What is actually going on in the minds of executives?

PSA - I have revived my twitter account! Feel free to follow along here https://twitter.com/mahesh_gkumar if you are on twitter. And now, onto the article.

Have you ever wondered what makes the leaders at the top of the totem pole tick? What is my CEO really thinking? What is the CFO not telling me? What is the CPO afraid of? What will make my CTO happy? Why did the board of directors make such a dumb decision? I have a lot of interest in studying and cataloging human interest, and in this post, I am going to give you all a peek behind the curtain of the engines that drive these executives (specifically, CEO, CFO, CPO, CTO, CRO, and CPCO) and some of my DOs and DON'Ts when it comes to working with them. Caveat emptor, these are my observations and opinions. Your mileage may vary.

Founder (or early employee turned) CEO - This is someone who has gone through hell and some more. They are tough as nails and can persevere through a lot of adversity. They give a new meaning to taking ownership. They have done it all. Sales, customer support, product, engineering, fixing the coffee machine, cleaning the restrooms, and everything else that needed to be done. They will outwork everybody else in the company. Most founder CEOs have a huge chip on their shoulders. If you have been told repeatedly by hundreds of investors, family, and friends that you are not good enough or worthy enough, or skilled enough to be CEO, you will also spend most of your life trying to prove everybody wrong. Nothing matters to them more than their company becoming successful.