BNET's CEO Report Card

(MoneyWatch) 

You know the public rap on CEOs: If they're not grossly overpaid, they're incompetent or unethical or some combination of all three. But what's the view from the inside? How do top managers rate CEO job performance these days? BNET decided to ask the CEO's toughest critics — we surveyed more than 1,500 senior managers and executives around the country — and find out what they really think of the top boss: What are CEOs' key strengths and vulnerabilities? How well do they delegate, lead, inspire, share credit, make decisions, handle crises, foster good ideas, and train future leaders?

The results, which we share and analyze in BNET's first CEO Report Card, show that chief execs get surprisingly high grades for ethics and standards of conduct — yet suffer from critical "blind spots" as managers and leaders. One constant theme we found: the views of CEO job performance change dramatically the farther one gets from the corner office. To get started, read our three-part analysis of the survey's findings: "Lacking the Human Touch," "Low Marks for Innovation," and "Understanding the Generation Gap." To delve deeper, you can download the entire survey yourself.