I suspect a decade living like the normal rules don't apply to you will make you think that the rules don't apply to you. Brin, like most executives, probably has an group of people around him invisibly smoothing out his problems and shuttling him past all sorts of obstacles.
I'm basing this on a couple conversations with a retired telecom CEO (Charles) I used to know. Here's what he had:
-If he mentions that someone is bothering him, that person is removed from his presence. (Charles wasn't even aware that this was happening for the first five years of his tenure as CEO--his wife pointed it out to him.)
-There are people who prepare him and make him look good in every conversation. If he doesn't know the answer to a question, he says, "I'll get back to you." Someone else writes the question down and a thoughtful, well-formulated answer appears on his desk the next morning.
-A medical plan that includes a 24/7 on-call doctor. The doctors in his plan specifically take very few patients so Charles and his family can get appointments almost immediately.
-If there's a line or waiting list, he is ushered around the line or someone waits in line on his behalf. Charles literally never waited in line for anything for 15 years.
Charles was thoughtful and empathetic and was lucky to have a wife who kept him grounded. (She would say some variation of, "Don't screw it all up today," as he left the house each morning.) I suspect that most people wouldn't be able to keep a healthy perspective.
I suspect a decade living like the normal rules don't apply to you will make you think that the rules don't apply to you. Brin, like most executives, probably has an group of people around him invisibly smoothing out his problems and shuttling him past all sorts of obstacles.
I'm basing this on a couple conversations with a retired telecom CEO (Charles) I used to know. Here's what he had:
-If he mentions that someone is bothering him, that person is removed from his presence. (Charles wasn't even aware that this was happening for the first five years of his tenure as CEO--his wife pointed it out to him.)
-There are people who prepare him and make him look good in every conversation. If he doesn't know the answer to a question, he says, "I'll get back to you." Someone else writes the question down and a thoughtful, well-formulated answer appears on his desk the next morning.
-A medical plan that includes a 24/7 on-call doctor. The doctors in his plan specifically take very few patients so Charles and his family can get appointments almost immediately.
-If there's a line or waiting list, he is ushered around the line or someone waits in line on his behalf. Charles literally never waited in line for anything for 15 years.
Charles was thoughtful and empathetic and was lucky to have a wife who kept him grounded. (She would say some variation of, "Don't screw it all up today," as he left the house each morning.) I suspect that most people wouldn't be able to keep a healthy perspective.
Edit: removed an extra word