CEOs Who Invite Email From All Employees

Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes "Cinergy Corp. CEO James E. Rogers, who at 11 one evening was reading email from employees at home while nursing a vodka, is the norm, not the exception at major U.S. companies, the Wall Street Journal reports. 'Advocates say such a policy is a powerful leadership tool that can nip crises in the bud, boost morale, uncover new ideas, and cut through corporate red tape. In the post-Enron era of CEO accountability, reading employee email helps the boss appear hands-on and accessible. But reading and replying to dozens of employee messages each day takes time that could be spent doing something else. Skeptics say the practice distracts CEOs from more-pressing work -- and extends already long workdays.' Of course, portable email devices have made it easier to sift through dozens or hundreds of employee messages each day. While being driven to meetings, Pfizer's CEO says, 'I don't look out the window. I use my BlackBerry and answer my email.'"

Re:Irony

[omgpotatoes]

That made me laugh out loud. Nice! :-)

ceo pay

[gizmo_mathboy]

Unless you're management that number is closer to 400 times your salary. At least it's the righr order of magnitude.

Re:An honest question...

[ScentCone]

I guess I'm asking what, exactly, a CEO should be doing instead of reading employee email?

Spending hundreds of hours with accounting and legal teams dealing with mergers and acquisitions. Spending hundreds of hours making sure the right regional/departmental people are plugged into the right management jobs. Spending hundreds of hours being a face to investors (including institutional investors that can end up owning large portions of the company, and impact the stock price dramatically if they get the wrong idea about where the company's headed). That sort of thing. Doesn't mean there's no value is reading (wisely written/sent) employee e-mail, but thre are other duties - some of which actually are important to the future (and current) health of a thriving/growing company.

Re:Irony

[Surt]

Since I'm banned from moderation, a round of applause. Funniest comment I've read in a month.

Re:Irony

[Anonymous Coward]

Note to mods: exactly how is the parent comment "informative"???

Re:What do CEOs actually DO?

[Zevon 2000]

Generic-Man is right on. At most really large corporations, a CEO will spend 70-90% of his time in meetings. Often his presence is primarily to do with appearances. It's like having the King present--everyone is on their best behavior, does their best work, and considers the project that much more important. The CEO showing up at an employee's event gives that event credibility in the mind of the employees, and it validates his work.

The CEO is generally one smart dude, but he by no means has to be the smartest. In a large corporation it's just physically impossible for him (or her) to know everything that's going on. He just needs to be able to guide the ship, motivate employees, inspire confidence in clients and investors, and make the occassional high level decision with input from his staff.