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"If you're not even willing to explain the rules of the game to your own team how do you expect to win the game?" "...It's not you against your employees" Wit

"If you're not even willing to explain the rules of the game to your own team how do you expect to win the game?" "...It's not you against your employees" With all due respect, that's not what I was saying. Or at least not what I was trying to say, and if I was unclear, I apologize. I said "it's not the CEO's job to educate employees on the finer points," not that the CEO shouldn't discuss these matters in a frank and honest manner if they come up. And I took great pains to state that the employees and the CEO should be on the same page, with the same incentives, on the same team. I don't disagree with you here, nor do I find what you're saying to be in general disagreement with me. If I phrased something confusingly, again, that's my fault. I believe the CEO should explain his decisionmaking, how he's structuring the options, how those options affect employees, etc. I don't, however, believe the CEO should be totally responsible for proactively explaining financial minutiae and what-ifs -- plenty of great educational resources are available about those subjects, and the CEO can (and probably should) provide employees with guidance about them. Of course, that being said, the CEO should answer any questions the employees may have, and should answer them honestly. Furthermore, he should give those employees a fair deal in the first place.

jacquesm 13y ago
> I said "it's not the CEO's job to educate employees on the finer points," Yes, that's where we disagree. See if you can get your employees versed well on those finer points then they'll be able to make better decisions (or at least, better informed ones...) so that in the longer term they will stick around instead of that they find out that they are in over their heads. I'd rather not work with someone than work with someone when I know they don't understand the deal we are making as well as I do. That attitude has saved me a lot of headaches and the only time that I deviated from it (it was pretty much a charity project anyway) I ended up in a lot of trouble over exactly that point. So, do yourself a favour and spend that extra time to educate your employees, even if it doesn't come up about any financial package that you have agreed to (preferably before they agree to it!), in the long term that will pay back big time, and it will save both you and the people you work with a lot of grief and headaches. It's up to them to educate their spouse (if applicable) but if you know and they don't then it's up to you to do your bit. CEO -> takes initiative, not just reactive.

jacquesm 13y ago

> I said "it's not the CEO's job to educate employees on the finer points," Yes, that's where we disagree. See if you can get your employees versed well on those finer points then they'll be able to make better decisions (or at least, better informed ones...) so that in the longer term they will stick around instead of that they find out that they are in over their heads. I'd rather not work with someone than work with someone when I know they don't understand the deal we are making as well as I do. That attitude has saved me a lot of headaches and the only time that I deviated from it (it was pretty much a charity project anyway) I ended up in a lot of trouble over exactly that point. So, do yourself a favour and spend that extra time to educate your employees, even if it doesn't come up about any financial package that you have agreed to (preferably before they agree to it!), in the long term that will pay back big time, and it will save both you and the people you work with a lot of grief and headaches. It's up to them to educate their spouse (if applicable) but if you know and they don't then it's up to you to do your bit. CEO -> takes initiative, not just reactive.