Why Executives Earn Every Penny They're Paid

Why Executives Earn Every Penny They’re Paid
It’s pretty easy to sit back in your cubicle and envy the executives in your office. From your point of view, it looks as if they get paid the big bucks without really doing much work! The truth, however, is that executives actually earn every penny they are paid.
What Does the Average Executive Make?
That’s a question many people ponder. How much does the average executive in a company make a year? That’s a bit of a tricky question to actually answer. Most executives get a base compensation salary, but then they also get bonuses, stock options, and other perks that equal their overall pay. At the biggest companies in the country, executive pay means big bucks.
Take Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone for example. The company’s CEO made $702,440,573 in 2008. But that wasn’t all in base compensation. About $700 million of the $702 million was from stock options earned after Schwarzman took the company public the year before.
Let’s look at another example. Michael Jeffries, the chief executive at Abercrombie & Fitch, made more than $60 million in stock options alone in 2008. In addition, he was given a bonus of $6 million – an enticement to remain as the company’s chairman and CEO. Add in his $1.5 million salary, $1.3 in personal airplane usage, and $382,687 for his 401(k) and Mr. Jeffries came out pretty sweet for the year.
How to Become an Executive
It’s clear that executives get the big paychecks. So how do you go from your corner cubicle to the office with a view? Here are some tips to help you rise to the top.
●      Define your career. If you want to become an executive, you have to know what you want to be when you grow up. This takes some serious time and attention to your career. Decide where you want to focus your efforts and then work hard to build a career.
●      Don’t worry about making friends. Of course, you don’t want to make enemies, but you can’t worry about the people who don’t like you. It’s more important to be respected than liked, so make sure you are being true and trustworthy and the friends will follow.
●      Become a great team player. When you play on a team, you don’t always have to be the starting player. You’ll want to be on a team where you are the star in one area. The key to success in a team environment is to surround yourself with good people. Smart people around you will help you get to the top faster.
●      Be yourself. You need to be yourself at all times. There’s no need to develop a work personality different from your home personality. You are who you are and you need to be true to that. It’s easier to get people to follow you if they know you are who you say you are at all times.
Becoming a powerful executive is hard work, but well worth it. After all, a $700 million paycheck would surely make up for years of dedication and hard work.
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Today’s post was a guest post from Cathy Pierce. Thanks, Cathy!