Help me assess the morals of applying for a C-Suite role

April 16, 2024 7:33 AM

I'm currently working as interim CTO at a technology company. I'm a contractor, and I'm considering whether or not to apply for the role on a FTE basis, but I'm worried about just adding yet another middle-aged white male C-suite member to the world.

The C-Suite at this company is 100% male, 80% white, and entirely in the age range of 40-60. My predecessor in this role was a jewish woman in her 30s, and the CEO of the company has said that in an ideal world he'd employ another woman, preferably a person of colour, as the permanent CTO, but has invited me to apply anyway if I wanted the role permanently.

I know that I'd be in with a good shot at the role if I applied: I've got a lot of experience in the industry, I've been with this company for a number of years and I know the ins-and-outs of its business, its tech stack, and its problems. I'm at the stage in my career where I want to start looking at doing something other than being an engineer — VP of engineering would have been the next logical step had this not come along.

I'm aware, however, of the massive privilege that I have in having this role, and having lived most of my life on easy mode compared to others. I'm aware too of how there are far too many white, middle-aged C-suite members, especially in tech. Whilst I can't control what would happen were I not to apply, I can't help thinking that the moral thing to do would be to just stand aside so as not to add more noise to the hiring process than necessary.

(I'm also aware that this could be self-sabotage to stop myself from feeling like a failure if I don't get the role; I can't wholly trust that this isn't that, and I'll address that with my therapist. But on the basis that I'm not just trying to make excuses for my own inadequacies I'd like some feedback on my moral overthink)

posted by gmb to Work & Money (15 answers total)

Best answer: Applying for the role isn't getting it, but I would apply for the role with a plan to be deliberate in preparing your successor.
posted by mhoye at 7:44 AM on April 16 [7 favorites]

Best answer: Factors that would influence my thinking:

Was this presented as an interim-to-hire situation from the beginning and you've knocked it out of the park, or was the CEO originally set on finding an external candidate and hasn't been getting desirable applicants?

Are you in a position to help find candidates in your networks who are women/people of color?

How much do you want this job? I don't necessarily think it is your responsibility to withhold opportunities from yourself for a hypothetical applicant. On the other hand, if you had this job, would you be in a better position to hire or mentor women/people of color in this industry? How much of that are you doing now?
posted by AndrewInDC at 7:47 AM on April 16 [5 favorites]

If the CEO truly wants to employ women of color, why isn't the head of marketing a woman of color? Or the head of finance? The COO?

Those are departments where there are numerous contenders who are women of color, yet the company employs white males for all those roles. It makes me question whether the company actually is interested in diversity, or whether the CEO is giving lip service.

When they had a woman of color as the CTO, was the environment actually inclusive? Or was it so non-inclusive that she had to leave to go find a more inclusive company?

If you take this role, it might be making the problem worse, but the company might already have a non-inclusive environment based on what you've said.
posted by vienna at 7:47 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]

What would your influence on hiring be like in that role? Is the rest of the company already fairly diverse, or moving in that direction? Are there other good internal candidates you can think of who are more diverse than you?
posted by trig at 8:02 AM on April 16

As CTO you could be responsible for hiring throughout the IT stack of the company and could yourself prioritize the elimination of cishetwhitemale tech dominance at your employer through direct personal action. It's often easy to forget that if one has been given privilege, one can use it to elevate others.

Noblesse oblige is not just something from the past, it is something right now.

Maybe you shouldn't feel guilty.

Maybe you should seize the reins yourself and make this company a trendsetter in DEI.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:12 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: To answer a couple of questions before I leave the thread to percolate for a while:

1. I'll be part of the process of hiring a permanent CTO; that was always part of the job, and this was never described to me as an interim-to-hire situation. I've only been in-post for a couple of weeks at this stage
2. I am enjoying the job thus far, and I think that I'm probably an 8 on a scale of 1-10 about wanting to go for the job permanently. It's a logical next stage in my career in tech, given my age and experience.
3. In terms of diversity, the company is not great. It's largely cis male — especially in the technical roles. If I were in the role of CTO I'd be in a good position to hire more women and people of colour (having been involved in hiring thus far, the pool of candidates is also overwhelmingly white and male; we definitely need to work harder with our recruiters to expand that pool).
4. I don't think the CEO is paying lip service to diversity, but I also don't think it's been a policy that's been pushed hard until now (in my experience, anyway)
5. My predecessor left for medical reasons; she didn't want to leave, but she was recovering from a serious injury, and that recovery would take more energy than being CTO of a scale-up tech firm would allow her to give.

posted by gmb at 8:15 AM on April 16

I would take the position and make a point of hiring people who have been at a disadvantage and putting resources into training them up and training at least one of them to eventually replace you.

The answer to being given and power and privilege is not to give it up, it's to extend that power and privilege to everyone.

