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Ending the cult of the CEO

managementtoday.co.uk

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Re: Ending the cult of the CEO

#71

Post by mschuster91 »

trendia wrote: post #37
knieveltech wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Translation: why don't many normal people have trust funds, expensive educations, the disposable income and lack of financial responsibilities to be able to work for free for extended periods of time, friends in industry, investor class connections, or some combination of all of the above plus a shitload of luck.

If those things are required, then why do so many immigrants become entrepreneurs?

Spoken from a German POV, it's quite simple: racism. When you're an immigrant and no one wants to hire you because you have a non-German family name (illegal in theory, hard to enforce in practice!), you have four options: be stuck in low-level menial work for the rest of your life, rely on food stamps/government assistance ("Hartz IV" in Germany), turn into crime life or start a small company (costs ~ 50€ or such for a fully-liable company, and for a sorta-limited company "UG" a bit more).

Also, immigrants usually do not carry cultural dead weight - once again I refer to Germany. Starting a company is not really popular here, as you will be socially shunned if you fail (even if you not end up bankrupt in the process, but that's another can of worms). Germans are risk-averse to the extreme, immigrants usually not.

Re: Ending the cult of the CEO

#72

Post by JoeCortopassi »

Reasons why CEO's make millions and I don't:

- Business Network: If I had a billion dollars, I would never have been able to acquire Instagram. I wouldn't even be able to get a seat at the table. Zuckerberg closed it in record time while talking to a company that wanted to be on it's own

- Market Knowledge: I thought the iPad was the stupidest device ever, Steve Jobs didn't. I now have 4 at my house along with two of those stupid iWatches (actually they're pretty nice)

- Portfolio: Marissa Mayer wasn't paid what she was paid because the board expected her to perform well, she was paid her salary (and golden parachute) because the company was dying and they had no idea what to do. Mayer had an idea of something that might work, but why on earth would she risk her awesome résumé with taking on the risk of a company on it's last leg?

- Access: If my daughter has a birthday, I can schedule an early day to be home and celebrate with the family. When Steve Jobs came down with cancer, he was required to disclose his medical details publicly because of the fiscal impact it could have on the public stock

- Job Market: I'm a programmer. There are jobs everywhere for me. If the CEO of Uber loses his job (fingers crossed), it might be a looong time before he finds a new one and even then it's not likely to be remotely similar to what he does now. I mean shoot everyone loves Gabe Newell, but if he lost his job, what are his options? Not as many as me.

Look, I'm not saying that some CEO's pay isn't exaggerated. I'm just saying that I'm not worth nearly as much as a talented CEO. If the company your 401k/pension was invested in hired me as CEO, you better believe you'd grab your pitchfork.

Re: Ending the cult of the CEO

#73

Post by CountSessine »

JoeCortopassi wrote: post #72

Reasons why CEO's make millions and I don't: - Business Network: If I had a billion dollars, I would never have been able to acquire Instagram. I wouldn't even be able to get a seat at the table. Zuckerberg closed it in record time while talking to a company that wanted to be on it's own - Market Knowledge: I thought the iPad was the stupidest device ever, Steve Jobs didn't. I now have 4 at my house along with two of…

The Marissa Mayer one is the one that really stands out to me. A lot of people seem to think that she was brought in to save Yahoo; no one on the inside was thinking that. Everyone understood that Yahoo was hopeless and they were headed for a sudden collapse. Mayer was brought in to rescue whatever shareholder value she could and as long as shareholders got something back they would be willing to split some of it with her.

Re: Ending the cult of the CEO

#74

Post by WalterBright »

knieveltech wrote: post #23
hkmurakami wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. But I'd want to see a world where headlines like "Entrepreneurs are just rich kids" cease to be, because that headline is only created when entrepreneurship is put on a pedestal and is seen as something that is inherently superior to everything else. People wouldn't feel indignant that it is "unfair that rich kids have an advantage" at the entrepreneurship game (which they absolutely do), if entrepreneurship we…

I'm pretty sure people are going to continue to be pissed off about some lucky assholes winning the birth lottery and cashing in their ticket to further profit off the labor of others less fortunate regardless of what kind of media spin you try to put on it.

What do you attribute the success of Bruno Mars too?

Re: Ending the cult of the CEO

#75

Post by Melk »

dahart wrote: post #61

> This focus has a devastating impact on the lives of CEOs... Leaders deserve to be happy too... solving the problems starts with communication... we need to wage war on this picture A whole article about how hard CEOs have it, and not a single mention of CEO pay or the ongoing efforts to even get reporting of CEO pay ratios? I mean I agree that CEOs get a ridiculous amount of stress and an unfair share of credit and…

Pretty funny isn't it. Seeing the cult of the CEO in an article about the cult of the CEO. Cultural changes always need time.

Re: Ending the cult of the CEO

#76

Post by Melk »

dahart wrote: post #61

> This focus has a devastating impact on the lives of CEOs... Leaders deserve to be happy too... solving the problems starts with communication... we need to wage war on this picture A whole article about how hard CEOs have it, and not a single mention of CEO pay or the ongoing efforts to even get reporting of CEO pay ratios? I mean I agree that CEOs get a ridiculous amount of stress and an unfair share of credit and…

Pretty funny isn't it. Seeing the cult of the CEO in an article about the cult of the CEO. Cultural changes always need time.

Re: Ending the cult of the CEO

#77

Post by Retric »

maxxxxx wrote: post #6
hkmurakami wrote: post #3

I really hope that we can end the cult of the entrepreneur as well. It's not some special thing to incorporate and start a company, and it's not inherently superior to any other line of work.

And let's stop talking of "job creators" while we are at it.

I also find it funny that people get wealthy by destroying jobs not creating them.

Re: Ending the cult of the CEO

#78

Post by lacampbell »

trendia wrote: post #37
knieveltech wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Translation: why don't many normal people have trust funds, expensive educations, the disposable income and lack of financial responsibilities to be able to work for free for extended periods of time, friends in industry, investor class connections, or some combination of all of the above plus a shitload of luck.

If those things are required, then why do so many immigrants become entrepreneurs?

Aren't most immigrants to first world countries relatively well off? Relocating to a place with higher cost of living isn't cheap.

Most of the people from poor countries I've known in NZ had domestic help and owned property back home.

Re: Ending the cult of the CEO

#79

Post by lacampbell »

knieveltech wrote: post #26
jimbeam77 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The economy doesn't 'support' business owners - business owners (and their customers and employees) are the economy.

That business owners are floated on the backs of their employees seems pretty obvious.

Yes, you're generally either an employer or an employee in a modern economy. Is this news to anyone?

Re: Ending the cult of the CEO

#80

Post by cosinetau »

I'm guessing a possible resolution is to disseminate the responsibility that a CEO holds.

I've never been at that level of management, but it appears that other players (inside and out of an org) require a single point-of-contact, or ultimate authority. I think this might be better, simply because 1:1 relationships are easier to coordinate than 1:n (chair and council), or n:m (council and lieutenants), which dissemination might bring.

My counter question is: where would the buck stop?

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