SOFT SPOT FOR THE CEO

I have a soft spot for the CEO role. Even as I write that, I cringe because there are quite a few lousy borderline evil CEO's that live up to the stereotype of greedy, ego maniacal, ruthless, cruel, usurious, power abusing crazies.
I'm sure you can name one.  Just don't be one.

Here's why I have a soft spot for CEO's:

--They are not power hungry but they have to build, garner, and use BIG power in order to get big things done. Power is the energy to make it happen.  It can become addictive and needs to be monitored but it has to be BIG

--They do have to exist on a different plane from their employees and even their own direct reports.  They are facing out from the company, protecting it from events that can kill it, searching for new paths to grow, watching for all kinds of risk, scanning the future not managing the present --that belongs to a different role.  So the CEO can look and is distant and aloof by definition of the job.

--They have to be willing to never win the race but to keep on running.  They may enjoy a milestone or two but never ever reach a finish line.

--They have to dig to find a path of optimism and future hope for their enterprise and this is very different from simply projecting optimism. They must constantly explore for a new path.

--They have to continually right size their egos which can be tough when they must also allow the organization to project larger than life attributes to them.
People want the leader to be like them and also very not like them--bigger, better, smarter, kinder, impossibly perfect.

--They have to always be making someone very very unhappy.  

--They have to eat and be eaten by their work

Do they "have to" do all of the above?  Maybe not all of the time, but they HAVE TO wrestle with these "have to's".  That I know.