If the CEO's perfect candidate shows up you can step aside graciously and move on. If they don't, then use this opportunity to make a difference.

lived most of my life on easy mode compared to others.

The fact that other people have it (much) harder doesn't mean your life has been easy. Donald Trump has lived his life on easy mode and it shows. He would not have posted this question.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:16 AM on April 16 [3 favorites]

You are allowed to pursue opportunities for your career. In that regard, is this a position you would want and a company you would like to work for? If so, you can certainly apply. You're already there as interim CTO, that shows the company believes you have the qualifications.

If you do apply/get the role, you could then influence diversity from inside (including, when appropriate, pointing out the lack of diversity, and of course through your own hiring and promotion practices).
posted by Meldanthral at 8:17 AM on April 16 [4 favorites]

Best answer: If everyone who valued diversity bowed out of leadership positions to make sure that others could benefit, the only people who would benefit are white men who don't value diversity. The only moral risk here is if you forget about these values once you're in a position to enact change.
posted by telegraph at 8:20 AM on April 16 [37 favorites]

In my opinion the ethics of being a CTO at a tech company hinge a lot more on what the company does than the color of your skin. Are they making the world a better place? Are y'all breaking things and getting rich? Does your product or service help marginalized people? Whose labor are you benefiting from? How large is it? Who does the company do business with? Just some sample questions to think about.

In principle you'd have a chance in this role to influence diversity of hires etc. But none of that is going to meaningfully change the ethics of your situation if you're supporting arms dealers or the oil industry etc.

If you're already sure you're ok with the ethics of the company's mission as a whole, including all the externalized impacts, then go for it, and be sure to be the change you want to see if you get it.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:21 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]

I hold a part time role as our institute's DEI and Engagement Specialist, so I have spent a lot of time thinking about how we can intentionally and thoughtfully reach folks we haven't previously included, and there is a lot of good advice in here.

How would you feel if you didn't apply and it went to some other unqueer white guy your age?

If you want it, you should apply. The work of diversifying a staff isn't in qualified applicants stepping aside, but in making inroads to reaching a more diverse pool, training up promising early career folks, sponsoring the underrepresented, and so much more. If this is something you care about, learn more about how we use our power to make those changes and live those ideals in how you wield the power you have.
posted by advicepig at 8:28 AM on April 16

The job is likely to go to a white man. Apply for the job, if you get it, give opportunities and hire good candidates who are not white men, in a legal and fair manner. For POC and women and other groups to move forward, they need experience, so help them get it. Gift Link to NYT article about hiring including What companies can do to reduce discrimination. If you know that there's a terrific candidate who represents more diversity, promote them if you want. Individual actions so make a difference, but don't decline an opportunity if it will just go to another white guy.

Carry on questioning things. Encourage the company to do Diversity, Equity & Inclusion training. Make whatever progress you can.
posted by theora55 at 8:36 AM on April 16

Best answer: CEO of the company has said that in an ideal world he'd employ another woman, preferably a person of colour, as the permanent CTO,

Therefore your hesitation is noble but not useful. If there is a highly qualified DEI candidate, they will get the position. If not, and you're not in the running, another white man will get it.
posted by rainy day girl at 8:43 AM on April 16 [4 favorites]

I strongly suspect this business would hire a cisgender white guy regardless, and your bowing out doesn't necessarily mean that a woman of color will get the job. We don't even know the potential candidate pool here. I think rainy day girl has it right.

However, if you're working there, even as a cisgender older white guy, maybe you can make some changes in hiring.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:23 AM on April 16

Best answer: I'll diverge from the answers above slightly, based on your comment that part of your interim role is be "part of the process" of hiring the next CTO.

If being part of the process means that you will be involved in candidate selection, and your recommendation will carry weight, then you could forgo applying for the position yourself in favor of retaining the ability (in your interim role) to influence the candidate pool and possibly candidate selection for the CTO position that is currently open.

Is there a chance this wouldn't work and the person ultimately selected for the position will share the relevant demographics of the existing executive team? Yes. But that is also the definite result if you throw your hat in the ring and get hired; and the same potential result of applying and not being selected.

Influencing the hiring process by keeping yourself out of contention for the role capitalizes on your (presumed) current position of (relative!) power, aligns with the CEO's stated goal of increasing demographic diversity at the executive level, and gives you a chance to actually-factually contribute to bringing up a diverse group of candidates for consideration by this exec team at this organization right now. By openly prioritizing diversity in your candidate pool and championing less "traditional" (you know what this means) metrics for candidates, you model this behavior for your peers.

That is a great opportunity to live your values in a real and meaningful way, especially if you are economically secure and can afford not to go for the role yourself.
posted by ailouros08 at 1:47 PM on April 16 [1 favorite]