What does being a CEO or Boss Mean? Well if you ask me it means you are in charge. It means the buck stops with you. I suppose I could go on for several minutes about the different possibilities that it means.

To me being a boss means that you have a certain look. You dress in a nice suit and have an aura of power and authority. It means that you have a certain type of office. You put your Sauder Executive Desk  in the back of the room and put all your awards and accolades on the desk. You then make it clear that you are the man or woman and that the company goes as you go.

Sauder executive desk furniture

While I feel that this certainly has many benefits, I would be foolish not to point out the obvious down or side affects that occur as being the boss. What do I mean? Well if the company is your company and things do not go well, well when the buck stops with you it means your company failing equals in some ways your own failure. I am sure that deep down many CEO’s would feel this way.

I think a lot of people question today why CEO’s of large corporations get paid so much. In fact a recent 2012 study suggests that they get many times the wage of the average employee. I am not here to debate whether that is correct or not. I will leave that for the talking heads. What I will point out is part of the reason they would argue is that the risk reward is greater with a CEO. He goes as the stock price goes. On some level I agree with that though not to the degree it is presented.

Going back to my original point that having things like a powerful looking desk is representative of being the boss holds true. If you look at any boss or executive today, you will see exactly what I mean. The term “corner office” has some meaning and it is simply a way of saying whoever is sitting there is the person in charge and that is clear to all. I am thinking I need to start shopping for a desk.