I play Go (an Asian board game you can think of as being like chess) at a local club in the city. The rules of hierarchy there are something like “if Joe is much better than Gary, Joe can say Gary’s moves are wrong whenever he wants, and is allowed to launch into a short speech about why Gary’s mistake is such a major mistake.” (There are more cultural norms than that, and Go players reading this will find that a poor description, but for those outside of the culture, it’s close enough). On the other hand, when a weaker player thinks a stronger player’s move is weird, they’ll be very humble in their asking why the move is good. This is the opposite of the situation in corporate!
This is exactly the situation in (Asian) corporate, which is where I spent the first few years of my career at three different employers. In fact, at my first employer (a giant MNC headquartered in my country) juniors were expected to essentially shut up and do as we were told; the mere prospect of clarifying what a very senior person meant was terrifying for most. And at least in the Asian corporate contexts where I worked, what AnthonyC said is correct:
… the fact that you asked verbally is also in some sense a status claim, that you felt empowered to ask a question in a way that commanded everyone’s attention and interrupted the CEO’s talk track. It’s a power move, or can be seen as such.
Given this, when I read what you said here
Back to asking tough questions of the CEO in a giant meeting: he is so powerful—so above me—that I know I can’t threaten him, he knows I can’t threaten him, everybody watching knows I can’t threaten him, and everybody knows that everybody knows this. Boldness has little to do with me asking him a hard question—if you view hierarchy and position how I do, it’s one of the least dangerous group situations in which to ask such a question!
I thought “but he, the CEO, can definitely threaten you. Is the OP not worried at all about this?”
At my first employer, my boss’s boss (who everyone in the entire department loved) was fired by his boss (who everyone hated) for repeatedly questioning the latter’s decisions (which everyone agreed weren’t good) in meetings, in front of others. This happened a month into my tenure, and was quite the introduction to corporate not being college. I have similar stories from my second and third employer, if not quite as extreme.
I’m guessing this ultimately boils down to corporate culture differences.
This is exactly the situation in (Asian) corporate, which is where I spent the first few years of my career at three different employers. In fact, at my first employer (a giant MNC headquartered in my country) juniors were expected to essentially shut up and do as we were told; the mere prospect of clarifying what a very senior person meant was terrifying for most. And at least in the Asian corporate contexts where I worked, what AnthonyC said is correct:
Given this, when I read what you said here
I thought “but he, the CEO, can definitely threaten you. Is the OP not worried at all about this?”
At my first employer, my boss’s boss (who everyone in the entire department loved) was fired by his boss (who everyone hated) for repeatedly questioning the latter’s decisions (which everyone agreed weren’t good) in meetings, in front of others. This happened a month into my tenure, and was quite the introduction to corporate not being college. I have similar stories from my second and third employer, if not quite as extreme.
I’m guessing this ultimately boils down to corporate culture differences.