“Always.”
“My daughter works here now.”
The CEO looked surprised.
“Where?”
“Cybersecurity.”
“She graduated last year.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
He looked around the floor.
“I never would’ve told her to apply here before.”
The CEO stopped smiling.
That statement mattered more than viral stories.
“Why now?”
He shrugged.
“Feels different.”
The CEO nodded.
Then asked:
“Better?”
“Yes.”
“Perfect?”
He laughed.
“No.”
“Good.”
He looked confused.
She explained:
“Perfect numbers make me nervous.”
He laughed harder.
The CEO continued walking.
Toward the conference room.
Toward another ordinary meeting.
The company eventually grew beyond twenty thousand employees.
New mistakes appeared.
Different mistakes.
Some policies worked.
Some created bureaucracy.
The ombuds office occasionally annoyed executives.
The CEO considered that part of its value.
Managers complained that compensation metrics tied to employee conduct were subjective.
She told them leadership had always been subjective.
Now employees simply had evidence too.
The board chairman retired.
At his farewell dinner, he gave a speech.
Near the end, he looked toward the CEO.
“I’ve been asked what my favorite moment was during seventeen years on this board.”
She immediately shook her head.
“Don’t.”
Everyone laughed.
He continued.