Some CEOs, like the ones at Starbucks and Uber, are joining their workers for shifts. We personally think every CEO should have to do just this.
A clip of former Daily Show host Jon Stewart accusing the Pentagon of “corruption” has gone viral online. It is racking up over a million views, which has us asking again, why is he so much better at this than other broadcasters?
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Two high-profile CEOs picked up some shifts in the field. The new CEO of Starbucks spent time training as a barista before taking on the title. Uber’s chief exec. has completed almost 100 passenger and food delivery trips as a driver.
Laxman Narasimhan will continue working in Starbucks coffee shops for a half day each month to stay “close to the culture and our customers.” And Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s CEO, said he didn’t fully grasp drivers’ concerns about the app’s clunky driver sign-up process. Or the inability to see ride destinations in advance until he got behind the wheel himself.
Turns out it can pay off if you have empathy for your employees: Simple changes based on Khosrowshahi’s experiences helped Uber return to pre-pandemic driver numbers and jump from 62% of the ride-hailing market in 2020 to 74% now.
But this begs the question, what other CEOs should have to spend time in their employee’s shoes?
The best answer we received:
Stewart appeared at the War Horse Symposium in Chicago on Thursday where he interviewed Kathleen Hicks, a deputy secretary for the Department of Defense (DOD). During the discussion, which was broadcast on C-SPAN, Stewart called out the discrepancy between the department’s ballooning budgets and the fact that many of its soldiers struggle with basic necessities, ultimately suggesting that the situation smacked of “corruption.”
A clip from that interview has gone viral after CSPAN posted it to its Twitter:
So after we have seen Stewart eviscerates an Oklahoma state senator over gun control and the Arkansas Attorney General over limiting medical care for trans youth, it leaves the question: how and why is he so much better at this than many of our broadcasters?
