Behavioral Economics for Leaders

CHAPTER 47Visionary Leaders Outperform Operations‐Oriented Leaders Over the Long Term

The CEOs of large companies are in the limelight, earn huge amounts of money, and have enormous power. They work a lot, but what exactly do they spend their time on? Not all of them are doing the same thing, as we shall see. There are essentially two types of CEOs. Which type leads a company plays a role in its success.

During my time at the University of Innsbruck, my colleague Gottfried Tappeiner once told me that one of his sons at the age of 10 asked him what a “boss” actually does all day long. The boy wanted to know because the title of boss intrigued him. Tappeiner, who is very well connected, agreed with a South Tyrolean head of business that his son could spend an entire day with him to learn what being a boss involves. I was pretty impressed with Tappeiner’s son showing that type of interest and the father’s initiative to furnish an answer. Bosses are often seen as people who exist on some lofty plane, whom you rarely meet, and about whom it’s pretty hard to know what they do. After the day with the head of the South Tyrolean company, Tappeiner’s son knew that a boss does many different things: talks to employees, negotiates with suppliers and banks, prepares for meetings, walks through the company, attends external business dinners, answers emails (has them answered), and a lot more. The day was an adventure for the kid and gave him detailed knowledge about the day‐to‐day work of ...