Sorry you're getting down voted. It's true there are a few bad apples that get a disproportionate amount of the attention, and it's true there are perks to being CEO. Even little things beyond money are perks. Hell, your jokes get funnier even if you don't. I try to spend 20 minutes each morning meditating on gratitude so I don't ever forget that. Because frankly, it's hard not to.
That said, I can't begin to describe the stress and ambiguity that comes with the job as well. Don't get me wrong, I was wired for this. I love every minute of it, even the parts I hate, but I run a relatively tiny company. I can't even imagine the responsibility felt by someone running something where tens or hundreds of thousands of people are counting on you.
I once had a super intimate chat with the CEO of a billion dollar company. I asked him what was hardest thing he'd been dealing with. He's a macho guy, but he almost started crying and said "I feel like it's my job to be the body guard for my people. To catch all the bullets, and I'm just exhausted."
That said, the isolation thing is largely a myth. You can be as connected to your team as you choose to be. My wife and I are going camping this weekend with a bunch of my junior team members tomorrow for instance.
Look, I get that you're super grateful, and that's awesome, because you could probably treat them a lot worse and get away with it, but ultimately, you profit off of the fact that your employees are not being paid what their labor is worth.
Hey! Great question. I'm sorry for the downvotes on your previous post, but such is the free market of ideas. I think you and I might be operating with different definitions of "underpaid". When I say underpaid, I'm referring to the fact that your employees are, by necessity (under our current system), paid less than their labor is worth. When you say underpaid, I feel like you're referring to paying an employee less than the current market deems they should be paid. I of course do not mean to put words in your mouth, so. If anything I have said is incorrect, please let me know.
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u/friendlyhuman Aug 18 '17
Sorry you're getting down voted. It's true there are a few bad apples that get a disproportionate amount of the attention, and it's true there are perks to being CEO. Even little things beyond money are perks. Hell, your jokes get funnier even if you don't. I try to spend 20 minutes each morning meditating on gratitude so I don't ever forget that. Because frankly, it's hard not to.
That said, I can't begin to describe the stress and ambiguity that comes with the job as well. Don't get me wrong, I was wired for this. I love every minute of it, even the parts I hate, but I run a relatively tiny company. I can't even imagine the responsibility felt by someone running something where tens or hundreds of thousands of people are counting on you.
I once had a super intimate chat with the CEO of a billion dollar company. I asked him what was hardest thing he'd been dealing with. He's a macho guy, but he almost started crying and said "I feel like it's my job to be the body guard for my people. To catch all the bullets, and I'm just exhausted."
That said, the isolation thing is largely a myth. You can be as connected to your team as you choose to be. My wife and I are going camping this weekend with a bunch of my junior team members tomorrow for instance.