I can tell you a little bit about a CEO for whom I once worked. I had a pretty interesting perspective.
He was the chairman for a corporation, Forbes’ top ten. He had four major hobbies: cigars, wine, modern art, and especially cars. Fast cars, which I was hired to keep as clean as possible at all times. (I called myself a “stable boy.”) He used to like to come putter around the garage in his spare time, which was about ten to fifteen minutes a week, tops.
I have met a lot of very intelligent people in my time, but nobody else could hold a candle to this guy. He was conversant in any subject (including all the ones that I’m familiar with). I used to try to dangle obscure topics in front of him just to see if he’d ever wave off. He never did. Not only was he familiar with just about everything, he was expert in many topics. The only subject which I felt I might have had an edge on him was military history, my major in college. He was fluent in at least one other language and I suspect a few others as well.
He was a stern, abrupt, compulsive character, and it took a year to draw him out enough so that he would speak more than a few sentences to me (that’s when I began to learn just how scary smart this guy was). Nobody felt like they really knew him–he was just too complicated. I also took care of the automobiles of the other higher-ups, and oftentimes we would compare notes about the guy. Two things were universally agreed upon: 1) the guy was a genius of the highest order; and 2) he knew how to do everyone’s job.
He knew how to detail cars as well as I did. He knew all the chemistry behind the manufacture of lubricants. The CFO supposedly deferred to him. And he was not shy at all about controlling the actions of literally dozens of people, maybe hundreds, personally, all the way down to me. There were seven levels of management between his office and my workbench. Yet there was no question that I worked for him, and him alone. I was by no means unique, although my job and my status was.
It was commonly known that this guy would call up middle managers on the far side of the world, unannounced, to ask specific questions about that person’s job and the particular problems they were having. It seemed like he knew every employee’s name, their marital status, and their job description. He seems to have loved dropping in unexpectedly into people’s offices, even far away factories. Many people complained that it was completely unsettling to have this fellow wander into, say, the advertising department and start making recommendations about the print quality of the magazine ads. He worked his ass off, but only about ten or eleven hours a day. I don’t think the guy needed to sleep very much either. He was genuinely contemptuous of the fact that I couldn’t consistently make it into the office at six a.m. every day and still be working when he left at five that evening.
His temper was the stuff of which legends are made. Nobody who met his wrath would risk invoking it again.
Honestly, I don’t think I’m a dumb guy, or incompetent, or a slacker, but this dude was like some sort of freaking alien. And on top of it all, he was a pretty nice guy who really cared about people. But damn, am I ever glad I don’t work for him anymore.
. But seriously I don’t think he does that. I think he maybe hires a CFO to overlook the capitol, a COO to look over the product lines, and personel Mananger to look over the employees. Then he could check with them periodically to make sure they are doing their jobs. So Yes I think he could still have to post on the SDMB and chase secretaries? 