to acknowledge their disagreements with him. But if instead he pretends everything is great, there’s a mismatch between what’s said and what’s believed. People know instinctively when something is wrong: decisions that don’t line up. E-mails that hint at contradiction. it’s a relief to hear it articulated, even if only in passing, especially if how that disagreement is being resolved is made clear.
- My morale is low. What happens when the leader, the figurehead, doesn’t believe? I want to argue that there are ways to communicate this to a team without killing their morale, but this may be something best held in confidence. Many of the things we wish VPs would say may be based on to only those in their confidence: a handful of people in their organizations. However, there is every way for a VP to communicate his/her concerns. A short list of top concerns every month or quarter, presented with the right vibe, can go a long way towards surfacing solutions to them.
- No, I don’t want to be on the cover of Time. To want to be a VP requires an ego. No person in the history of the corporation has been forced, at gunpoint, into executive status. All VPs are highly visible and either enjoy it or think that they deserve it: to decline attention would contradict much of their sense of value. Having an ego isn’t necessarily bad: being in the press brings attention to the company, which is an asset if handled right. But some executives confuse media attention for themselves with the job of running a healthy organization whose products and services are worthy of media attention.
- I will work as many hours as you do. While it’s true that executives often have intense schedules, it’s rare to see them point to line level employees and say “I will match your average week hour for hour.” I’ve never seen it. Especially during crunch time when overtime is common, seeing a VP put in similar hours and make similar commitments as the org is a tremendous morale boost. I have seen senior managers stay around and do near all-nighters on crunch night, and the effect it always had, if done without fanfare, was powerful. It’s something everyone talks about the next day.
- Here’s exactly how much I earn and what my bonus structure is. I’ve often wondered what would happen if corporations had transparent pay scales – public jobs often do (teachers, senators, police officers). No law prevents an employee from posting their paychecks on their office door. In specific to executives, knowing how they’re rewarded explains tons to their organization. Good VPs do communicate what their personal goals are, but knowing even the non-financial elements of their rewards (what are they rewarded on?) might be more useful to the organization that what’s in the project vision. (Of course, this would require that CEOs define the rewards. Begging for a list of “ten things CEOs never say”).
- What did I miss? What are other things VPs never (but should) say? And why?
11. “I’m leaving the company/division, and here’s the *real* reason…”
12. “Here’s how compensation works in the division/company with complete transparency”
13. “That team failed because of me” — this is variation of your #1, execpt pointing out that it’s possible for a team to succesfully execute on a vision established by an exec, but the execs vision/drive/motivation/* was what set them up for failure.
I am a VP. I don’t aspire to be on the cover of Time. I admit every time when it is my fault. I am open when I don’t agree with other managers (including the CEO). Equality between teams isn’t just lip service, but in action. I actually work more hours than most people, but don’t make a big deal of it. I don’t talk about salary, as salary is a contract between employee and employer based on an agreed amount based on many factors – contribution, education, skills, years of service, etc.
I love your book and your blog. However, I disagree with this post as it stereotypes VPs. Though I know of VPs who are similiar to what you are talking about, I am not one of them. In many ways, you are talking about “Old School” executives. Many of the younger VPs like myself are trying to portray a better way of leadership in the future.
Skip: Guilty as charged – this post stereotypes VPs. I agree there are VPs that don’t fit this at all – and agree as well that they’re probably better maangers. But perhaps that’s the topic for another list. “Ten things good VPs do”.
It’s tricky to try and write broadly about anything, like “Ten mistakes managers make” or “Five challenges dog owners face” without lumping big piles of diverse people into a seemingly homogenous pile.
I suppose I could have tilted the post “Ten things bad VPs never say” but then it’s directed in a different way. I’d have to yank out the bits about how good VPs handle some of these situations.
Anyway, point taken.
Skip: Thinking about this some more. Care to tell me more about your old school vs. New school VP thoughts? Is this something you’ve thought about before? Do you find yourself aligning philosophically with VPs closer to your own age, rather than those who have been in those roles longer?
Bang on.
How about:
11. “I don’t understand.” Not understanding does not equal weakness. It’s ok to ask someone to explain something technical.
12. “That didn’t work. Let’s try something new”. Similar to a couple already in the list, but admitting failure goes a long way towards earning respect.
13. “What do you think?” VPs can’t be afraid to ask for input, even from the lowly peons. Sometimes they have ideas that rock.
Marc
I think that many newer managers and executives realize that the command-and-control mentality of the past isn’t as effective as other ways to lead others. Talk to those managers and they will use terms such as Servant Leadership, Empowerment of people, Facilitator, Coach, etc. These terms would indicate that management should be less “telling others what to do and how to do it” and more “providing direction and getting the hell out of the way”. Teams can’t be teams if they aren’t able to be creative, collaborate, communicate with each other, and make many decisions on their own. VPs and other managers must recognize that they cannot be the bottleneck to teamwork. Joel Spolsky gives a great idea of how management should be in a software development environment — check out his essay at http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/DevelopmentAbstraction.html
Scott, thanks for your other comments. I fully understand the difficulty in writing a post that meets everybody’s needs. I struggle with this on many of the posts I do on my own blog. I do like the idea of having two posts – bad VPs vs. good VPs – and really hit home what is different between the two. My point is that by not providing both sides, some people may think that all VPs are like this because they haven’t experienced anything else. My reaction? There are good managers out there, at all levels.
