Re: Lazy and Unambitious
Many CEOs, like myself, work 75 hours a week because we love what we do
and we want to build something more than a FrameMaker template. We're
building companies and establishing market share. And yes, I expect my
people to work hard. I also pay them well and give them opportunities they
would NEVER get at a large company.
So - when I hear the "company culture/CEO requiring everyone to show up
and work extra hours..." complaints, my response is: quit.
This last bit of advice is realistic. But it strikes me that Andrew has
just illustrated the difference between a CEO and an employee - even, perhaps, one in management.
In the last few years, I've sat (so to speak) at the right hand of a couple of different CEOs. In each case, I've observed that the CEO (or the partner or founder) has an attachment to the company that employees do not.
CEOs have made a decision to devote large parts of their lives to the company - not necessarily because they are the largest shareholders (although they often are), but also because they enjoy the responsibility and challenge of building the business. They also enjoy the idea of providing jobs for people; every CEO I've worked closely with frequently gives some a variation of "I feed x number of families" as part of why they feel proud of their work. Often, too, they are the founders of the business. But, in any case, what is good for the company is generally good for the CEO. In extreme cases, CEOs may even act on behalf of the company in ways that they wouldn't in their private lives (and, no, this comment is not a veiled insult directed at anybody - just a general observation).
By contrast, for most employees, their job is only part of who they are. They may find the work interesting or challenging,or potentially lucrative, but, they don't necessarily expect to do it for more than a few years, even in high-tech. Nor do they want it overshadow their families or their interests. They may be dedicated, but if they have had more than a couple of jobs, they are almost always less dedicated than the CEO. Even if they have a share in the company, their share is less than the CEO's. All of this means that, while they do over-time, they do so less willingly than the CEO - and that means, in turn, that sometimes they are going to grumble about it. It's not that they are necessarily in the wrong job. It's just that, unlike CEOs and their ilk, employees identify less with the company. After all, what's good for the company isn't necessarily good for the employees; for example, the company's survival may depend on firing employees.
I suppose that what I'm getting at is a class difference - an unfashionable concept, but one that is sometimes useful, even if Marx and Engels were less accurate than Nostradamus or Mother Shipton when it came to prophecy.
So far as I'm concerned, the relation between bigwigs and employees works best when both are aware of this difference. CEOs who want loyal employees - to say nothing of employees at their most productive - won't ask for too much overtime, or will be careful to compensate well if they do. For their part, employees need to decide how much of themselves to give to the company, and be aware that even the most paternalistic of employers isn't totally on their side. And at times - to come full circle - employees also have to decide whether when their efforts on the company's behalf will have an acceptable return, and when it's time to move on.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"The fox knows many tricks; the hedgehog one good one."
-Archilochus
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References:
Lazy and Unambitious: From: Andrew Plato
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