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Comment by legitster | Hacker News Reader

I have had some amazing managers - who do an amazing job of allocating work and managing our time to get the best out of us. But it doesn't really matter because the C-suite usually sucks.

In most large firms there is a magical barrier somewhere between lower and upper management where quality doesn't really matter. For every great servant leader, you will also have to deal with someone who has no technical experience and have never had to work a real job in their life. And the only reason your good boss has to report to them is because through proper breeding and connections or luck they have enjoyed a career unencumbered by details.

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I've seen it go both ways.

I once worked at a large (> $100B market cap) tech company and had the opposite experience. I had several interactions with C-Suite and the level below and my main takeaway was that "holy cow, they get it!". Now, the layers between me and them were another story. It was amazing to have the experience of my manager talking about our tech/product strategy, and then to hear it from someone several levels higher in the org chart. The explanations from the former typically made little sense, but from the latter it made much, much, more sense.

When I started my career there was still a sense of agility and meritocracy in tech that made it super appealing. But that vibe feels very much gone now. Of the last 3-4 CEOs I worked under - not a single one actually built a company or rose up through the ranks. All of them started their careers in consulting or management.

So not saying they can't be good CEOs or leaders, or that there are companies that aren't exceptions, but I have now worked with enough executives at a number of medium and large companies to see that tech industry is overall shifting towards management/labor class divisions. It's like the military - even the best, most decorated enlisted has to salute the dumbest officer.

> tech industry is overall shifting towards management/labor class divisions

I think it's very easy to slip into this way of thinking, but I think it depends on the company. Any company big and rich enough will start to have the same inefficiencies and inappropriate leadership appointments as any large org or even government will. If money is easy to come by, people who don't create value can thrive.

It depends on the company but 90% of companies are this way. Which is what the parent comment was saying, it's overall shifting towards that. Which I have seen as well.

> 90% of companies are this way

Can you cite this?

Problem is I have met CEOs and VPs who were techy, and just as bad as non-techy ones.

Its very common for people high up to know nothing, but they are calm and speak well in meetings. Even for VC backed startups, its really about selling a vision and having the proper pedigree, not grinding away at all hours of the night

And there may be something said for needing decision makers who are "dumb". Part of what made Steve Jobs as successful as he was was being stubbornly and intentionally ignorant on technical limitations.

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