Who would want to be a chief executive?
The pressure on global business leaders has always been intense. But the challenges feel particularly acute right now.
Top leaders oversee companies that employ hundreds of thousands worldwide. They can no longer rely on old-style hierarchical management techniques that are increasingly ineffective . They have to manage technology as both a huge threat and a huge opportunity. And many are being pushed by employees, investors and opinion makers to speak out and engage on social issues — even if it comes at a substantial cost.
“It’s frankly a horrible job — I wouldn’t want it,” Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University professor who studies C.E.O.s, once said. “Being a C.E.O. of a big company is a hundred-hour-a-week job. It consumes your life. It consumes your weekend. It’s super stressful. Sure, there are enormous perks, but it’s also all encompassing.”
Of course, the bosses of multinational companies are well-paid. They are…
This article was written by Ravi Mattu and originally published on www.nytimes.com