Leadership Excess – It's all about me

How does the man at the top of the corporate ladder stay in touch with the man at the bottom? It’s a good question. But actually I have a better one: “How does the man at the top of the corporate ladder ‘give the impression’ that he is in touch with the man at the bottom?”

I raise this as a more pertinent question as the higher up the ladder you go the reality is the harder it gets to really connect, because you are different, you have achieved more, you do have a better car, a nicer house…..you have in the eyes of anyone who hasn’t achieved as much as you…..done better (regardless of your own humility).

But once on the board or at an executive level, you are also lumped into the barrel with the executives that live in a world of excess. Abercrombie & Fitch for example have paid their CEO Mike Jeffries an extra $4 million to….now wait for it…….to reduce his travel of the company jet for personal use. It turns out that Jefferies in 2008 ran up a $1.1 billion bill for the use of the jet, to be honest I earn a reasonable salary and that’s one heck of a disconnect from the ordinary man on the street.

As an executive coach I often come across the senior manager who is talking about his new car, the holiday in Bermuda or the holiday home to someone who frankly is struggling to pay a mortgage. The executive will say they are ‘just being authentic’, which I applaud, my caveat is that there may be something about the a certain ‘sensitivity’ that one might want to bring into play.

So as I said this isn’t just about staying connected, it’s giving the impression that you are.

• Be sensitive to the reality of others
• Remember your every day is another’s ‘never going to happen day’