The CEO Role in Managing Through Cancer

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The CEO is often described as "the keeper of the culture. S/he plays a leading and vital role in affirming and helping to modify the organization's values and practices. While it is possible for change to occur from the bottom up, companies adapt more swiftly and smoothly to new challenges when a strong leader directs the change process. Employees with cancer have needs outside the norm:

Their condition may make work even more central in their lives as a source of normalcy; thus they attach great value to the assurance of employment. They may require irregular patterns of time off; thus they challenge the manager's and the work group's expectations and practices.
Their needs for support can be intense and unique; thus they demand exceptions and one-off arrangements in a world built on uniformity and consistency.

The approval of exceptional practice starts with the CEO's recognition that employees with cancer demand the organization's clear support. The company's overarching values of compassion, fairness and inclusion can sustain a Managing Through Cancer initiative. It is the CEO who must make this translation of core values into set practices that can inform both managers and employees who are wrestling with these issues.