A heartwarming post caught my eye on LinkedIn yesterday. It’s a great reminder that we’re all human and I wanted to share it with you today.
CEO, Dr. Jerry Gule, shared that while on a business trip, he took the opportunity (‘short left’ – I love this South African phrase) to visit his Mom in Swaziland. He hadn’t seen them for a few months.
He captioned his post – CEOs are someone’s baby too.
You can read the post here.
What struck me about his post is the fact that sometimes people need to be reminded that CEOs are human too.
CEOs are often seen by their employees as powerful, having it all together, often super-clever, definitely in charge, and in control. People (employees) forget that CEOs (and managers) have many doubts, fears, and insecurities just like the rest of us.
Being in a leadership position comes with a certain amount of power and we must remember to use that power wisely – the power to get things done and make an impact rather than using that power over people. Unfortunately, this power is sometimes abused and that’s when people get confused and see their managers/CEOs as all-powerful beings that are in charge of much of how their lives and careers pan out.
I’ve seen people lose the ability to speak up when a person in a position of power walks into the room. I’ve also seen people too afraid to express their needs or differences of opinion to their managers. I’ve come across many employees on our programs that either put their CEOs on a pedestal (if they’re admired) or regard them as untouchable (if they’re not) – neither is a good thing. Employees sometimes forget that CEOs are people too and maybe the CEOs also forget.
Dr. Jerry’s post brought this point home poignantly. CEOs have mothers who they want to visit. They love their Moms and they’re loved back and they often want to be seen as regular people too.
The feeling of loneliness, when the responsibilities and stakes are high, can take its toll. Coming home to Mom can take care of that and allow you to feel normal, loved, and, grateful for life’s blessings.
Next time you’re worried about your CEO and what they may think or want from you, maybe it will help to remember that.
And if you are the CEO, it’s a wonderful thing to share your personal journey so that people can be reminded of your human-ness.
I’d love to hear if this article stirred up some thoughts for you?
If you’d like to talk about how to bring more human-ness into your business, click here and let’s have a conversation.