3 ms·
It's fine to talk about hard work and smarts, but you also need to consider risk. Let's use software engineers as an example. You make a mistake.. it's unlikel
by beambot 10y ago
It's fine to talk about hard work and smarts, but you also need to consider risk.
Let's use software engineers as an example. You make a mistake.. it's unlikely you get fired, and even more unlikely that it ruins your career. Most likely, it results in better practices and a post mortem. And even if you do leave, there will be hundreds of job openings for a competent engineer.
It's different for CEOs, even competent ones. One moderately bad decision (or to your point, a little bad luck) can result in a "change of management." And it's non-trivial to just jump into another CEO role.
And that's not even taking into account other aspects such as supply & demand, accountability, stress levels, etc.
Is the comp "fair"? I have no idea. I don't even know how you would evaluate fairness in that regard.
- mpdehaan2 10y agoThere can be a lot of spin in CEO exits. Connections made in even a failed position can be used to gain ability to acquire investment or useful position in other companies. Extreme networking value. Again, the obscene compensation exceeds the risk. Even going back to a VP position somewhere is still lucrative.
- jleask 10y agoI'd question the non-trivial part. True in some cases but also I can think of plenty of Cxx level people that have just walked off into the sunset of a new role after crashing and burning a company. Additionally the compensation is so great that I think a lot of people would gladly take that risk given the opportunity. If in a few months you can earn a x years engineer's salary why not take the risk and then worst case is a nice holiday whilst looking for the next company to ruin. I think your point holds better at middle management level.
- Retric 10y agoI suspect a higher percentage of developers are fired from one bad mistake than CEO's. Remember, it's often debatable if a CEO makes a bad decision and simply replacing the CEO often has significant downsides. Further, a CEO making a mid sized mistake is often seen as simply taking or not taking risks. As to pay, generally CEO's can find a high paying job easily. They simply don't need to.
- Kurimo 10y agoThis is such a pernicious justification for CEO compensation. You don't need to "jump to another CEO role" to continue to be fabulously wealthy. Failing spectacularly as a CEO often does nothing to impact your employability for future roles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Hayward https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Hayward Or Carly Fiorina or loads of others we could sit here and review if we were so inclined. There is, ultimately, no justification for the compensation CEOs receive. They don't deserve it. They haven't earned it. And often their actions are degrading to the company they are hired for, yet they still get paid exorbitant amounts and go on to other positions of responsibility and high compensation.
- jimbokun 10y agoI've seen this claim multiple times in this discussion, with no data to back it up. How do you know a CEO's job has more "risk" than a developer?