Does a CEO always need to be in the office?

There are situations where a CEO or a leader works from home, comes in late, leaves early.

Does the CEOs presence at work matter in getting the work done?

When I became EVP of Walt Disney World, I made it clear there may be times I would leave at 3 pm. But the job would get done. And I didn't want jokes about leaving early.

If you own the company, you can do what you want. If you are a high-level leader, you may not need to be in the office all the time.

But there can be a side effect. If you don't have the right team in place, work might not get done. Gossip could spread about why you are not there. Staff could makes jokes about how often they see you.

But you can get rid of some of the drama by addressing it up front. Explain why you aren't always there, and point out you hired great people so they could take care of the work that needs to be done.

We need to take care of ourselves, take care of each other, and take care of business.

The focus should be on getting the job done, not the hours people are at work.