WORK
Why Executive Face Time Matters More as You Grow
I read a LinkedIn post this week from a CEO connection wrestling with a big question.
Not about money, not about customers.
About people.
Someone on their frontline team had asked, more or less: why don't we see you anymore?
The company has grown a ton, with more people, more locations. And the CEO was being completely upfront in sharing the version of them that knew everyone by name, that was always around, simply couldn't exist at this size. Trying to be that person again would be performative. It would steal from the strategic work only they can do.
A lot of that is true. You cannot know hundreds of people the way you knew thirty. The energy you brought to a small room has to live in the leaders you hire. Culture has to grow bigger than any one person.
However........
When companies scale, it's tempting to file CEO face time under things I've graduated out of. A nice-to-have from the early days. Something others now handle for you.
I'd argue the opposite. Face time doesn't become less important as you grow. It becomes more important. And also a lot harder to do well.
When you're small, your presence is ambient. People absorb who you are just by being near you. You don't have to be deliberate about it. It just happens.
At scale, that ambient presence is gone. So the question stops being how do I see everyone? (You can't.) and becomes what does my presence mean now that it's rare?
Rare presence can be a powerful presence. When the CEO actually shows up in a meaningful way (meaning to listen not to perform), it tells people that the work they do matters enough to pull leadership away from everything else competing for that time.
I've watched both versions of this play out.
Years ago, I was in a room during an acquisition. We'd traveled to the largest location of the company we'd just acquired for the first all-hands meeting. Their owner stood up to address their own people and said: "Some of you may know me. Most of you probably don't."
Their office was across the street. Across the street! And most of the people who showed up to work for them every day had no idea who this person was.
I watched the faces in that room. It wasn't shock. It was recognition. The quiet, unsurprised look of people who'd known for a long time that they were invisible to the person at the top.
Then there was my CEO at the time, standing right next to me. A man who knew the name of nearly every person across dozens of locations. Who could walk into a branch he hadn't visited in months and ask a warehouse associate about their kids by name. Six states. Hundreds and hundreds of people. And he made it his business to know them.
The contrast wasn't subtle. It was vast.
When that acquisition closed, the prevailing feeling wasn't grief or resistance. It was relief. People were going from invisible to seen. That doesn't happen by accident. It happens because of years of deliberate investment. The kind that builds a reputation that walks into the room before you do.
So no, scale is not an excuse to disappear. Scale is the reason to get intentional. (And to be clear, my former CEO was a rare example. And now closing in on 100 locations, he can't be present in the same way he was even with dozens of locations. But he can be present.)
A few things I've watched work:
Make it deliberate. Early on, presence happened on its own. At scale, it won't. Put location visits on the calendar the way you'd put a board meeting there, and protect them just as fiercely.
Show up when things are fine, too. The leader who only appears when something's wrong trains the whole workforce to associate leadership with bad news. Show up on a good Tuesday. It changes everything.
Do the homework before you walk in. Learn a few names ahead of time. Know what's happening at that location. Nothing signals "you matter" faster than a CEO who remembers your name. And nothing signals the opposite faster than one who clearly doesn't.
Listen more than you talk. These visits are not for delivering the strategy. They're for hearing what's actually happening on the floor. The stuff that never makes it up the chain in a report.
Pick the moments that matter. A new location opening. A hard season. A milestone. You can't be everywhere, but you can be present where presence carries the most weight.
Tell your longest-tenured people the truth. The folks who knew the earlier version of you deserve to hear why this one looks different, and what hasn't changed. Don't let them fill that silence with their own story about why you stopped showing up.
Build leaders who carry it, then still show your face. Yes, the energy has to live in the leaders you hire. But "I delegated the culture" (this is an actual sentence I once heard from a CEO!!) is not the same as "I disappeared." Both things are true at once.
The person who asked why don't we see you anymore usually isn't asking for more visits. They're asking do I still matter to you? And that question deserves an answer, not a strategy.
The CEO in the post called out something else that was very important: The day no one feels comfortable asking them that question is the day they'd actually start to worry. (And that is the day they should worry!)
