--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: While it is almost certainly true that…" description: "\"While it is almost certainly true that leaders ought to eat last, the evidence on the ever-widening difference between CEO and average employee pay and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b93/jeffrey-pfeffer-8575_average_while-it-is-almost-certainly-true-that-l_2306553.jpg" --- # While it is almost certainly true that leaders ought to… ![“While it is almost certainly true that leaders ought to eat last, the evidence on the ever-widening difference between CEO and average employee pay and the enormous severance packages leaders obtain even as front-line workers see their economic well-being eviscerated makes a mockery of the idea…” quote by Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b93/jeffrey-pfeffer-8575_average_while-it-is-almost-certainly-true-that-l_2306553.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b93/jeffrey-pfeffer-8575_average_while-it-is-almost-certainly-true-that-l_2306553.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b93/jeffrey-pfeffer-8575_average_while-it-is-almost-certainly-true-that-l_2306553.jpg) > “While it is almost certainly true that leaders ought to eat last, the evidence on the ever-widening difference between CEO and average employee pay and the enormous severance packages leaders obtain even as front-line workers see their economic well-being eviscerated makes a mockery of the idea that leaders do anything other than take care of themselves.” [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Leaders often prioritize personal gain over collective welfare, contradicting the ideal of servant leadership. **In simple terms:** Leaders often put themselves first, not others. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge self‑serving leadership practices. Themes leadership inequality ethics Mood critical skeptical Type analytical critical When to use this quote - salary negotiations - board meetings - employee advocacy - policy reform Key Concepts power dynamics organizational behavior Questions to Reflect On - How can organizations enforce genuine servant leadership? - What mechanisms deter excessive executive compensation? A Different Perspective Leaders may claim altruism while still benefiting personally. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Average](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/average/) [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Ceo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ceo/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Economic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic/) [Economic Eviscerated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic-eviscerated-5464624/) [Employee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/employee/) [Enormous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enormous/) [Evidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evidence/) [Fronts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fronts/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Leader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leader/) [Leaders Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leaders-care-804500/) [Leaders Obtain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leaders-obtain-5464623/) [Leaders Ought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leaders-ought-1014979/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Mockery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mockery/) [Ought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ought/) [Packages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/packages/) [Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) [Take care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/take-care/) [True Leaders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-leaders-365414/) [Well being](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/well-being/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Workers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/workers/) ## Related quotes > [Leaders do what ought to be done whether their deeds are known by thousands or known by no one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orrin-woodward/leaders-do-what-ought-to-be-done-whether-their-deeds-are-known-by/) [Orrin Woodward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orrin-woodward/) > [“T he people and all their leaders ought to know t h at historical law which lays down t h at certain concessions are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/t-he-people-and-all-their-leaders-ought-to-know-t-h-at-historical-law/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Bad leaders care about who is right. Good leaders care about what is right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sinek/bad-leaders-care-about-who-is-right-good-leaders-care-about-what-is/) [Simon Sinek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sinek/) > [“Once a President or congressman is elected, we the taxpayers take care of them for life. I ask myself: If they are qualified to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-t-kiyosaki/once-a-president-or-congressman-is-elected-we-the-taxpayers-take-care/) [Robert T. 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And plenty of women aren't getting the pay they deserve. While I don't expect the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chrissy-teigen/some-parents-struggle-to-put-food-on-the-table-and-plenty-of-women/) [Chrissy Teigen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chrissy-teigen/) > [More often than not when we do not like our work, it's not necessarily because of the work itself. 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Resilience is one of the most important qualities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/everyone-faces-defeats-setbacks-reversals-of-fortune-but-just-like/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) > [Many companies believe incentives, financial incentives, are the answer to every problem or issue. But people are motivated by much more than money. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/many-companies-believe-incentives-financial-incentives-are-the-answer/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) > [Leaders are not modest, and more importantly, the extensive social science research on narcissism, self-promotion, and similar constructs shows that these qualities and behaviors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/leaders-are-not-modest-and-more-importantly-the-extensive-social/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) > [“When two people always agree, one of them is unnecessary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/when-two-people-always-agree-one-of-them-is-unnecessary/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) > [I completely reject the idea that working adults need to be treated like infants or worse and not told the realities, harsh or not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/i-completely-reject-the-idea-that-working-adults-need-to-be-treated/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) > [The stories leaders and others tell, few of which are true, are a lousy foundation on which to base any sort of science, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/the-stories-leaders-and-others-tell-few-of-which-are-true-are-a-lousy/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) > [Being memorable equals getting picked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/being-memorable-equals-getting-picked/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) > [“(like the BMW mechanic who handed Robert Sutton a survey and pleaded for a five on a five-point scale, because otherwise he would get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/like-the-bmw-mechanic-who-handed-robert-sutton-a-survey-and-pleaded/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) > [Typical pay increases are not enough to motivate employees, but they are enough to irritate them. … Even when companies create seemingly significant pay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/typical-pay-increases-are-not-enough-to-motivate-employees-but-they/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) [Explore all 78 Jeffrey Pfeffer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) ## More Average quotes > [I genuinely did not expect more than half our nation to choose to walk away from our long-term allies into the arms of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-reade/i-genuinely-did-not-expect-more-than-half-our-nation-to-choose-to/) [Brian Reade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-reade/) > [There were times last year when people looked at the scoreboard and thought my batting average was the temperature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buck-martinez/there-were-times-last-year-when-people-looked-at-the-scoreboard-and/) [Buck Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buck-martinez/) > [The average condition of the people improving or deteriorating, depends upon whether population is advancing faster than improvement, or improvement than population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-average-condition-of-the-people-improving-or-deteriorating/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [In comparative terms, there's no poverty in America by a long shot. 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It is only when we know what were the conditions of the average woman's life -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-extraordinary-woman-depends-on-the-ordinary-woman-it-is-only-when/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) [Browse all 2,816 Average quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/average/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "While it is almost certainly true that leaders ought to eat last, the evidence on the ever-widening difference between CEO and average employee pay and the enormous severance packages leaders obtain even as front-line workers see their economic well-being eviscerated makes a mockery of the idea that leaders do anything other than take care of themselves.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jeffrey Pfeffer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/while-it-is-almost-certainly-true-that-leaders-ought-to-eat-last-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Average" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/while-it-is-almost-certainly-true-that-leaders-ought-to-eat-last-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b93/jeffrey-pfeffer-8575_average_while-it-is-almost-certainly-true-that-l_2306553.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b93/jeffrey-pfeffer-8575_average_while-it-is-almost-certainly-true-that-l_2306553.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b93/jeffrey-pfeffer-8575_average_while-it-is-almost-certainly-true-that-l_2306553.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“While it is almost certainly true that leaders ought to eat last, the evidence on the ever-widening…” — Jeffrey Pfeffer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jeffrey Pfeffer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "While it is almost certainly true...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/while-it-is-almost-certainly-true-that-leaders-ought-to-eat-last-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/while-it-is-almost-certainly-true-that-leaders-ought-to-eat-last-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```