I think part of the reason it is so hard with C-level executives is that they are not under the same scrutiny and control as a person as the rest of the employe

I think part of the reason it is so hard with C-level executives is that they are not under the same scrutiny and control as a person as the rest of the employees. Everything else stems from this: the corruption, incompetence, abuse of other employees. Serious red flags about C-level executives: * Refuses to follow rules set by Security and Compliance. * Pulls people from existing projects without talking to their managers or require work to be done without logging a ticket or whatever the process is * Hires a lot of people that report only to the executive and are unaccountable to the rest of the organization; doesn't use any of the established hiring practices in the company. * Ignores people they didn't hire and the deals they've made with their managers * Mechanically imports practices and processes from another organization * Uses arguments from authority to justify their decisions * Behaves inappropriately in a workplace environment, including abuse and harassment All of this is hard to define, but the point is the same standards apply to everyone. I know that as an organization grows bigger getting organizational work done becomes that much harder, but it is the executive's job to foster a good culture not bypass it or worse have habitual rule-breaking to hide more serious offenses, incompetence or abuse. If I were a founder that needs to hire C-level execs I would also hire secretaries for them to ensure paper trails were left and processes were followed; I would want to make sure the secretaries record and ensure: * who they are meeting and that there are MoM of the important meetings, the execs can work flexibly but they need to record their calendar. They also need to get help scheduling internal and external meetings they are required to attend * all their requests are filed correctly * help them with preparing reports * file all documentation as per guidance by Security and Compliance * immediately tell me if anything inappropriate is happening All of these things are typically done for regular employees by their team-leads and managers. If C-level people feel like the bureaucracy is too much they need to reduce it for everyone, not just themselves. You don't need to give each C-level exec a personal secretary - a team of two (so they can also take vacations and sick leaves) is enough for the whole C-team.