Westpac 'CEO' tells the world how great he is – AFR

Yetton wants to be a real CEO. His profile says so. Not a regular CEO, though, but one who inspires admiring profiles and attracts thousands of LinkedIn followers.“My aspiration is to seek compelling Chief Executive roles that match my passion for high organisational ambition; make a difference to customer’s lives; are team-based sports; and have breadth and depth in terms of business assets and levers,” he writes.Harmless puffery?Yetton is an extreme example of LinkedIn’s boastful culture. Humility – or at least discretion – used to be expected of business leaders. As celebrity CEOs emerged, pushed by the rise of business journalism, a line was crossed. Leaders couldn’t just be decent and capable. They had to be exceptional.LinkedIn is littered with boastful profiles. Most breach the “show, don’t tell” rule. This means, provide examples of your talents; don’t declare your talents.Take Adam Bennett, the chief information officer at Suncorp Group, who describes himself as an “inspirational and highly authentic leader”. If you possess either of those attributes, conventional wisdom would suggest you don’t need to say so. (Bennett declined to comment when approached through a Suncorp spokeswoman.)Or the former head of investments at Colonial First State, fund manager Scott Tully, who
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