When CEOs Connect
What to do when your former CEO wants to connect on LinkedIn
Earlier this week I received a LinkedIn connection request from the CEO of the company where I work…rather, I should say, where I did work. And a few things ran through my mind…
- Does she/he even know that I used to work for her/him, or was she/he simply doing that thing we all do sometimes on LinkedIn where we see a bunch of potential connections and click ‘connect’ haphazardly with little or no regard for who we’re actually connecting with?
- She/He actually does know who I am and heard about my amazing writing and had to see what all the, occasionally double-digit, ‘likes’ were about!
- Knows who I am and just desperately wanted to connect and feels bad because, for the multiple years I worked there, just never got around to actually saying hello or anything else for that matter in person.
As much as I’d love to think it’ #2 or would understand that it’s #3 because of the realistic nature of that option, I’m gonna go with #1. Which honestly, is also really just pathetic.
I’ve never been a CEO. Probably never will be and that’s okay but that doesn’t mean I don’t know a few things about what makes a good one. And let’s not limit this to CEOs- we can throw in Presidents, VPs, CEOs, Executives, Supervisors, and Shift Managers at the Tastee Freeze.
A wonderful trait in a CEO is knowing your employees. I don’t care if the company is 10 people or 5000. Whether you’re Rob Iger and have 200,000 employees or you’re a freelance writer who talks to yourself all day, connecting with your employees or the voice inside your head is really important! You should be doing everything you can to make, however limited, personal connections with the people you work with then and there! In the moment!
The reality is that this ‘connection’ is the most interaction I have ever had with this person. Oh, yes, I know, they’re VERY busy. They have so many irons in the fire and as I said, I don’t think this person really has any idea what they did when they connected. (Other than ya know, poured salt in a wound that I was in the process of getting over.) Why just yesterday I randomly connected with a selection of people just because LinkedIn thought I should. The fact that I used to date two of them, owe money to a third, and may or may not have committed felonies in three states with a dozen others is not the point. Lets focus!
The point is I don’t think this person has the capacity for it. Connecting I mean. Really connecting. Not in business and sadly, for their spouse and kids, not in their personal life. The company I worked for was founded because this person once observed their own children watching YouTube videos and a light bulb went on inside their head and they thought, ‘Hey now! That’s a business opportunity!’ Isn’t that lovely? A tender moment watching your kids play and all they could think is, ‘Sharks, I’m so-and-so and today I’m looking for $10million for a 100% stake in my children’s lives.’
Which I’m sure sounds like a lovely story of parenting if you’re Scrooge. Personally, I know for fact that when my mother and father saw us watching television show after television show, laughing our asses off, they didn’t see dollar signs, they saw a bunch of kids who needed to get outside and play. My parents saw it as an opportunity to spend more time with us, to get to know us, to not lose us to the machines, as it were. This person on the other hand is doing their level best to make that song Cats in the Cradle a reality.
It’s why I feel a little bit sorry for this person and why I would encourage any of you who have employees or direct reports or a bunch of pimple-faced kids running the drive-thru to take a few minutes whenever you can and talk to them. Connect with them then and there. Not a few months after they’re no longer in your employ.
But as I said, I don’t think that’s the case at all.
It was more than likely #2.
Cats in the Cradle (Lyrics Below!) by Harry Chapin (Not Ugly Kid Joe!)
My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talking ‘fore I knew it, and as he grew
He’d say “I’m gonna be like you, dad”
“You know I’m gonna be like you”
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
“When you coming home, dad?” “I don’t know when”
But we’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then
My son turned ten just the other day
He said, thanks for the ball, dad, come on let’s play
Can you teach me to throw, I said, not today
I got a lot to do, he said, that’s okay
And he walked away, but his smile never dimmed
It said, I’m gonna be like him, yeah
You know I’m gonna be like him
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
“When you coming home, dad?” “I don’t know when”
But we’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then
Well, he came from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
Son, I’m proud of you, can you sit for a while?
He shook his head, and he said with a smile
What I’d really like, dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later, can I have them please?
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
“When you coming home, son?” “I don’t know when”
But we’ll get together then, dad
You know we’ll have a good time then
I’ve long since retired and my son’s moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, I’d like to see you if you don’t mind
He said, I’d love to, dad, if I could find the time
You see, my new job’s a hassle, and the kids have the flu
But it’s sure nice talking to you, dad
It’s been sure nice talking to you
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me
He’d grown up just like me
My boy was just like me
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
“When you coming home, son?” “I don’t know when”
But we’ll get together then, dad
We’re gonna have a good time then
