Why That Big Promotion Can Be a Curse

(MoneyWatch)  You spend years, maybe decades, climbing the corporate ladder. Then one day, it happens. You're named CEO. At that moment, a lifetime of dreams, hard work, and achievement come to fruition.

Being the consummate professional, you act nonchalant as everyone from loved ones to business contacts you hardly know shower you with congratulatory sentiment. But deep inside, your feelings overflow. This is the moment you've always lived for. This is your crowning life achievement.

And as the days go by and all the fervor calms down, you really start to settle into the role. It feels good. It feels right. You feel like you've died and gone to corporate heaven.

Until, one day, it all falls apart. All too soon, you're yanked off that lofty pedestal and falling further than you ever imagined an ego can fall. And you find yourself desperately wishing you'd never ever heard of those three initials: C - E - O.

Sound overly dramatic? Well, it's not. I can tell you from experience; it's not. And it's not just about CEOs; it can happen with any big promotion. Just ask Tony Hayward of BP.

I'm likely the only commentator who thinks so, but Tony Hayward is a good man and a good CEO who found himself in the mother of all no win situations. Even after some heated debate on my In Defense of BP CEO Tony Hayward post and now, assorted academians and crisis-management "gurus" squawking about how, in hindsight, Hayward Fell Short of Modern CEO Demands, I remain unconvinced that anyone in that position could have done better. I would love to see all the critics take a stab at it.

And now that BP is dumping its lightening-rod to save its brand and appease the American public, the media will have a field day with Hayward's reported $18 million exit package, 90 percent of which is his 28-year pension, mostly as a senior executive, which accounts for all the zeros. He deserves every penny. And, he'll be giving up a reported 546,000 share options and up to 2 million shares under a long-term incentive plan that today is worth about $13 million.

Or you can ask Yahoo's Jerry Yang. When Yahoo needed a seasoned turnaround specialist, the board, in all its wisdom, took all of a week and decided to promote the co-founder and Chief Yahoo to CEO. Unfortunately, Yang was a novice who'd never run a company, let alone turned one around - an extraordinarily challenge for even the most seasoned and talented chief executive.

Yang promptly fell flat on his face, botching a sweetheart $33 a share bailout from Microsoft that would have netted Yahoo investors more than $20 billion. Instead, Yang reorganized again and again, a huge morale and productivity killer that resulted in one of the most crippling talent drains in corporate history. More than 100 executives jumped ship.

Now, don't get me wrong; I'm not saying you should feel sorry for CEOs. They're adults who are capable of living with their own decisions and actions. That's how it is and how it should be. What I am saying is that it can happen to you. It can be a C-Level job or even a promotion to VP or GM. So, when you get that big promotion, here's some advice I learned from experience that can save you a lot of pain and anguish:

Don't take yourself too seriously. Self-importance isn't real. On the contrary, it's completely subjective, by definition. Never forget that you're just a man or woman, no more, no less. You bleed and cry, just like everyone else. And what goes up, all too often, comes down in a hurry. The higher the pedestal you set yourself up on, the bigger the fall.

Look, running a company is heady stuff, but it's also risky business. Most fail. A few don't. Either way, there can be huge ups and down, and everything's magnified if you choose to look at it that way. But that's entirely up to you. If you ask me, and I'm sure Tony and Jerry would agree, you'll be better off if you just keep your feet planted firmly on the ground.

Image of CEO Tony Hayward Courtesy BP