“CEO of Your Business Life or Your Personal Life?”
What exactly is the role of a CEO of a publicly traded company… or a CEO of any company for that matter? I mean, isn’t their job to oversee the ship and make decisions that dictate how you’re supposed to operate and behave professionally? I leave that to be answered later. But let me ask this question, should your CEO be allowed to make personal decisions on your behalf that directly affect your personal life?
When I say this, I’m not speaking of the hard choices a CEO must make on any given day such as cutbacks, pay cuts, curbing dividend payments or any other major or minor decision you can think of that may ultimately affect your income and employment. Ultimately affecting your savings, your lifestyle and your own personal financial outlook concerning your family’s future and estate. NO! I’m speaking of a CEO making decisions regarding your personal life without regard. Decisions that perhaps not even your significant other could have made entirely by themselves.
I’m saying: imagine a salesperson called your office to offer you “Wedding Financing.” I know, I know, what the heck is Wedding Financing? Just play along please. It sounded good and I’m sure it will follow the concept here, but I won’t know until I get there.
Anyway, this sales person calls to offer you Wedding Finance. For some reason the call gets transferred to your CEO or other superior. The CEO receives the pitch from the salesperson explaining the usefulness of this financing vehicle. At the end of the sales pitch the salesperson asks, “So Mr. CEO, do you think that you, Mr. Ineedmoney (intended contact) or any other executives in your company can use this product?” The CEO, without consulting with Mr. Ineedmoney or any of the other executives says, “No. Absolutely not! Mr. Ineedmoney would not be interested in that, he’s married and so are all the other executives here.” Now, how exactly did the CEO know this to be true without asking Mr. Ineedmoney? Is it me, or did the CEO just overstep his bounds and make a personal decision for his employees that may effect their personal lives based on his own assumption. Shouldn’t a CEO restrict their decisions to business issues that may happen to affect the personal lives of employees? Is this right? Is this ethical? Personally, I simply could not make a decision for my employees that have nothing to do with the company. They’re adults, with their own lives, ambitions and personal financial needs!
Over the past seven years, I’ve seen, heard and personally experienced just about everything concerning my love… Stock Lending that is. This is one of those little things I never understood. How is it ethically correct that a CEO can make a personal financial decision on the behalf of their executives? I’m not saying any names here, but it happens all of the time; and it could have happened to you!
“What on earth are you rambling about, Ajene?”
The other day I was speaking with a CEO of an AMEX company about a stock loan for him, his executives and the public entity. Now, I do not wish to seem ungrateful being that the True Loan Stock Loan was received very well by the CEO with regards to a corporate transaction. But at the close of the call, I still got off the phone pissed off!
Do you know that when the topic of perhaps the company’s executives using a stock loan in order to avoid the need to sell shares or incur filing issues, create a market hedge, access liquidity and all that other finely crafted stuff we say; you know what this CEO’s response was? “No one here would be interested in that.”
OH, I’m sorry Mr. “CEO”.
This answer has always gotten under my skin simply because it is a complete assumption. What if Mr. & Mrs. Ineedmoney were indeed planning their daughter’s wedding and Mr. CEO didn’t know about this because he wasn’t invited? How would Mr. CEO then know that while he’s making assumptions, poor Mr. Ineedmoney is sitting home at night tearing his hair out trying to figure exactly how on earth he’s going to cover the cost of his little girl’s big day!
Mr. Ineedmoney doesn’t want to sell his stock holdings because its part of his net worth. He can’t get a margin loan. He doesn’t want to mortgage the family’s property. And although he’s worth $3 million in Affiliate Restricted Stock, earns $300k annually and has a cash savings of $180k, he can’t afford his baby girl’s wedding. Can anyone say True Loan?
Oh well…never mind a True Loan or any other stock loan. Mr. Ineedmoney is seriously SOL because the CEO of his business life decided that he also had the right to assume the same in Mr. Ineedmoney’s personal financial life. Wow. I mean am I the only one who thinks this is inappropriate?
Well, I don’t know about anyone else here, but as a youngster I was taught well, to ass-u-me meant too make an a…well, I trust you know the rest.
Let’s put selling the True Loan Stock Loan aside for the moment. My office, any of our few competitors or our friendly agents could have been the group to call this CEO offering Wedding Finance. And while there might have been an executive out there who desperately needed such financing, the opportunity was lost because the CEO did not allow INFORMATION to be disseminated amongst his executives so that they could make their own decisions concerning their own personal needs. Instead, the CEO casually and without regard, made a decision concerning the personal financial needs of the executives for them. Where does the line get drawn?
If this is the case, CEO’s might as well have the liberty to enter each executive’s home and critic their every purchase, sale, credit card, bank loan or other personal financial decisions. Like, “No Mr. Ineedmoney, you certainly don’t need that Annuity.” That’s extreme I know, but the core premise of the topic is a ridiculous action to begin with. And extremes do start somewhere.
If I call someone offering the best product the stock lending industry has to offer to date, hands down, and it doesn’t suit their needs, fine. We all can accept that no matter how great something is, it might not be for everyone. But if I ask, do you think any of your fellow executives would be interested in this strategy? Unless you’ve peered into your magical crystal ball and predicted the reception of my sales call that day, rounded up the executive troops and came to a consensus against my offer yet to be made, your answer had better be, “I DON’T KNOW. YOU’D HAVE TO ASK THEM.” Unless of course you’ve been blessed with mind reading abilities.
Believe me, this happens all of the time. If you’re a stock lender or agent making cold calls, you’ve experienced this in some form or another. If you’re the receiver of one of these sales call (CEO, CFO, COO, etc.), you’ve probably committed this highly questionably unethical act….unethical at least in my mind but who am I? And if you’re the executive who could have benefited greatly from a True Loan Stock Loan because you needed the money or just wanted to protect your interest against adverse market conditions, or even perhaps just would have been interested in learning more about how True Loan transactions keep stock in your name within your own accounts…guess what?
You Got Screwed!
Face it, obviously your superior is not only your professional authority, but when seen fit, becomes your personal CEO as well. The worse part…you’re typically oblivious to it.
Sorry Charlie.
I guess on the face of it all, you can simply call a CEO’s assumptive reaction in these cases a “reptilian response.” So sadly, no matter how much I moan, it won’t make a bit of difference.
So, as the saying goes, “It is what it is.”
Ajene Watson
www.truestockloan.com