MANAGEMENT
Those who plant the flag of success at the summit, see from the top what others can only imagine. While the world looks beautiful down below, the mountaineer is simultaneously surrounded by the harrowing silence of ‘loneliness’. It is therefore no wonder that life at the top is lonely.
Akin to the mountain climber who reaches the zenith of his effort is the position of the CEO of any organisation. To the onlookers and the bystanders of the corporate ladder, the position appears enviable. The man at the pinnacle of the organisational hierarchy is seen to be the most powerful the undisputed king, monarch or the Royalty of the company. But is that true?
CEOs live in glass houses and are daily jogging on very thin ice. They are responsible and accountable for every single thing that happens or does not happen in their organisations. There is no escape and there are no trap doors either. The authority that gets vested in to the CEOs position has to be adequately mapped and matched to determine whether he is really all powerful or is he merely a puppet in the hands of the board, the staff, and above all the college of regulators, who he is supposed to keep calm and satisfied.
The CEO, irrespective of economic and market conditions is invariably held accountable and responsible for good or bad results. No blame can be apportioned to market dynamics, product features, competition or even the bad assembly of senior management that he may have collected or inherited.
From a distance the beauteous K-2 peaks represent challenge. They are inviting. They beckon. The human quest and pursuit to surmount the peaks beckons an impelling urge. Similarly, to the new graduate management trainee and all other staff, the position of the CEO carries the optical illusion that sitting at the summit makes the individual the most powerful, Mr Know all. The CEO is looked upon as the red glistening cherry on a mountain pile of various flavours of ice-cream.
Depending on the preference you either chew the cherry first and then get down to drowning the ice cream or you set it aside, and after finishing the ice cream crush the cherry in your jaws with a feeling of Eureka! The CEO’s position is no different than the cherry. Over time, the position becomes fodder for the many intriguing aspirants.
To be a great CEO, there is need to possess the heart to help if he wishes to criticise others. He must possess the ability to listen to those who contradict and not be ever ready to flee from truth. Believe in Homer’s saying: I am part of all that I have met.
In matters of style, the CEO can afford to swim with the tide, but in matters of principles, he has to stand as firm as the ‘Rock of Gibraltar’. The CEO cannot afford to succumb out of lack of courage to shake the tree of stagnancy for he would certainly miss out the plums. Regardless of failure or success, the need to be resolute, the courage to move on is the yardstick of a dynamic CEO. And such attitude takes him away from corporate solitude. The CEO can only light candles, but cannot curse darkness alone. A CEO in conversation must never sound accusatory. He is a server and subordinate to colleagues not their commander.
Some stalkers to the CEO position are not even aspirants to the job; they merely work towards corporate anarchy and seek a succession through the musical chairs mechanism, for which purpose they indulge into intrigue, back biting and pitiable politics, while simultaneously positioning themselves as the Siamese twin to the CEO in public
To overcome loneliness, an enlightened CEO will take heed of what Pearl S Buck had said, ‘The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.’
Following this thought, therefore is the need for seeking crucial negative feedback- can a CEO expect from his colleagues a fair and true, feedback? It is a challenging aspect. Do people really reciprocate with honesty when given a chance to evaluate you, as the CEO? The answer is no. what emerges from such exercises is a piece meal objectivity; every criticism is laced immediately with praise and adulation both implied and explicit.
Being a recipient to uncalled for praise, the CEO gets tired in his quest of obtaining good counsel from colleagues. Exasperated of lack of positive help, the CEO is most likely to slide with positive responses towards the crowd that chants in unison, ‘yes sir, three bags full.’ Some captions of various cartoons I have seen explain beautifully this dilemma. The CEO on the intercom to his secretary can make quips like, ‘Miss Clarence,’ send in my flunkies’, ‘send in a yes man,’ or ‘Miss Gloria send in the company optimist.’ Or even more blatant exasperation, ‘Miss Woolfe, send in my aura of success.’
Sometimes confiding in colleagues also back fires badly. The recipient to confidential knowledge takes upon himself the task of being the CBO, Chief Broadcast Officer. When an incident like this happens, the CEO returns back into his cocoon. I have witnessed a CEO admit, “Forgive me gentlemen, I now realise that by telling the truth, I inadvertently confused the issue.” The deduction is that it is tough to be honest, truthful and precise. In such situations the CEO becomes a hermit, or else he can only dine when the waiter offers the CEO menu that consists of valium, a mega vitamin, an ulcer pill and a bone to grind your teeth on.
The CEO has to possess inexhaustible reserves of patience. He must learn to plant, toil and wait. All CEOs are invariably surrounded by the Et tu Brute clan – waiting to hit, where it hurts at the most opportune time. No CEO should forsake the thought that success gives you more enemies and very few (if lucky) friends. Some stalkers to the CEO position are not even aspirants to the job; they merely work towards corporate anarchy and seek a succession through the musical chairs mechanism, for which purpose they indulge into intrigue, back biting and pitiable politics, while simultaneously positioning themselves as the Siamese twin to the CEO in public.
It has been a personal experience to be back stabbed by a person who I looked at as a thorough gentleman and later learnt the hard way that he was vying for my position for well over two years- both were consistent, he in his vile and diabolical corporate machinations to undo me and my living in a false world that all men are good. But that wasn’t to be!
A CEO can never be lonely if he is fortunate to have around those that have mastered the knowledge that ‘sycophancy is the art of ingratiation through simulation of self.’ Sycophants have very little knowledge about their own selves and even lesser of their bosses. If and when surrounded by sycophants, the fragile boss conjures a great misperception about self-achievements.
Since sycophants never disagree with the bosses; the boss believes he is ‘always’ ‘right’ and succumbs to this false perception. Subordinates, in such cultural environment, give what the boss likes to hear, confirming to the boss how infallible he is; how indispensible he is; how good he is; and so on.
Life at the top will always remain lonely for those who are principled. For the unenlightened, it is the party on the Himalayas. Enjoy the view till it lasts, but keep checking how deep the fall is!
The writer is a senior banker and freelance columnist
