better business blog

Tips and stories to add value to you and your organisation

Caring For The CEO

11 December 2016

Senior Managers are people too! I say this, because it is all too easy to focus on our own issues and think that ‘it’s ok at the top, they get an easy ride, with long lunches and no pressure’ …oh if only that was the case.

Most employees get to go home at the end of the day and can switch off and put their work to bed until tomorrow. A CEO however always carries a heavy burden of responsibility, because they are responsible for the whole organisation. They have the same amount of time in the day as everyone else and they have to make sure the organisation is heading in the right direction, keep within legal boundaries, network with key stakeholders, review and set strategy and make sure they are effectively delegating tasks to well trained and well motivated senior management.

It’s too easy for people to grumble that a CEO earns a huge salary …but they have a lot of responsibility and if they mess it up then it’s likely the board will ensure their rapid defenestration.

I’m sure that some CEOs are vastly overpaid and deserve to have a smaller package, but that doesn’t apply to all CEOs. Interestingly, if you look at the John Lewis Formula (where the CEO earns a multiple of the lowest salary) then CEOs in banks are actually underpaid, given the high average salaries paid in banks. I’m not here suggesting bankers should earn more, far from it, I’m just pointing out that CEO salaries are more complex than the press would have us think.

So why take care of them? Well, they are human too and have worries and kids and mortgages like the rest of us. We can do a great job of our job, spend less time grumbling and more time trying to improve processes and so help the whole organisation to develop.

We can remember that in essence we are also our own CEO, we are our own little business unit, whether we sell our time on a PAYE or freelance basis. We need to take care of ourselves, get enough sleep, eat well, network with stakeholders and think about our productivity, communication skills and PR.

And why bother with PR? Find out next week…

This week take a moment to remember that we are all important and we can look after ourselves at work and so help those who are helping us to stay in work.

Next week: Personal PR for Winners