Initially wrote this way back in ‘14-’15 region, but … sadly, it still resonates.
Before we begin fully, two quick stories:
1. I went to a meeting on Friday for my current job; ’twas lunch with the CEO of the company. There were probably 11 of us there, a mix of newer employees (I was the newest) and some 10–12 year veterans of the company. It was overall pretty informative and illuminating, insofar as any structured lunch with a powerful person can be, but one interesting nugget that came up is when he talked about trying to align his direct reports (the SVP level of the company). They used a consultant, and one of the first exercises involved his direct team having to say one thing he does that doesn’t help the business at all (and/or hurts the business). As you’d predict, they were somewhat scared to do this.
2. That consulting company’s leader gave a speech in Vegas in August that I saw. He told a similar story: he consulted with a Fortune 40 company, and he had the CEO’s direct reports fill out surveys about the pros and cons of the company’s leadership model. Then he got the CEO and his direct reports in a room and read some of the comments. Initially, the CEO said something like “Who said that one?” and no one took credit, even though the only possible people that could have written it were in…