Face time at scale isn't a logistics issue. It's a question of whether your people still believe you'd want to hear from them. We block time for strategy sessions without a second thought. They're sacred, they're on the calendar, nothing bumps them. But somewhere along the way, we started treating time with our people as the thing we'd get to once the "real work" was done. That's backwards. Walking your floor, learning a name, hearing what's actually happening three layers down isn't a break from the strategy. It is the strategy. The day you stop believing that is the day your people stop believing in you. And that belief, once it's gone, is the hardest thing in the world to win back.
COMMUNITY
I met Josh Drean years ago when I was putting together DisruptHR 3.0. I was super excited - we were several months past our incredibly successful 2.0 event at Canobie Lake Park, and looking forward to our next event. We had it all planned. Great titles, all wrapped around a Star Wars theme. I was even in talks with the 501st Legion (iykyk, and you are my people!) Anyway, it was going to be on May the Fourth.
2020.
So that event never happened. We are, however, finally back this coming week (more below!)
But back to Josh!
That Disrupt talk that didn't happen led to Josh coming up for a socially distanced outdoor visit to Concord in the fall of 2020, to put together a mini film. (I'm sure it still exists somewhere, and I remember I wore sunglasses through the whole thing, and was very nervous, but not much else!)
That visit kicked off a great friendship with one of the biggest champions of my career outside of my family.
Josh is a speaker, author ("Employment is Dead" from Harvard Business Review), AI and Web3 expert, and thought leader in the employee experience space. I've learned so much from him, including a little light coding! (If you've ever seen my website, all the good stuff is all Josh. Any weird glitches, all me.).
He's an incredible speaker, especially if you want someone to talk about the bleeding edge of the future of work.
And he's an all around amazing human being.
If you aren't following him on LinkedIn, please do!
I met Alexis Davis through my work with the American Supply Association (ASA) Women in Industry. I served on the board for several years, and served as Chairwoman for my last year and a half on the board. Alexis joined midway through my time on the board, and wow, were we lucky to have her!
But my relationship with Alexis went beyond that! We were in the same industry, with similar challenges, and often traded stories and ideas and solutions. Watching her move through the world and the industry helped me be a little bit braver in public, and I think I helped her a little bit behind the scenes too.
Anyway, I absolutely adore her. And if you are coming to Disrupt on June 3, you can see her speak about The DEI Backlash Paradox!
She also recently left her position as VP, People & Culture at Rinnai to start her own business, Crimson Leadership Group. AND, she's an incredible speaker. (I've not only seen her in action, I have been lucky to share a stage with her!)
I'm honored to know her, and to call her a friend. More about her below!
COFFEE
I have no coffee pictures this week! I know, that is shocking! I actually have almost no pictures from the past couple of weeks. I think I was all pictured out after our family trip.
So I thought I'd share my coffee evolution.
(Buckle up, coffee is one of my autistic special interests, so this section will ramble on!)
I didn't drink coffee at all until my early 30s. Then, it was weekly Starbucks Chocolate Fudge Brownie Frappuccinos. Then, it was daily Panera frozen coffee. Then, daily Java Chip Frappuccinos. When I started to change my approach to health a decade and a half-ish ago, that changed a bit. And my love for the Java Chip Light was born. That lasted a few years until one day I thought maybe I shouldn't drink Frappuccinos every day, and I tried Cold Brew, and fell in love. I made it at home, took it to work every day, and that lasted for years. I'd also get it out occasionally. One day, Starbucks was out of Cold Brew and they convinced me to try an Iced Americano.
And that was everything I was looking for!
Fast forward to 2020, when coffee shops were closed. We ordered a fancy-ish espresso machine, and started making our own. I dropped the water, started drinking iced espresso with a splash of cream, and found my coffee home.
Contrary to popular belief, I generally have two a day, maybe three if I travel. And never after 2PM.
Next time I'll tell you about the best coffee I've ever had. (And it's in a place you may not expect!)
And a little bit more.......
DisruptHR NH 3.0 is almost here after a seven year hiatus! If you can make it on June 3, you'll see some great speakers, some of whom are speaking for the first time, have some cocktails or mocktails from our friends at Vintage Cocktails, hear some great music and of course, enjoy the catering from the cult favorite Deadproof Pizza. I'll be co-emceeing with my BFF Alex Seiler, and it's going to be AMAZING! Tickets are just $25 and all proceeds go to our non-profit partner, Amoskeag Health.
Have a great week! See you soon.
