CEOs Should Never Be on Vacation 

I’m sure that many people who read the next paragraph will think I’m kidding. And I’m sure that those that realize I’m not kidding will think I’m both irrational and also inhumane. Nevertheless, I have to say it:

Running a company is and should be a full-time job. And by full-time, I mean 24/7, every day of the year.

You got that right. I believe that the time it takes to responsibly run a company, and especially a growing company, is limitless.

That commitment is, in my admittedly insensitive opinion, the first and most important truth one must accept when taking on the role of CEO.

This is a demand I would require only of CEOs. Employees – even executive employees – are entitled to days off and vacations. They are also entitled to leave those obnoxious auto-responder notes saying, “Hi! I’ll be away from the office and unavailable for the next two weeks! If you have an urgent concern, please contact Gini, my 23-year-old assistant, who knows nothing about the business and has been told to never, ever interrupt me when I’m ‘away from the office.’”

There is a big difference between the role of CEO and every other role in a business. All employees are expected to do their jobs earnestly, energetically, and well. But every employee’s job is to some extent limited in scope. If you’re the IT guy, you need to be responsible for competently helping employees with all things IT. If you’re the CTO, you are responsible not only for making sure all things IT are functioning well and correctly, but also for anticipating and developing IT solutions for the future.

Except for the CEO, each job in the business has finite definitions and identifiable expectations. Because of those two simple limitations, employees, even senior employees, can get away from the grid completely, so long as they have a suitable backup.

But when one takes on the job of “running” the business, one must accept responsibility for everything that happens within the business.

There is no way to deny that. If you are a CEO and don’t understand it, you are not the right person for the job.

Put differently, the CEO – and only the CEO – has the ultimate and final responsibility for the company’s life and longevity. That means assuming responsibility for creating the revenue needed to meet or exceed customer expectations and accepting the responsibility for making sure that the business is always profitable enough to pay fair compensation to all its employees.

I’m not saying that CEOs must sleep in their offices, like Elon Musk does during start-up and expansion periods. I think it’s perfectly reasonable for a CEO to be away from the office on weekends and take a family vacation now and then. But I don’t believe they ever have the right to go “radio silent” (as they say) with their top executives and shareholders.

Most of the time, in my experience, a business can function perfectly well without the direct and constant attention of the CEO. But every so often, every business faces some sort of unexpected crisis or opportunity that cannot be dealt with “when the boss returns.” An immediate answer needs to be given. And that answer can come only from the CEO.