Kerching!

[Deleted member 16999]

It's stressful on the basis that at that level the company own you at all times. You are effectively on call every hour, every day. You are set constant targets by shareholders and they can be brutal if you don't meet them, whether your fault or not. I'm not shedding tears for these people, they know what they are getting into, they could leave if they wanted to and they are very well rewarded but you give over your life when you are in that position in a company.

Stress is different for everybody though, some will thrive on it.
Don’t think you can put a value on stress.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Stress is different for everybody though, some will thrive on it.
Don’t think you can put a value on stress.

Totally agree. You don't stay in that type of job unless you love work and work stress. I've read interviews of many succesful business people who are multi, multi millionaires and they are still working 16 hour days, 6 days a week. They live off that. I'm good friends with a bloke who has a brother who is CEO of a top 100 company. He works all hours, doesn't unwind on holiday, always on the phone when they are around but he doesn't need to do it anymore, he is financially sorted for life. He does it because he likes the buzz, as do all those types. People may live with it but it still does take years off your life, removes any genuine family life you think you may have, you pay a price.

I could not do it, okay I would do it for a year, take the money and then run . Sell your soul for one year to give you and your family financial security . Beyond that, no chance, I'd be a bag of nerves and have a breakdown. We need these people though, you need to be a special type to run these companies successfully.

 

[Hobbit]

Sorry.... from my experience. That's quite wrong. Unless you mean not stressful about "doing the do"..... the stress comes from the potential outcomes and implications of what you do. (see the mental health thread)

Even the "doing is stressful." One role I had was well within my skills set. In fact I used to get invited around the World to talk about it. But when you get a phone call at 1.00am demanding a set of slides and pack is done for 9.00am the following morning, that's stressful. Very stressful indeed.

Was I well paid? Yes very. Did it damage my health? Yes eventually. Was it worth it? Absolutely not.

No need to say sorry. We all react differently to different stimuli.

Isn't taking a call at 1am you letting the job control you rather than the other way round? And if your internal and external customers know you will take calls at that time and deliver on (unrealistic) expectations, what mindset are you creating in them? What quality of product can you deliver in 6 hours that would look a whole lot better if you had 2 days to produce it? Which competitor will deliver if your customer rings someone else at that time, and does that competitor have the widget you have?

20 years ago my Service Director would call me at 5pm, as he was clearing his desk for the day, asking for slides etc for a meeting that started at 9am the following morning. He got them for the first few occasions. After that he got told "no." Guess what, he started giving me more notice. Around that time, I could email him at 11-12pm and get a reply, and vice versa. We both stopped doing it.

Since then he got promoted, as did I(twice), and we sat across the table at monthly board meetings. Barring major crisis, e.g. Grenfell, our phones and laptops were business filters after 7pm. The company is hugely successful, even through some difficult times, and some of the processes I/we developed are now used globally.

We controlled our jobs. Did we have stressful times? Yes, occasionally, but no more so than at any level. Maybe some people react to different stresses differently but it was, after all, only a job.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Totally agree. You don't stay in that type of job unless you love work and work stress. I've read interviews of many succesful business people who are multi, multi millionaires and they are still working 16 hour days, 6 days a week. They live off that. I'm good friends with a bloke who has a brother who is CEO of a top 100 company. He works all hours, doesn't unwind on holiday, always on the phone when they are around but he doesn't need to do it anymore, he is financially sorted for life. He does it because he likes the buzz, as do all those types. People may live with it but it still does take years off your life, removes any genuine family life you think you may have, you pay a price.

I could not do it, okay I would do it for a year, take the money and then run . Sell your soul for one year to give you and your family financial security . Beyond that, no chance, I'd be a bag of nerves and have a breakdown. We need these people though, you need to be a special type to run these companies successfully.

I’ve no doubt these roles come with a lot of responsibilities etc, I’m more of the opinion “stress” is probably the wrong word to describe their job.
Stress, imo, can happen at any level or in any job, but I still believe a Copper being tasked to knock on a door and give a family bad news is on a level these CEO don’t have a clue about and the Copper is on a lot less money.

 

[Hobbit]

Totally agree. You don't stay in that type of job unless you love work and work stress. I've read interviews of many succesful business people who are multi, multi millionaires and they are still working 16 hour days, 6 days a week. They live off that. I'm good friends with a bloke who has a brother who is CEO of a top 100 company. He works all hours, doesn't unwind on holiday, always on the phone when they are around but he doesn't need to do it anymore, he is financially sorted for life. He does it because he likes the buzz, as do all those types. People may live with it but it still does take years off your life, removes any genuine family life you think you may have, you pay a price.

I could not do it, okay I would do it for a year, take the money and then run . Sell your soul for one year to give you and your family financial security . Beyond that, no chance, I'd be a bag of nerves and have a breakdown. We need these people though, you need to be a special type to run these companies successfully.

Sounds like my last MD. He's 65 now and still at the sharp end. He thrives on it, lives for it. We still speak often, and he still tries to tempt me. He can't understand how I've gone from being at the sharp end to being retired. He thought I was cast in the same mould. Absolutely loved chasing down the numbers, the million pound orders and delivering on them on time but it was never the B-all for me. It was a fabulous job, but only a job.

 

[Hobbit]

I’ve no doubt these roles come with a lot of responsibilities etc, I’m more of the opinion “stress” is probably the wrong word to describe their job.
Stress, imo, can happen at any level or in any job, but I still believe a Copper being tasked to knock on a door and give a family bad news is on a level these CEO don’t have a clue about and the Copper is on a lot less money.

Someone once told me that if you put a thoroughbred race horse with the donkeys on Redcar beach it would be stressed to hell, just as if you put a donkey in the stalls at Redcar race course it would be stressed to hell.

Some people live with what they can live with, sometimes feeling stress but not stressed. Some people can't cope with some things that they're asked to do. There's no shame in it, its just the way some people are.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Someone once told me that if you put a thoroughbred race horse with the donkeys on Redcar beach it would be stressed to hell, just as if you put a donkey in the stalls at Redcar race course it would be stressed to hell.

Some people live with what they can live with, sometimes feeling stress but not stressed. Some people can't cope with some things that they're asked to do. There's no shame in it, its just the way some people are.

As someone has said, these CEO’s work their way up, they are not suddenly plucked from the shop floor.

I have the utmost respect for them and they are obviously highly talented in their respective field, I just don’t accept the wage to stress level equation.

 

[Ye Olde Boomer]

We have the same situation here. Pay the execs whatever the shareholders will tolerate...after the workforce is fairly remunerated.

We have a bigger problem than you because our workers have to negotiate for healthcare benefits in addition to salaries. It's an absurd system, so terribly socially regressive compared to your world standard NHS.

 

[SocketRocket]

IMO no Employee is worth more than a million pounds a year whatever their job. Of course many are paid more but not because they earn it more to do with what others are paid.

Being a CEO of any reasonable sized company and especially a listed one is tough and carries responsibility and stresses, how the individual copes with this stress can vary but no matter how good you are it will be there. I found two strategies good for coping:

one was education, in my case I was basically an Engineer who had been promoted a number of times through technical ability but when suddenly moved into an executive role I suddenly felt inadequate when dealing with accountants, sales personnel and strategic issues. I decided to do an OU diploma in business management and then on to degree level, very time consuming and hard work on top of my job but it gave me the tools to cope with these issues.

The other was learning to delegate, it can be hard to let go of control but its imperative to do so otherwise you will be inviting everyone to put their monkeys on your back and one person can only carry so many.

I agree in most cases its something you have to plan the end game for, otherwise it can destroy people.