7 ms·

That's funny when you said that a CEO reads the body language of programmers. CEOs and high executives don't even bother looking at you!

garciasn 20d ago
I worked at a 10,000 person company ~15y ago. I was a lowly employee at the time; just a run of the mill Research Analyst writing code in SAS. I got on the elevator w/the CEO, said hello, and he knew exactly who I was and what I did. Two important grounding items for me when I went into management and my career accelerated: 1. Take the worst boss I ever had (coincidentally at the same company) and make sure that I do the exact opposite of everything they did when leading others. 2. Mirror the actions of that CEO and make sure I remember every single person and what they did; it leaves a lasting impression on people.
- Marsymars 19d ago
  > 2. Mirror the actions of that CEO and make sure I remember every single person and what they did; it leaves a lasting impression on people. I had a physics prof ~20 years ago who made a point of memorizing the names of every one of his intro physics students by the second week.
- folkrav 18d ago
  How many CEOs actually do this? Can't say I've ever met one example of this outside startups.
jermaustin1 20d ago
I know this is mostly true at huge companies, but having spent my career at various "small" corporations, with maybe a few thousand employees total (and only ~50 of which were in IT). I was always surprised when the CEO knew names of people like me, the lowly developer 5 layers below them on the org chart, but beyond that, remembered the last conversation we had, or an interest we might have shared (golf, hiking, travel, etc.). Even as a temporary consultant, at a company for only a couple of months, I remember seeing the CEO walk the hallway, greeting every single person on the way between a meeting room and the bathroom. I can barely remember my family member's names, or the last thing we talked about, let alone have the memory space for all that information to seem kind and courteous to "low level" employees. In my entire career, I've never worked at a behemoth-sized company, though, so my experience has been much more "intimate" environments, and primarily in consulting firms or satellite offices away from the main HQ (even by only a couple blocks some times). So everyone in the office knew each other.
malux85 20d ago
No I didnt, I said "A good CEO" you missed the GOOD qualifier, and then immediately described a bad CEO
- coliveira 20d ago
  A good CEO according to the market, which is what counts in the US, is one that drives up the valuation of a company and increases profit in a mature company. It has nothing to do with personal interaction as most of us would prefer.
  - malux85 20d ago
    Well then you and I differ - I certainly dont turn to the market to define what is good, I guess thats what happens when you worship money, or are operating on the engineers fallacy where you ignore things that are hard to quantify numerically (e.g. empathy)

garciasn 20d ago

I worked at a 10,000 person company ~15y ago. I was a lowly employee at the time; just a run of the mill Research Analyst writing code in SAS. I got on the elevator w/the CEO, said hello, and he knew exactly who I was and what I did. Two important grounding items for me when I went into management and my career accelerated: 1. Take the worst boss I ever had (coincidentally at the same company) and make sure that I do the exact opposite of everything they did when leading others. 2. Mirror the actions of that CEO and make sure I remember every single person and what they did; it leaves a lasting impression on people.

Marsymars 19d ago
> 2. Mirror the actions of that CEO and make sure I remember every single person and what they did; it leaves a lasting impression on people. I had a physics prof ~20 years ago who made a point of memorizing the names of every one of his intro physics students by the second week.
folkrav 18d ago
How many CEOs actually do this? Can't say I've ever met one example of this outside startups.

jermaustin1 20d ago

I know this is mostly true at huge companies, but having spent my career at various "small" corporations, with maybe a few thousand employees total (and only ~50 of which were in IT). I was always surprised when the CEO knew names of people like me, the lowly developer 5 layers below them on the org chart, but beyond that, remembered the last conversation we had, or an interest we might have shared (golf, hiking, travel, etc.). Even as a temporary consultant, at a company for only a couple of months, I remember seeing the CEO walk the hallway, greeting every single person on the way between a meeting room and the bathroom. I can barely remember my family member's names, or the last thing we talked about, let alone have the memory space for all that information to seem kind and courteous to "low level" employees. In my entire career, I've never worked at a behemoth-sized company, though, so my experience has been much more "intimate" environments, and primarily in consulting firms or satellite offices away from the main HQ (even by only a couple blocks some times). So everyone in the office knew each other.

malux85 20d ago

No I didnt, I said "A good CEO" you missed the GOOD qualifier, and then immediately described a bad CEO

coliveira 20d ago
A good CEO according to the market, which is what counts in the US, is one that drives up the valuation of a company and increases profit in a mature company. It has nothing to do with personal interaction as most of us would prefer.
- malux85 20d ago
  Well then you and I differ - I certainly dont turn to the market to define what is good, I guess thats what happens when you worship money, or are operating on the engineers fallacy where you ignore things that are hard to quantify numerically (e.g. empathy)