How Stephanie Linnartz prepared to become Under Armour's CEO: "Dumb questions" and plenty of "not yet's."

On LinkedIn’s video series, This is Working, I sit down with top figures from the world of business and beyond to surface what they've learned about solving particular problems.

This week, my guest is Under Armour CEO Stephanie Linnartz.

I’ve got to imagine that being a CEO can be maddening. The spotlight is on you; every company decision is your decision. I love speaking with executives about how they deal with the hot seat — but rarely do we chat about how they prepared themselves for the moment. 

That all changed when I sat down recently with Under Armour CEO Stephanie Linnartz.

Stephanie moved into the c-suite at Under Armour just six months ago. Our conversation marked her first major interview since heading up the athleisure giant’s front office. 

Up until now, Stephanie’s career — and life — has been in hospitality. Her parents run a hotel, bar, and restaurant near the Capitol, so she grew up in the business. Then she made it her business life, too. For 25 years, she climbed the corporate ladder at Marriott International, where she ultimately rose to president, overseeing 8,200 properties in 138 countries and territories.  

But when Under Armour approached to take over as CEO, Stephanie took a huge risk by moving into the unfamiliar world of sportswear. Not only was it Stephanie’s first swing at running a company as an executive, she stepped into the role at a time of company-wide stagnation. So just how did Stephanie prepare for first CEO role?

Stephanie taught me that more often than not, having the skills to succeed as CEO are the same that are needed to excel professionally — and personally. 

So here are my takeaways: 

Asking “dumb” questions is the key to acing a new job, no matter the level

From Marriott to Under Armour, Stephanie’s quest to absorb knowledge has propelled her career. It helped her seamlessly transition from hospitality to performance apparel. 

“I did a lot of listening and learning,” she said of her preparation process in landing Under Armour. “I read every single thing I possibly could about the company and the stakeholders, every analyst report, and that helped prepare me. So I walked in with some base level of knowledge about the strengths and the opportunities for the company before, before I began.”

What also jumped out at me was Stephanie’s philosophy behind dumb questions, which is how she learned the mechanics of Under Armour. Dumb questions not only help you understand the nuances of any job — they also serve as an ego check.

Before she moved into the executive seat at Under Armour, she toured stores and casually asked salespeople about, well everything: “Why do you do this? What's selling? Why is this over here?”

”I was kind of like an undercover boss before I was the boss,” she explained. “I gained so much insight about things that we could do better in terms of merchandising.” 

People hate No, but they’ll put up with Not Yet

When Stephanie arrived at Under Armour, she said the company had 35 different projects underway. She quickly realized she needed to prioritize. 

“I really think it's about focus, execution, and accountability,” Stephanie told me. “When I came into this role at Under Armour, I thought, ‘We need to focus more. We can't do everything. We don't have endless money. We don't have endless people. We need to focus on a smaller set of priorities and then we need to execute against them.’ 

Stephanie ultimately slashed projects until only nine remained. 

“It’s better to do a few things really well, or a smaller number of things really well, than try to boil the ocean,” she said. 

But rather than telling people that what they had been working on was worthless or misguided, she explained that it could pay off in the future. The key was to keep the projects simmering. 

“You can say we're going to put that on the back burner,” Stephanie told me. “It doesn't mean that we'll never do that project again, or we'll never pick up that product idea. But right now, and I've laid out a three-year plan for this time frame, that's just not gonna be the top thing that we work on.”

“You can't do everything. Nobody can. And I think people actually want you to say, we're going to focus on fewer things, and we're going to cut this project, or this product. Not forever, but for now, right?”

But she also applies the same mantra to career opportunities, especially when it comes to mentoring young mothers and women.  

“It's okay to say ‘no,’” Stephanie told me. “Or ‘not right now.’ “I might take that on at a different time, right? I

mean, I've had a lot of different opportunities come my way to join a board, to join an organization, or to speak at something. And sometimes I would have to say no, I just can't do that right now.”

Check out the full video here. 

How do you prepare for a new role? Let me know in the comments or send me an email at thisisworking@linkedin.com. And my co-producer Nina Melendez Ibarra and I take a deeper dive on my conversation with Stephanie, here:

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