Patron incognito : États-Unis

After watching this show for the first time, I found this interesting. This gives a chance for a company CEO work in the "front lines" and see how things in the company are really like,see the good and bad things that happen in their company, but most of all, they can see that they have great employees and talented ones that could be a great asset to them, but they never had a chance to display their talents. Along with the good, there are the bad ones that could hurt their company. This is something that they may not know or realize it. In addition, I found it interesting to hear some of the employees stories.

Another thing I can agree with in the beginning of the show they say "CEOs are "out of touch of their own companies", but I would go a little further in saying that odds are, some of these CEOs aren't in touch at all, because odds are, some of them have never spent an hour in the "front lines". They may have come out of business school, right to the corporate office, so they truly do not know or understand what it's like to work in their company.

The concept you are seeing in this show is something that is not really new. The former owner and CEO of Godfafther's Pizza embraced this philosophy back in the 80s and 90s.

As much as I enjoy watching this show, I wonder how long will it last, because as this keeps going on, I can see the employees will eventually start to figure out that the new hire brought in, is the CEO of that company and those employees will be on their best behavior to look good and this is where this show can lose it's realism. Hopefully, this will last, but only time will tell.

It's curious to see the interplay between the high-flying bosses and the enthusiastic junior employees. Often the bosses are unfit to do the jobs and often they are just going about the motions, not even pretending to be worried that their menial job is on the line.

I don't know whether to blame the show or the culture of North America, but I find it distasteful when the bosses reveal themselves and give out gifts at the end. Having a CEO tell you that you did a really good job should feel special; that's all that really needs to happen. Instead, they want to out-do Oprah and give employees holidays, cars etc. I once even saw one of these bosses give a worker 2 promotions. How does one keep morale in the rest of the team when they know that just because the boss stumbled across this guy, he got promoted from under them to above them?

The problems revealed are often along the lines of "yeah, this has been a problem for a while, but management doesn't care". Going undercover shouldn't really be necessary for that kind of problem.

I had friend who was one of the workers on an episode in past so I know first hand the things given away at end are real. However even he told me that him and others already knew what was going on. Put that all aside though its still an entertaining show with emotional message.

I'm not sure how scripted each of the episodes of this program is. I believe some of the customers are extras hired in case the CEO does a really bad job. But many of the companies represented here are strong companies needing no extra publicity, and CEOs are on busy schedule, so I can't believe that they'd do this just for the fun of it.

In any case, I was impressed with some of the CEO that appeared in the show. I have to confess that I haven't seen all the episodes, so I may have missed some, but here's some of the CEOs that caught my attention:

Coby Brooks CEO of Hooters: 'had real no-nonsense attitude about things, but you could tell that he cared about the employees (and many other things). I'm sure there will be a second coming of Coby Brooks in the future.

Rick Arquilla COO of Roto-Rooter: Again had real no-nonsense attitude, but sincerely thinking about the good of the company, and its employees.

Kim Schaefer CEO of Great Wolf Resorts: Someone who can walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Focused without being overly serious, and yet serious.

As you can see my preference is for CEO who have no-nonsense attitude but has good sense of humanity. Running a company is serious business, and I think flashiness is not a required component of CEO's style. Of course I'm not against any of the flashy CEOs that came on this show.

This is a really interesting show that shows what it takes to run a company. CEOs appearing here shows some quality of what it takes to be on top. And it shows even if the story IS scripted.

It's a great show that shows the picture from both sides. And maybe something like this should be taught in business schools. It's a kind study that is very much needed for every corporation. But I wouldn't know if I'd have the guts to go undercover in my own company whether its for a show or no show.

Why does a reality show need a casting director? That should tell you everything you need to know.