The Crying CEO: How Not To Appear Human on LinkedIn

A viral LinkedIn post dubbed "The Crying CEO" has gained a lot of attention and criticism recently for a number of reasons.

So let’s first unpack the post and see what went wrong.

Who is The Crying CEO?

Braden Wallakeis the CEO of the marketing company HyperSocial. On August 10th Braden took to LinkedIn to share a story of himself reluctantly laying off members of his team. He posted a picture of himself crying on LinkedIn with the first line:

“This will be the most vulnerable thing I'll ever share.”

The post goes on to explain Braden made a mistake in February which affected revenue strongly enough to justify laying off a number of employees. The post was assumingly meant to highlight how letting members of the team go impacts business owners. This is understandable, as of course, nobody wants to be in the position of taking away someone's way of living. But, this leads to many questions about the validity. Mainly because…

1. This is the internet and social media, so you can’t rely on face value?
2. Braden works in Marketing?
3. The Response to being labeled "The Crying CEO"

Before we get into the follow-up post let’s discuss the response.?

How Did People Respond??

At the start, mixed. Some people were applauding the courage it takes to stand out there and show an emotional response. It’s important to show the person behind the business persona if you want to connect with your audience. This doesn’t mean sharing baby pictures, but at least showing you’re a real person, living, working, and aspiring to succeed. But, this has the caveat where you can show how out-of-touch you can be in certain situations.??

The majority of the response on LinkedIn, Twitter, and other media outlets highlight the problem with Braden’s post. Empathy should be directed to those who are being affected the most by this. The people who lost their jobs. It raised the question: If people lost their jobs why is the CEO trying to direct sympathy to themselves??

There are now numerous articles and newspapers discussing what the CEO did, including this one, instead of helping the team find new jobs.?

This is where you can go desperately wrong with personal branding. Make serious moments in other people's lives about you instead and you will appear tone deaf.?

It’s probably also worth mentioning the comment section throughout was discussing the?adoption of a Sea Lion ?at the beginning of a recession before the original post was made.?

The Follow-Up To The Crying CEO Post

The dust has barely settled on this post, but there was a response and apology from Braden. First, he restates that he is the crying CEO, which is another step in the self-promotion direction, and then moves on to try and create “a thread for people looking for work”. Unfortunately, this thread would be on a post under his name on LinkedIn. Which once again appears to be capitalizing on laying off his team.?

Even if the thought was genuine there would still be that marketing gain which unfortunately a lot of people and myself, can't ignore.

The Outcome?

The best outcome from all this is the original post being a fake story for some LinkedIn 5 minutes of fame, and some members on LinkedIn gaining some opportunities within the comment section of the apology post.?

But, this is a big LinkedIn lesson on here for business owners.?Think about what you post from a perspective that isn’t just your own. The best intentions in the world can’t cover up a mistake like this.

The tone of voice is important when commenting on serious issues and you can't always predict how each side of the conversation will react. If you can't see the story from all perspectives or feel like you're not 100% sure what you're talking about. Don't feel you need to add your personal commentary.

Remember how public social media is if you feel awful and need someone to talk to then confide in a friend, family, or trained professional before voicing your problems to the world. Not everyone will be sympathetic. But, if you're using vulnerability and mental health as a marketing tool. You get what you deserve in the comments.