Management Instagramification Is Your Career Nemesis

Social Media is a double edged sword. Learn how to do headstands from Jeff Bezos to avoid cutting yourself.

Everyone else is doing great.

• They just started a new role as a Vice President of Engineering.

• Or started a brand new company.

• Or landed a 7-figure role at a FAANG company.

And you’re stuck as a line manager at a struggling B-series company with no exit in sight.

This is the lie of social media.

We just don’t recognize it because it’s on LinkedIn or SubStack instead of Instagram (or TikTok, or Facebook, or MySpace).

We all self-censor what we share to the world.

• That friend who made VP? It’s at a 5 person startup.

• That new founder? He hasn’t exercised in two years.

• The coworker who joined Amazon? He was down-leveled and is deeply disappointed.

To succeed in business you need to set challenging yet achievable goals.

Instagram is skewing your niece’s perception of what her life should look like. Of what she should look like.

LinkedIn is skewing your perception of what your career should look like. Of where you should be right now.

The Cure–Learn to Headstand

Jeff Bezos is an amazing writer.

His best writing is available for free online, hidden in plain sight. Right in Amazon’s shareholder letters.

Here is what he wrote in 2017:

Perfect Handstands

‘A close friend recently decided to learn to do a perfect free-standing handstand. No leaning against a wall. Not for just a few seconds. Instagram good. She decided to start her journey by taking a handstand workshop at her yoga studio. She then practiced for a while but wasn’t getting the results she wanted. So, she hired a handstand coach. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, but evidently this is an actual thing that exists. In the very first lesson, the coach gave her some wonderful advice. “Most people,” he said, “think that if they work hard, they should be able to master a handstand in about two weeks. The reality is that it takes about six months of daily practice. If you think you should be able to do it in two weeks, you’re just going to end up quitting.” Unrealistic beliefs on scope – often hidden and undiscussed – kill high standards. To achieve high standards yourself or as part of a team, you need to form and proactively communicate realistic beliefs about how hard something is going to be – something this coach understood well.’

Let me repeat that last part:

A critical precondition of learning a challenging new skill is having realistic beliefs.

This is exactly the challenge of social media—it warps our perception of what is realistic. Whether that is in learning to execute a perfect handstand every time, or in learning how to delegate for growth.

So how do you learn to do a headstand?

In Practice

You cut through the noise.

You find someone to guide you.

Now, you don’t have to pay for a coach (although that’s what I’m doing.) But you do need to search for someone to guide you. Someone to help you calibrate what is realistic and what is not.

Here’s what you do:

• Find someone one or two steps ahead of you.

  • Start with your network. Your co-workers, partners, friends, etc.

  • LinkedIn and Substack are great places to look, especially if you work in a smaller company.

• Reach out and ask if you can buy them a coffee and chat. Ask for help.

• The first person that you meet—they may not be the right one for you, at this point in time. Keep looking until you find the right mentor.

• Come to the meeting with specific goals. What you want to achieve and by when.

• Ask for feedback. Is it realistic? What needs to be true to meet this goal? What are some common challenges?

And once you are armed with a (very) challenging but achievable goal, you can open social media and use it as the tool it is. Use it for inspiration, forming connection, and for learning.

What tips did you find helpful to get the most out of LinkedIn and SubStack?