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Do you know what “currency” your company’s C-Suite prioritizes?
My friend, an Executive Vice President (EVP) with a 3,000 person team, shared lessons on scaling to that size:
"There are always politics and they come in different shapes and sizes.
For example, at [Company X], technical knowledge affected your credibility. I watched two VPs of Engineering washout and change roles because others thought poorly of their tech skills despite being very well credentialed.
On the other hand, when I was at [Company Y], they couldn't care less about technical depth. They were more focused on Finance skills, which is usually a huge blind spot for senior engineering execs.
My current CEO at [Company Z] comes from a strategy consulting background, so problem decomposition and story telling about the solution are a huge part of the culture.
The lesson here is that it is important to understand what's valued in the corporation so you can develop and demonstrate those skills.
This will be specific to each company, so don't assume its the same everywhere."
Two powerful points
Understanding corporate financials is important to be an executive. Most individual contributors do not need to understand them, but executives do. As an executive, I went through a financial learning curve to understand and participate in important discussions. If you want a seat in the C-Suite, you must learn what your Finance team does.
What is valued in an executive varies based on company culture. All three companies the EVP mentioned are household names, but the language of influence and credibility (technical, financial, communication) carried unique weight at the companies.
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Example of one of our upcoming live online events: How to Lead a Remote Office — with Ethan Evans and David Markley (VP of Technology, Warner Bros. Discovery)
Start learning about Finance. It takes time, so start now.
Figure out the "currency" of your company’s culture. Is it Finance? Tech? Analysis? Learn to speak the native language of your company leadership.
How to evaluate which “currency” is top priority:
Watch who and what are being rewarded at each level.
Talk to the top people (or as close to the top as possible) and get their candid answers.
See the top 5 KPIs/OKRs/Big Rocks the CEO cares about.
Pay attention to quarterly earnings, letters to shareholders, etc (especially the metrics the CFO consistently calls out/highlights).
In a company where multiple “currencies” are represented at the top, pay attention to which leader wins hotly debated decisions and gets the resources (budget, headcount, CEO public approval, big internal/external keynotes, etc). All those leaders may be represented, but not all can share the spotlight.
Be flexible in how you approach other leaders. My mental model is: "It does not matter what I want to say, it matters what they can hear." You have to meet them where they are and build from that point of connection.
Readers — What is the “currency” in your current company?
If you’re already in executive roles (e.g. Director, Sr. Director, VP) and want to optimize performance or move up further, consider my course, Cracking the C-suite 'How to Get and Master Key Executive Roles' which I co-teach with Sue Bethanis (Executive Coach & CEO/Founder of Mariposa Leadership) who has coached 400+ tech executives.
Watch this highlight clip from a member-only event.
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The Amazon Way
Why Jeff Bezos shifted to no 1:1s
Amazon SVP 1:1s
Ethan's skip level 1:1 story
Executive expectations
How to use a Skip 1:1
How to ruin a Skip 1:1
How to have good "regular" 1:1s
How to talk about your career in 1:1s
The Manager's POV in 1:1
Audience Q&A
Audience Insights
Additional ideas worth considering from my LinkedIn audience:
“I would argue that at this level, more than any of that you need to understand people. How you assess, how you communicate, how you performance manage, and most importantly how to hire and develop a team of great performers. Also, it doesn't hurt to be able to communicate simply.” — David Glick (SVP, Walmart).
“The point on learning Finance particularly resonates - regardless of the company culture and function. It's difficult to progress beyond a certain point/level without a strong understanding (financial literacy) of how what we do impacts company financials, how to put together an investment proposal, and other things.” — Omar Halabieh (Tech Director, Amazon).
“One thing that happens as you scale up in a large company is that the stakeholder group expands and becomes more diverse in the areas they operate (business, finance, operations). You need to figure out what the stakeholders’ problems are and solve them to be successful and get promoted. On a separate note, there are a lot of executives that scale up past their capability level and start managing optics rather than solving problems. Being credentialed does not equate to ability to handle the scale.” — Patrik Schnell (Technical Fellow, Walmart).
"If your goal is the C-suite, think about how your responsibilities tie to finance/revenue. You need to think and talk in terms of the CEO and the Board. And go on a tour of duty across different functions to understand how the different departments operate." — Fortune 100 COO.
One of the best ways to learn finance is to run your own business (can be a side-business to start). If it’s your lifeblood, you will learn it.
There's a lot involved in talking to senior people about their "currency". When they talk to peers and leaders to learn from them, I teach my clients to solidify trust—identifying shared stories and building on them—before probing for their targets or strategies. For instance, you might need to understand that the new head of marketing is telling a story about moving into new countries first, and only then can you ask her about whether tech or finance or problem-solving is her way of attacking that problem. How do you build trust Ethan?
There's a lot involved in talking to senior people about their "currency". When they talk to peers and leaders to learn from them, I teach my clients to solidify trust—identifying shared stories and building on them—before probing for their targets or strategies. For instance, you might need to understand that the new head of marketing is telling a story about moving into new countries first, and only then can you ask her about whether tech or finance or problem-solving is her way of attacking that problem. How do you build trust Ethan?