Salary should _never_ be discussed. I’ve learned that the hard way by discouraging others who happened to not be as good at the negotiation game, or who didn’t have the skills/experience to be able to land a high salary.
I thought this should be #1 on the list-
Let me show you how this is done.
VPs, CEOs and all other peronalities who are usually known by terms of managers and leaders should show the way. I cannot help but say that work is usually done when there are people who know how to do it.
It would be blasphemous for a VP or a CEO to insist on highly skewed deadlines and RoI when he cant show how it can be achieved. Actions have a signal vs noise ration of 1, compared to a pathetic 0 for mere words.
Skip – I’d be interested to know the size and type of the organization for whom you work. Sorry to perpetuate the stereotype, but Scott’s post fits the bill for an overwhelming majority of executives I’ve ever encountered in large organizations (those greater than 1000 employees). Granted, nobody can generalize to ALL VPs, but there are an alarming number of egos out there in executive-land. I applaud you for being the type of VP you are; however, you are the minority. There’s a reason why executive support is at the top of Standish Group’s stats on project failure (and keeping in mind that project failure is still running around 2/3 industry-wide). Great discussion, though.
I will admit that my company is much smaller, under 100 people and privately held. I agree with you that larger companies are worse because of the many levels of management that exists in those organization. I think the problem there lies more with the overall lack of good communication along the way, then necessarily the personality of the VP. It’s very possible at times that there are losses in translation as it goes through the many channels down to the “worker bees”. I am glad that I don’t have to deal with that in my organization. I just need to be true to myself and make sure that I provide integrity in everything I do.
Hmm. I find the title… somewhere between confusing and misleading – and I think that might be where Skip’s concerns come from… My assumption was that you were talking about things most VPs don’t say, but *should* say. But in some of the points you seem to imply that maybe it’s a good thing the VP doesn’t say this (#4 for instance).
I guess my point is that ‘things a VP doesn’t say’ isn’t that useful a category in general: “The moon is made of fried gorgonzolla” would (hopefully) be in that category. “things a VP doesn’t say, but should say” is a much more interesting category — and a lot closer to what you actually wrote about.
Skip – I wasn’t surprised by your response. I would expect VPs at smaller companies to have the same protests as you. I also agree with you about the communication factor, but I think the VP mentality that Scott was blogging about deals with another ‘c’ word: culture. Many large companies don’t promote people who champion the renegade entrepreneur; they want people who will maintain the status quo of the culture. The last thing they want is a bunch of free thinking loose cannons running around. (Again, the caveat is that we can’t generalize to all VPs.) I worked with a firm of about your size a few months ago with the CEO, CIO, and COO – they were three of the most innovative, enjoyable, and real individuals ever. They wanted to see the culture change, and they promoted a problem-solving/ownership mentality at the “worker bee” level. I’ve not met a VP at a larger company yet who acted the way they did. Keep up what you’re doing, Skip… sounds like you’re on the right track (a healthy dose of self-awareness is always great to see in an executive – too many naked emperors running around.)
I dunno, I think the VP is usually right in keeping #3 and #4 to themselves. Any manager, in fact. #3 is often pass-the-buck management: “The boss wants this. I tried to talk him out of it, but he’s the boss. So get to it.” And #4…well, actually, the dude should quit or change positions, and let somebody who cares take his job. But if not, definitely keep it to himself. I once heard my boss say “I honestly don’t care about this project” when it was a project I cared a great deal about. What happened? I carried the project, he got the credit – a little bitter about that one.
Vineet – I could not agree more with your statement regarding a VP showing “the how” to perform a job. This deficiency really has an impact on a VP’s ability to evaluate talent, retain talent, and not to mention credibility. I’d be interested in hearing Scott’s feedback…. to what degree should a VP be able to perform a lower level job if they had to…. or at least direct a task at a lower level than the 50,000 ft. level. Thanks.
:Geoff,
That’s a nice observation by you. I didnt think about the interpretation of a VP’s ability the same way you did. Sounds very true. Unless one knows what effort needs to be put into a job, they’ll have a tough time finding the right person to do it. Exactly like the VP who says – I know development is all drag and drop ‘n copy and paste, now you do your job and don’t disturb me for a week.
“VP’s poke fun at themselves and can laugh about it”
…Skip! C’mon, lighten up my friend.
I do work at a company of 6000 people and I have kept e-mails showing #1, 2, 3, and 5.
…other things VPs never (but should) say?
“I don’t know the answer to that, but I’ll definitely find out.”
This sentence must be the executive version of “blood in the water” and must be avoided at at cost.
The usual case is that a VP will tend to make things up…on the spot. And what’s worse, the other VP’s and top execs will assume that he/she knows what they’re talking about…talk about scary. And, of course, this all filters down to the people who actually DO know the real answer and then they find themselves in the awkward position of having to correct the fabrication and still keep their boss in a good light. Some fun, that.
Please remember to bear in mind that there are other people in the building and to not take one of everything. [AROKIAM, Chris] I think this is the most embarrassing thing to say – can you not perhaps tell the persons concerned directly
How do would you say this