David Cummings on Startups

CEOs are Treated Differently

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David Cummings

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Several years ago we had an employee that wasn’t working out. Team members kept coming to me and lamenting that this person wasn’t getting things done and didn’t meet our culture standards (positive, self-starting, and supportive). Only, in my interactions with him everything was great, he did quality work for the tasks I asked of him, and appeared to meet the values. Then, it dawned on me: I was being treated differently since I was the CEO.

Here are a few thoughts on being treated differently as a CEO:

  • Ideally, the culture will be strong enough to weed out people that aren’t a good fit, regardless if they change their style around the CEO
  • CEOs can be their own worst enemy by making requests to team members that aren’t direct reports and confusing organizational priorities
  • If team members never push back on the CEO’s decisions and recommendations, the culture lacks the healthy debates required for a successful business
  • When a CEO notices they are being treated differently, it’s important to acknowledge it and talk about why it’s important to have consistency with how people are treated

CEOs are treated differently, but healthy cultures actively discourage it and encourage team members to treat everyone the same.

What else? What are some other thoughts on CEOs being treated differently?

Comments

2 responses to “CEOs are Treated Differently”

  1. u14010250 Avatar
    u14010250

    it is true, being in a “CEO” position one seems to be treated with much more respect and has people always trying to please them, that the way world works. in my opinion it would be difficult to change people perspective of treating a CEO as a team member if the CEO themselves don’t partake with the teams, like checking on them, getting consistent feedback etc. thus improving “healthy cultures” in an organizations

    Reply
  2. Sharon B Avatar
    Sharon B

    The issue of managers, at all levels and especially the CEO/founder/owner bypassing the command chain and making direct requests is indeed a problem. Such issue exists also with other positions, where a higher manager is making specific requests from team members that are not reporting directly to him. I had the opportunity to be a middle-layer manager as well as an officer reporting directly to the CEO in large and small companies. I always encourage direct communications between all levels at the company, however emphasized that requests, actions items and others “orders” will be made by absorbing the chain of command.

    Reply

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