Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Bizmology

Bizmology

When CEOs Weep: Reality show presents new side of companies and those who run them

Posted: 23 Nov 2010 03:54 PM PST

It’s tough to be in senior management these days, at least from a public relations perspective. Having been through, let's all say it together, the worst recession since the Great Depression and still struggling with an unemployment rate just under 10% during an achingly slow recovery, introducing yourself as a highly paid corporate bigwig isn’t what it used to be. And all the Tony Haywards (former BP CEO) and Lloyd Blankfeins (CEO of Goldman Sachs) running around don’t help.

So now would be the perfect time for CEOs and other top dogs to humanize themselves and their firms via the grandest of venues — reality television. And thanks to CBS‘ Undercover Boss, they can do just that. For those who might not know, the series, which premiered in February following Super Bowl XLIV to boffo ratings, sends a boss incognito to work in various company positions. Eighteen bosses later the series is still going strong.

Does it succeed? Is it a good move for the companies involved? I’d say yes. The CEOs and other C-level executives showcased generally come across as decent, caring people, if more than a tad emotional (I never knew CEOs cried so much). And it certainly showcases their love for family, hard work, opportunity, and second chances — all those warm and fuzzy qualities that define the American ethos. Sure, most of us know that reality television at a minimum is altered reality, so it is only a minor quibble that virtually every employee the CEOs come into contact with is good-natured, loyal, and devoted (not to mention willing to share personal details about health and happiness with a perfect stranger).

And come on, who doesn’t love to see those with the big corner offices emptying airplane lavatories (Frontier Airlines CEO Bryan Bedford), wrecking a forklift (Chiquita CEO Fernando Aquirre), or cleaning an AFR (don’t ask) from the bottom of a pool (Great Wolf Resorts‘ CEO Kimberly Schaefer).

The biggest curiosity, in my view, is how inept some of the bosses appear to be doing anything other than leading the company. Todd Ricketts, one of the family owners of the Chicago Cubs, was “fired” from the bathroom crew after proving to be too slow; Subway chief development officer Don Fertman struggled with taking a sandwich order over the phone (oh, yeah, he also got locked in a walk-in freezer); and Choice Hotels CEO Stephen Joyce was on the verge of passing out while cleaning a guest’s room.

I haven’t quite decided if these executives truly are as bumbling in these tasks as they seem or if it is simply one more piece of the marketing puzzle, the groundwork for each episode’s denouement in which the self-deprecating boss exposes his foibles for the amusement of his or her employees and the nation alike.
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