CEO's: How Well Do You Really Know Your Business?

“Only 23% of employees believe their executives understand the day-to-day realities of their jobs.” — Gartner, 2023

In 2025, the organizations that thrive won’t be the ones with the most strategy decks—they’ll be the ones whose leaders stay closest to the truth.

The Perception Gap

I recall a CEO who believed deeply in "empowered leadership." He proudly explained how he avoided micromanaging, trusted his top team, and gave them space to lead.

But inside the business, a very different story unfolded.

Senior leaders were micromanaging, overriding decisions, and challenging expert advice. Employees described the culture as one of blame, confusion and second-guessing. Instead of empowerment, there was dysfunction. There was a lack of clarity, the top team were not aligned and this resulted in conflicting messages across the company, making much needed cross functional work almost impossible.

When I shared this with the CEO, he didn't believe that his team were into the details and the problem must be at the next level down, they were the ones not doing their job.

It's a common problem. My team is fine, it's the other teams!

When leadership becomes invisible, people fill the gaps with their own assumptions, fears, and habits. What starts as empowerment can quietly turn into abdication.

The Data Doesn’t Lie

The disconnect between executive perception and employee experience is a well-documented risk:

• Leaders are eight times more likely than employees to say their company is self-managing.

• 27% of executives believe employees are inspired by the company’s purpose—yet only 4% of employees agree.

• 41% of leaders say performance is rewarded based on values. Only 14% of employees believe that’s true. (The Economist, 2023)

This isn’t just a culture issue. It’s a strategic risk—one that affects retention, innovation, and execution.

Don't Risk Losing Touch With the Frontline

Former Medtronic CEO Bill George once said he spent 30% of his time with frontline employees—not because it was symbolic, but because he could better understand the needs of customers, employee struggles and more about the business from a different perspective. Leading to more effective leadership.

Leadership isn’t about being hands-off—it’s about being hands-on in the right way. It’s about being present, curious, and connected to what’s really going on inside the business. If the only information presented at leadership team meetings is in a glossy PowerPoint format, it can be difficult to understand the day to day challenges within the company.

“Our research suggests CEOs are often out of sync with their managers, who witness firsthand the demanding and complex challenges that play out on the front lines," Stephanie Neal, DDI

Five Ways CEOs Can Reconnect

Here are five tangible actions leaders can take to bridge the gap between perception and reality:

1. Define What Leadership Really Means

Don’t assume your executive team shares your definition of leadership. Write it down. Make it part of how you onboard, develop, and assess leaders. Are leaders expected to coach? Delegate? Model innovation? Set the tone with clear, shared expectations—and reinforce them consistently through regular 1:1s. Remember, if you're not actively role-modelling effective leadership, your silence becomes the standard others follow.

2. Surface the Shadow Culture

The real culture of an organization lives in what’s unsaid. Don’t rely on meeting notes or surface-level engagement surveys. Use confidential diagnostics, external interviews, and skip-level listening sessions to get beneath the surface. Ensure you are visible and approachable to employees, so they can be open with you. Try to understand how do decisions really get made here? Where does fear live in the system? What is causing the bottlenecks?

3. Invite and Act on Feedback About Yourself

Too often, senior leaders gather feedback about others but not themselves. Flip that script. Ask your direct reports, “What’s one thing I could do differently to be a better leader for you?” Listen. Don’t defend. Model the vulnerability and growth mindset you expect from others. If you can make some small adjustments in your leadership, you will see a big difference, if you carry on as always, you won't!

4. Align Your Executive Team—As a Team

Even the most talented executives can operate in silos. Invest in developing your top team as a collective, not just individuals. Facilitate alignment around shared values, leadership behaviours, decision-making norms, and cultural signals. Discover; What messages are your team sending out to the business that differ from what you agreed? What benefit or problems are sub-groups creating? How open are you really in the team? Teams should disagree, that's normal, but when they leave the room, the organization should hear a consistent message. Misalignment at the top cascades fast—and often invisibly.

5. Stay Close to Where the Work Happens

Block time each month to visit the front lines. Sit in on team meetings. Shadow an employee for an hour. Walk the floor. Ask open questions, and listen deeply. Real insight rarely shows up in dashboards—it lives in conversations, frustrations, and moments you’ll only catch if you’re present. I've spent decades observing leaders and teams and I promise you, the data insights give me more than any dashboard presented! As one MD said, it brings the data I see on the PowerPoints to life.

Final Thought

Empowerment is not the same as disengagement.

The best CEO's stay close to the culture, lead through presence and example, and never stop listening to the heartbeat of the business.

Because when you’re disconnected at the top, the whole system can quietly drift off course.

When was the last time you asked for feedback on your leadership—and truly listened?

Have you tried conducting confidential interview 360's with leaders in your team to understand how you can all work together as ONE team?

Liz Rider is an Organizational Psychologist and thought leader on leadership. She has worked with global companies for over 25 years. She has a vision to ensure that everyone can thrive at work through human centric leadership. Better results for all!