"That polite chuckle" is really a stand in for all
the soft power they wield in person that evaporates
with WFH. They have lost a degree of control and power,
it is basic human nature to look for a way to claw
that back.
That's an interesting angle and I really mean "interesting" in the literal sense.
My hunch is that the corporate executive's thirst for power generally works a little differently than that, in ways I find it difficult to express.
Why do people want those executive jobs? Quite honestly I don't feel the primary appeal for them lies in the minutia of those in-person interactions -- the polite chuckles and such.
I do not think they typically care about Cubicle Slave #58332 enough to be gratified when they (either individually, or in aggregate) give up that polite chuckle for an unfunny joke. For them, that would be like caring about whether or not an insect laughed at their jokes -- and caring about your token genuflections, about your small personal humiliations, is still caring.
So what is the appeal for them? Well, money and status, occasionally with some loyalty and/or core belief in the company added to the mix.
My hunch is that the corporate executive's thirst for power generally works a little differently than that, in ways I find it difficult to express.
Why do people want those executive jobs? Quite honestly I don't feel the primary appeal for them lies in the minutia of those in-person interactions -- the polite chuckles and such.
I do not think they typically care about Cubicle Slave #58332 enough to be gratified when they (either individually, or in aggregate) give up that polite chuckle for an unfunny joke. For them, that would be like caring about whether or not an insect laughed at their jokes -- and caring about your token genuflections, about your small personal humiliations, is still caring.
So what is the appeal for them? Well, money and status, occasionally with some loyalty and/or core belief in the company added to the mix.