I used to think that there was freedom at the top and freedom at the bottom, and that the people in the middle get squeezed.
Now I’m not so sure. I no longer think freedom is such a simple concept as to be imputed to one group or another.
Freedom at the bottom has been described as “having nothing left to lose.” (Thanks for that, Mr. Kristofferson… and of course to you, too, Ms. Joplin, for bringing those lyrics to life so memorably.) It’s wistful, true on a number of levels, and like most pithy one-liners, incomplete. Most of us can probably remember the afternoon we discovered that definition’s limitations: it was the day we were enjoying the “freedom” of having nothing, thinking Janice Joplin was a genius, and found ourselves jarringly brought back to reality by a letter from our landlords that started “rent due.”
But what about freedom at the top? What about having the ways and means to do whatever you like, whenever you want?
For a long time, I thought that freedom at the top was self-evident. These were people with plenty to lose, for sure, but with the ability to replace anything that could be taken from them, and with the power to protect what is theirs. Not so much anymore.
I say this largely because of my work with executives and CEOs. These are people who hold tremendous power and enjoy numerous perceived freedoms. Recent press about crooked ones notwithstanding, I have come to know a number of CEOs who are very good people… and they are anything but “free.”
They are respectful of their power. They struggle mightily with tough decisions, accept that they will be vilified by those whose parochial interests will not be served, and put themselves on call 24/7 (because no matter if it’s a customer issue, operational issue, financial issue, or interpersonal dispute, the buck stops with them). They seek to create, and for all their decisiveness, they are really nothing more than farmers with an almanac: their decisions have less to do with personal desire than with interpreting the weather and growing conditions for a particular crop. (Want to grow a tech firm? Not with this team. Thinking about oats? The competitive landscape will never allow it. Dead set on coaching? It’s going to cost you a fortune in fertilizer…) These CEOs accept that their personal foibles will impact others. They are human, are aware of their own limitations, and struggle mightily with those limitations… while also having the maturity to recognize that the perfect person does not exist. They know the best they can do is… the best they can do, and they bust their butts to make sure that the problems they create are smaller than the problems they solve, and are are smaller by comparison than the ones someone else–anyone else–would create if put in their same position. They exert tremendous self-control; rather than abuse the privileges of their office, they serve themselves last, after everyone else in their organization has been cared for.
And in there, somewhere, is supposed to be freedom? Perhaps… perhaps it is the freedom in knowing that since someone will find fault with you no matter what you do, you have nothing to lose in giving it your all. Perhaps it is something else entirely. But whatever it is, it is certainly not the freedom we naively associate with lottery winners, nor is it the freedom from self, from conscience, or from responsibility. Quite the opposite: on these fronts, CEOs have fewer degrees of freedom–and more pressure–than anyone else.
So I’m thinking that perhaps I haven’t understood “freedom” as well as I once thought. The freedom I used to believe in is so elusive as to evaporate whenever I get close to it. (Sorry, CEOs, just when you think you’ve hit easy street, you realize: not so much.) That can’t be it. Such an important concept can’t be a mirage.
Yet it’s not at the bottom, not in the middle, and not at the top. What does that mean? That freedom is a perspective rather than a destination? A mental state rather than a socio-economic one? That would be powerful, wouldn’t it, the idea that we can all be free? And a little frightening at the same time, right?
Because are you ready to be free? Are you ready to admit that you’ve been keeping yourself captive all this time? Are you ready to admit that The Man is you?
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I'm Jason. I make people shine. My mission is to help 1 million people tell their stories better. 
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
While people at the top are not “free” from the stresses of the business, they do have the ability to “set the agenda” for the organization.
And while this does create its own level of stress; if they are wrong in their vision and direction the organization suffers and employees could lose their livelihood, it does enable the leaders to think big.
Which from my experience is what every GOOD leader wants and craves; an opportunity to take a group of people to a higher place and accomplish greatness…
This is the struggle for all leaders….the balance of today and tomorrow; of tactics vs. strategy…