I think you overestimate the visibility of the CEO at many large companies, possibly even the ones you have worked with. CEO staff meetings are generally with upper level staff, not with all line employees. in 20 years as a salaried engineer or a technical supervisor at large corporations, I never once met or attended a meeting with the CEO at any of my 5 previous employers. My current employer is different, mainly because the total company consists of less than 50 people at 2 locations.

Secondly, even if people did see the CEO in a photo, on a video, or in person from the back of a crowded meeting, much of human memory is contextual. People often fail to recall someone outside their 'normal' encounters. You may not recognize that accountant who gets your expense report when you pass him in the grocery wearing his jogging suit, or your chiropractor's assistant when you're both at the Home Depot in garden clothes. The clothing and location is all wrong to trigger the memory.

Also, memory is also about motivation and impact. The company CEO might seem important, but he doesn't generally have a direct impact on most people's daily life. Recognizing him has no 'survival' value. The guy next door who shares your shubbery is more essential to recognize, to ensure your daily safety.

The rarity of the CEO who knows the first line employees is sad. I like Undercover Boss because maybe it will encourage more CEOs to get out of the corner office and know their company and front-line employees and their work a little better. I agree this should be a lot harder to do. Some CEOs could never do it - but I think most could.

I think your article subtitle is the main point. The shopw makes for an interesting contrasting point.

However, when you say how hard you think it would be for some of the CEOs you mentioned to appear at a location and not be recognized, I began to think of the shows I have seen. Since I have somewhat limited experience with the show perhaps what I am going to say doesn't carry a lot of weight, therefore.

What I have seen suggests the people who do this aren't used to doing it. So, by definition, those who are used to doing so would be more likely to be recognized. I also doubt those latter folks started out by trying to be "undercover."

I also noted that the work locations I've seen tended to be places with just a few employees. In a plant with hundreds of employees, the odds of any single person recognizing a CEO (especially one in "disguise") would likely go up. I do recall a preview of a show where an employee does seem to feel they've seen the CEO somewhere and the CEO seems to eventually reveals himself to that person to maintain the undercover nature of the experience.

The real question is, when highly visible CEOs travel about work locations, do they hear/see the same things as the "undercover" ones on the show seem to. The point of the show does not seem to be whether the CEO can easily hide from the employees, but what they learn because they are not being seen/treated as a CEO.

So, if we agree CEOs should be more out and about, do we focus on just them being visible and recognizable? I would think we'd want them to be able to learn the kinds of things the show's CEOs do and that seems to require less immediate recognition and visibility.

Love the column, Bill. It's an interesting, and accurate take on the show. I've enjoyed watching a few episodes and you point out what is now really obvious after reading your column. How in the world are leaders able to go undercover in their own organizations? Great observation. Barb Fischer from the Baldrige Program did a post about this topic on BLOGRIGE and took the view that organizational leadership shouldn't have to go undercover to gain more insight on the different perspectives within the organization.

Thanks for sharing the link. It was a great read.

Strange article. Half about a TV show, half about a diet.

I agree that companies should be run so that CEO's are recognized, but even a well-known CEO could disguise her- or himself. TV makeup artists could render virtually anybody unrecognizable.

What's enlightening to those of us not "in the choir" is that the show reaffirms that the people doing the real work have vastly more knowledge than the top brass possess. I wonder what would have happened if some of my prior general managers had to work on the factory floors, rather than berate the people stuck fixing their ghastly design flaws.