I think the author meant "leader" when he wrote "CEO". CEO is a broader term that englobes many other aspects apart from leadership only.
Leader is for me the correct definition of the title.
Making Yourself a CEO
31–36 of 36 posts
Re: Making Yourself a CEO
#32"More senior executives will recognize the shit sandwich immediately and it will have an instant negative effect." Why would it have a negative effect? Even when you realize people are just being polite, most people still appreciate it, no?
The shit sandwich is a tool used because you feel the person isn't capable of handling direct criticism. When using the shit sandwich on a senior report, you are implicitly stating that you don't believe they can handle direct criticism.
I'm not in a senior position and I HATE getting the shit sandwich, it's irritating and insulting. Most of my coworkers (in various positions of seniority) also hate it.
I wouldn't use it period, unless you know for certain the specific person cannot handle criticism.
Re: Making Yourself a CEO
#33The best book I have read [out of probably 100+] on management is "The Effective Executive" by Drucker.
The book is pretty thin and was written mid-last century but still holds it's value versus all else we have now.
In addition to providing a framework and mindset on how to become an effective executive, the book also explains why/how it's possible to have shitty people be great CEOs and vice versa - because being effective has nothing to do with personal qualities [nice, kind, mean, etc].
I recommend reading this book to anyone who would like to become a better executive or who would like to better understand the other side of truth.
Re: Making Yourself a CEO
#34This reminds me of the first time I fired someone. I spent probably a week mentally planning how to do it--thought about how the conversation would go in the car, in the shower, before I went to sleep. The guy had a wife and kids and I was getting ready to put him in the unemployment line. I felt especially guilty because he shouldn't have been hired in the first place; we were desperate at the time. That was a mista…
I will always be thankful to a former boss of mine, who took the lead on firing a developer that just wasn't up to scratch, and asked me to be present when it happened. He kept it very, very short- the rationale being that if someone is expecting it, then they know the reasons why. If they aren't expecting it, then the shock means they're unlikely to listen to anything else you tell them anyway. If they want feedback…
>He kept it very, very short- the rationale being that if someone is expecting it, then they know the reasons why. If they aren't expecting it, then the shock means they're unlikely to listen to anything else you tell them anyway.
Respectfully, I think this is completely wrong.
People are feedback devices. They react to anything and everything. In different ways, some more than others, but they are not a machine.
What I mean, is that from the day you start working with someone, until the day after which you never see them again, there should be continuous feedback, just from being human.
This is not some contract you have with a faceless corporation!
I would never work at a workplace that can be described in the terms you've just stated, and frankly I think most goood employees wouldn't either.
Re: Making Yourself a CEO
#35Are these real CEOs or idealized CEOs? I've worked for CEOs who were horrible people and yet extremely successful (ie: running profitable businesses and having repeat success). Sadly, the nice CEOs I've had were failures building companies. From my observation, the quality that defines a CEO is that they are oblivious to their own faults and the feelings of others. They are like bad dancers with confidence. They have…
I don't think it's that CEOs must be "bad people" (for want of a better description) to succeed.
I think it's more than CEOs have to be able to upset people to get the result they want. It also helps if that result is beneficial to themselves or the company.
Re: Making Yourself a CEO
#36How are the skills he's describing any different from being a parent or a teacher?