“If I only had a little humility, I’d be perfect.” -Ted Turner
USA Today is running a feature today on the thickness of CEO skin.
PsyMax surveyed 13,000 employees, including 242 CEOs, to determine which ones were resilient, thick-skinned and good at taking criticism. PsyMax called it being tough-minded. Among non-management workers, 83% had those qualities. Among those promoted to supervisor or foreman, 78% had those qualities. That indicates little erosion from promotion to promotion.
But something happens to those who take the last step up: Just 65.5% of CEOs, presidents and chief operating officers were tough-minded.
“That wasn’t a finding we expected, but it holds up statistically,” says Wayne Nemeroff, PsyMax CEO, who has Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology.
Can you think of any agency CEOs with thick skin?