CEO Interrogation

So this week and next week are officially shot when it comes to the gym. I have meetings coming out of my ass until August 17th. Tues night was the Social Committee meeting...that was fun. Two and a half hours of shooting Ed down for all his dumb suggestions, and him not taking no for an answer until you said it three times. Last night was the first Professional Development Committee meeting, and it went rather well I think. We went over the two hour time limit, but not due to lack of progress. We're trying to line up Howard Lance, CEO of Harris Corp., to speak at the next CEO Chat in October. If we get him, I think it will be fantastic, but what would be even better is if we get him to answer the really tough questions that noone likes to touch. I've spent all morning compiling a list of questions that I am particularly interested in hearing Howard's take on:

On being a CEO
1. What is a typical day like for you?
2. How many hours/days of the week do you work? Work weekends?
3. How often do you have to travel? How long are you away?
4. What was your motivating factor to becoming CEO? Money? Power? Respect?
5. What is the toughest decision you have had to make as a CEO?
6. Is being a CEO everything you thought it would be?
7. Where do you go from here? Retirement?

Concerning after hours
1. Are you constantly in CEO mode, or do play other roles in your life…ie. is it easy to “turn it off”?
2. How do you wind down after a tough day at the office?
3. Do you have time for extracurricular activities? Bowling League? Professional Organizations? Volunteering? Church Choir? Just watching TV?
4. As a CEO, can you really take a 2 week vacation with the family and just relax?

Concerning Promotions
1. What was the “bottom rung” on your corporate ladder?
2. How did you get your first promotion?
A. If had to ask for it, then how did you go about that?
B. If approached, was it because of performance? Time at the company? A position needed to be filled and you were “next in line”?
3. How many promotions did you go through to get to where you are today, and how many years did that take?
4. What do you think is the most important action a yp can take to ensure that he/she will get that promotion?
5. Is there any truth to the “claw your way to the top” saying?
A. Have you had to do anything you are not proud of to gain that extra edge?
B. Have you lost friendships/partnerships due to competition?
6. I want to be CEO of a company…what’s my first step?
7. Is it all about who you know?

Concerning Management
1. How easy/hard was it the first time you had to fire someone?
2. What’s the proper way to manage a team of diverse people?
3. How difficult is it to acquire qualified people to work for you? To retain them?

Concerning Education
1. How important do you think a college education is to becoming a CEO?
2. Is it necessary to have a management degree to be CEO?
3. Is there anything you learned in school that has been particularly helpful to being CEO?
4. Did you read Management/Success books, or take training courses in your spare time to gain the upper hand, or are theses a waste of time?
5. Do you value real-world experience over textbook knowledge?

Concerning Family
1. Do you feel you can “have it all”, the great family and the demanding career?
A. If so, what advice would you give to make it all work?
B. If not, what kind of things do you have to sacrifice?
2. How many children do you have?
A. If no children, then was your career choice a factor in that decision?
B. If children, then
a. Did you miss out on time with them while you were busy with your career?
b. Do you regret your career choice in this respect?
c. How do your children feel about your career? Any resentment?
3. How many times have you been married?
A. If once and still married, then what is your secret to balancing your demanding career and your marriage?
B. If 2+ times, or divorced, was your career a factor in the dissolution of the marriage(s)?
4. Do you think you can “have it all” if you are a woman?
A. Would you have been able to take time off for children and still be where you are today?
B. Would you have still chosen the CEO career path, or would you have concentrated more on having and nurturing children?
C. Do you think a woman who has to take maternity leave 3 separate times for 6+ weeks at a time should be running a large corporation?

Concerning Health
1. How stressful is your job?
2. How do you deal with stress?
3. Do you/have you had any health problems related to your demanding career?
4. Is it easy to stay healthy and be a CEO, or do you really have to work hard at it?
A. How often do you get to exercise?
B. What about all those corporate lunches?

A lot of these are questions people don't like to answer, because noone likes to say they regretted choosing work over family, but I think it's important that as young professionals we know exactly what we're getting ourselves into by choosing the CEO path. We'll see how many of these questions actually pass the LEAD Brevard scrutiny.

Tonight's meeting is for the Oversight Committee of ypB. Hopefully we can stay on track tonight and end on time!