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How honest are you in the exit interview with the CEO?
Would you be less or more honest if you talking to the head of HR? You are in a senior position in an organization and are leaving to join another company. Though you enjoyed your time with the company there were also some bad decisions and bad leadership.
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1 Answer
Most people will be more honest with human resources than the CEO. There are a number of factors that contribute to this including: HR usually provides a "safer" place that fosters open communication; the CEO is usually better connected with the outside world and can therefore have more of an impact on your ability to find work in the future; the CEO is usually more emotionally attached to the business and may react poorly to critical feedback; and many HR professionals are trained to solicit this type of feedback.
With that said, I strongly encourage you to offer feedback directly to the CEO, particularly if you have earned the right to do so. For me, this would mean that you've made a valuable contribution to the business and behaved in an ethical, professional manner even if you disagreed with some of the decisions the organization made. Once you are having the conversation with the CEO, make sure that feedback is constructive in nature and backed by data and examples. Most CEOs don't like emotional, gut instinct type of feedback. Also, be prepared for feedback about your own performance. In my career, I have found that honesty is a two way street.
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