I’ve always worked in the public policy arena, so my capo di tutti capi has always either been someone I know well or someone who tends to make it on the front page of the newspaper on a regular basis. I have always known a lot about my ultimate boss.
For you folks who work in the real world and not Washington, DC, most likely for a larger type of company, publicly or privately held, how much do you know about the guy who owns/runs that business? Do you know what s/he looks like? Do you know where (generally) he lives or what car he drives? How much he’s worth? Whether he’s a great guy or a douchebag? Who he’s married to? Know any embarrassing stories of college exploits? No clue and don’t really care? I’m very curious.
The questions are inspired by this thread, and more specifically this redonkulous photo, which made me question how this gentleman’s employees must regard him if they know anything about him.
At the end of the day, I think most average (read, down the totem-pole) workers care mostly about getting treated fairly, and paid well, and not much else about the huge corporation for which they work.
I once worked for Perot Systems. I was handed a copy of a book about H. Ross on my first day. That was … odd. Since it was the late 90s, I felt like I already knew plenty about Perot. Never read the book.
I now work for a company with 9 employees and report directly to the founder/principal. I know plenty about her.
My last two jobs (making up 15+ years) have been for small businesses where I worked with and knew the owner/president. My last private sector job with a CEO was working for Frank’s Nursery & Crafts in the 80’s and early 90’s as a retail wage slave where we had no idea or interest in our CEO. The highest our awareness went was watching out for district manager visits.
I work for a small company, the CEO of which is currently going into a divorce. the woman I work most closely with is who he is divorcing.
I know a lot, much more than I should. I also have lost all kinds of confidence in his ability based on the decisions/actions he is making in his personal life. it’s awkward, too.
I don’t know a lot. I’ve met her a couple of times, and she is wonderfully nice and polite as she should be. I know (and i think) she makes a ridiculous amount of money. Nowhere on par with other CEOs but come on, this is a not for profit. If she would cut down her salary a bit the rest of us could have a little more, and I honestly don’t see that she deserves that much money.
That’s…about it. I don’t exactly travel in her circles.
Back when I worked it was for a small startup of 40, and eventually 17, people. It had offices in two cities, one for corporate and one for the peons (that was me) so we didn’t see the CEO every day but we did see him two or three times a year.
So we knew what was on his CV, we knew how he bantered, we knew how he ran meetings, we knew he was sleeping with his secretary, and because stole some company time to do a web search on him I found information on the internet about where his house was (on a golf course in a tony suburb) and how much it cost (about four times as much as mine).
I know him pretty well, we’re on a first-name basis. I report to a guy who reports to him. There are about 800 employees of our company, domestic and international. We’re publicly traded. I see the CEO and his wife at our annual holiday party (I work in a satellite office from the HQ) and he and his wife always find time to come over to my table and chat with me and my wife for a few minutes. A couple times a year I go to HQ for a couple days and I can stick my head in his office to say hi. He’s a great guy.
I’ve known her for a very, very long time. I know where she was born, her favorite foods, her pet peeves, how much she makes, what her house looks like…
Not much. I’ve met her, and she seems very nice. I don’t know her marital status, but I’m assuming she’s married. A quick Google search shows where she went to school (Cornell and Harvard), and that she majored in cardiovascular biology.
I work for a fairly large, well-known company with a CEO who is also pretty well-known. Most of what I know about him is public information, but because I’ve worked here since we were still a small company I do know him a bit. He’s a really nice guy with good values as far as I can tell.
I work for a medium-sized public company. I know nothing at all about my CEO. I barely even know his name.
I work in a tiny branch office of one of the smaller divisions of the company. This office is in the Bay Area. The main office of this division is in Southern California. I deal with the people there a lot, and I know the head of this division a little bit. The headquarters of the company as a whole are on the East Coast however, and I don’t know a single person there.
The last few years I’ve done contract work for Swiss and French pharmaceuticals. I can’t name the CEO of either one. Probably because I don’t get all the corporate missives that the perms do.
I work for a publicly traded, Fortune-250 company with close to 100,000 employees. I don’t know the CEO personally, but I’ve heard him speak many times and have seen him in the cafeteria and elevator. He seems like a pretty nice guy, and he certainly knows the business. Because we’re a public company, his compensation is public so I know more or less his salary and other compensation. I know what suburb he lives in but I don’t know what his house is like or what kind of car he drives.
A few months ago at a company “town hall” he did go off on a tangent about he deserves to be in the 1% because of how hard he works. I was a little annoyed at the political jab but I don’t begrudge his wealth. He’s really led the company to a lot of success since he joined us so good for him.
CEO at my most recent gig was a total jackass. CEO before that, also total jackass, except this jackass insisted on having his airbrushed face on pretty much all of our company’s communications. Jesus, you’re not CEO because you’re pretty. Please try to keep your mug shot off of everything.