The Corporate Kingdom: When VPs Think They're Royalty

Let's talk about a plague in corporate America that's making everyone's already difficult work life even harder: executives who think their VP title makes them corporate royalty.

"How Dare You Speak to Me, Peasant?"

Imagine this absurd scene: An associate directly answers a VP's question about payments, providing accurate information that could prevent a whole mess of problems. The crime? Speaking to the VP directly. Yes, you read that right. Instead of saying "thank you" for solving a problem, this VP actually went to the associate's boss to complain about being gasp spoken to by someone below their station.

Let's be crystal clear about what happened here:

• An employee did their job efficiently

• They provided accurate, needed information

• They saved everyone time and prevented confusion

• And they got punished for it

What year is this? 1722? Should the associate have brought a gift of gold and spices before daring to speak to such an exalted presence?

"It's Your Majesty, Not Dear [Name]"

But wait, it gets better. In another display of royal delusion, a VP complained about non-native English speakers addressing them as "Dear [Last Name]" in an email. The horror! Quick, someone call the email etiquette police!

Let's break down this stunning example of entitlement and cultural discrimination:

• People working in their second (or third, or fourth) language wrote a professional email

• They used a perfectly respectful form of address common in many cultures

• The VP's response? Run to their boss to complain and demand "correction" meetings about proper forms of address

Let's call this what it is: racism dressed up as "professionalism." When someone decides there's only one correct way to show respect – and surprise, it's their Western, English-speaking way – that's not about maintaining standards. It's about enforcing cultural dominance.

Image Credit: Created using MidJourney AI

Making international colleagues sit through meetings about "proper" email etiquette isn't just a waste of time – it's a form of cultural humiliation. These professionals aren't being unprofessional; they're bringing their own equally valid forms of professional courtesy to the workplace. The truly unprofessional one is the VP who can't recognize or respect that professionalism comes in many cultural forms.

Should they have started the email with "O Most Exalted One, Supreme Ruler of Floor 3, Master of Monthly Reports, Bearer of the Sacred VP Title"?

Here's what's actually inappropriate:

• Making everyone's job harder during already challenging times

• Creating unnecessary anxiety about basic workplace communication

• Punishing efficiency because it didn't come wrapped in enough layers of hierarchy

• Discriminating against different cultural approaches to professionalism

• Forcing people to abandon their cultural practices to satisfy one person's ego

• Using "professionalism" as a weapon against cultural differences

• Wasting other executives' time with petty complaints about perceived slights

These aren't just amusing examples of entitled behavior – they represent a serious problem in corporate culture. In a world where people are dealing with:

• Rising living costs

• Increasing workloads

• Complex global challenges

• Work-life balance struggles

• Mental health concerns

The last thing anyone needs is a VP throwing a tantrum because someone dared to be efficient or didn't use their preferred honorific.

This behavior has real consequences:

• Employees waste time figuring out "proper channels" instead of solving problems

• International colleagues feel alienated and disrespected

• Good people leave toxic environments

• Innovation dies because nobody wants to risk speaking up

• Companies lose efficiency and competitive edge

Let's talk about who really keeps a company running: it's not the VPs in their corner offices obsessing over email etiquette. It's the people doing the actual work. The ones processing the payments, managing the projects, dealing with customers, writing the code, running the operations, and making things happen every single day.

Here's a truth these self-proclaimed corporate royals don't want to hear: It's a lot easier to replace someone who makes decisions than someone who knows how to execute them. Any VP can say "make it happen" - but the real value lies in the people who actually know how to make it happen, who understand the intricate details, who've built the relationships, and who keep the company running day after day.

These "subordinates" you're so quick to put in their place? They're the actual kings and queens of the corporate world. Without them, your decisions are just words on a paper. They turn your vague directives into reality. They solve the problems you didn't even know existed. They make you look good while you're busy policing email greetings.

Dear VPs who think they're royalty,

• Your title is not a crown

• Your office is not a throne room

• Your employees are professionals, not servants

• Your position deserves respect, but not worship

• Your job is to facilitate success, not demand tributes

The world is challenging enough without your power trips making it worse. If someone solves a problem, say thank you. If someone addresses you respectfully in their second language, appreciate their effort. If your ego is so fragile that these situations upset you, perhaps it's time to look in the mirror and ask yourself what's really going on.

Today…we need:

• Leaders, not rulers

• Collaboration, not kingdoms….(Collaboration does not mean Return to office, its 2025, We have technology! Read more about this: Remote Work Backlash: The Archaic Thinking That’s Holding Us Back)

• Solutions, not ceremonies

• Efficiency, not ego

• Respect that goes both ways

The era of corporate royalty needs to end. We have real problems to solve and real work to do. Nobody has time for manufactured drama about who can speak to whom or which honorific is proper enough for your exalted status.

To the real MVPs - the doers, the makers, the problem-solvers: You are the true backbone of every successful company. Your knowledge, skills, and dedication are what turn executive decisions into actual results. Don't let anyone make you feel less valuable because of their own inflated sense of importance.

Remember: If you need everyone to treat you like royalty to feel important, you're not actually that important. The truly important people are too busy making things happen to worry about titles and honorifics. True leadership is about lifting others up, not demanding they bow down - and the real leaders are often the ones doing the work, not just talking about it.