Stress
Who says being a CEO is stressful? Everyone, that's who. Sure, it has its perks. For example, you can be late to your own meetings and no one will say anything. But the reason you're late for your own meetings is often because you just came from a meeting that went late. And now you're checking your watch because you have a meeting right after this one.
And so go your days. As the CEO, you oversee everything. Sure, you have executives under you that do the actual managing, but if anything goes wrong, you'll be held responsible. Let's say someone sneaks a video camera into one of your chicken farms, catching workers stomping on live chickens and doing all kinds of mean, nasty things. Guess whose picture winds up in the news? That's right, yours.
This is why a lot of CEOs work long hours, delving into details and "walking the floor" of their offices, chicken processing plants, and farms. Eighty-hour workweeks can and probably will happen, which could lead to additional stress in your home life (or lack thereof). Cell phones and laptops mean you're always accessible, which can rob you of your down time after work or on vacation.
Then there's that other not-so-fun executive stuff, like firing people. When you're faced with rising costs, lower sales, and revenue prospects trending downward, sometimes there's no avoiding it. Sometimes it's going to have to be your decision to cut loose hundreds of people for the sake of saving the company.
Decisions like those won't seem fair or easy, but hopefully you have the thick skin to handle the darts that tend to land on you. Truly successful top executives know how to balance life and health with the demands of the job.