In Spider-Man, Uncle Ben famously tells Peter Parker: “With great power comes great responsibility.” That’s not just true for superheroes. Even we mere mortals have to juggle power and accountability. But how far does that go?
Recently it was reported that the CEO of Heathrow Airport was fast asleep with his phone on silent when a fire at a nearby electricity substation knocked out its power in March. His deputy stepped in and decided to shut down operations for the day.
The story triggered waves of both sympathy and outrage. How could the CEO of one of the world’s busiest airports be unreachable during a crisis? Surely humans have a right to sleep undisturbed?
In fact, the deputy handled things adeptly and made what an internal review concluded was the right decision. But it was not a good look for the CEO and he had to apologise.
It’s also a neat cautionary tale for investment banking leaders. How reachable should senior executives be outside working hours? And what happens when they aren’t?
In investment banking, as in airport management, urgent decisions don’t always stick to working hours.
A bid for an evening equity block trade needs approval in 10 minutes. A client demands a last minute deviation from standard legal terms and wants to announce the deal now. A trader breaches a risk limit and needs immediate guidance.
In my experience in equity capital markets, escalations to senior management would happen on most deals, and often (not always) with a short time fuse to make the decision. Speed of response could make the difference between a deal happening or falling through, or between winning or losing a hotly contested mandate.
Yet senior figures with the authority to greenlight these moves aren’t always reachable. Sometimes they’re in meetings, sometimes on planes, sometimes — like the Heathrow boss — they’ve turned their phones off for the night.
I’ve been on both sides of this. Early in my career, I remember several instances of everyone scrambling to reach the head of investment banking or capital markets to sign off a large, time-sensitive block trade or some other balance sheet commitment, only to be met with voicemail.
By the time we’d got through, the window had slammed shut and the client had gone with another bank. This happened more than once, and some of the memories still make me wince.
Years later, when I was the one fielding those midnight calls, I’d keep my phone on or make sure to delegate authority explicitly if I knew I’d be offline. Maybe it was the scars from those early days, but I was determined not to be the bottleneck that killed a deal.
Blackout or burnout?
The Heathrow episode highlights a deeper tension about work-life balance and the way professional demands creep into private life. Should senior executives be on call 24/7?
The best leaders strike a balance: they empower their teams to make decisions but remain accessible for genuine emergencies. The worst either vanish completely or hover over every decision like a hawk
In finance, the unspoken answer is usually yes. Global markets and the ferocious pace of investment banking mean that deals don’t wait for weekends or time zones. Yet the human cost is real. Burnout, strained relationships and the erosion of personal time are all too common.
Some firms have tried to formalise ‘blackout’ periods for senior staff, when they are prohibited from reading emails, taking calls or doing any work for, say, a two week period.
But my sneaking suspicion is these are often honoured more in the breach than the observance. And the very fact you need these blackout rules speaks volumes. The truth is, the higher you climb, the harder it is to switch off.
There’s also a cultural angle. In some firms, being permanently available is worn like a badge of honour — a sign of commitment. In others, it’s seen as bad delegation or even micromanaging.
The best leaders strike a balance: they empower their teams to make decisions but remain accessible for genuine emergencies. The worst either vanish completely or hover over every decision like a hawk. I’ve seen all three types.
Technology has made it easier than ever to stay connected — and harder to disconnect. Smartphones mean work follows you everywhere. But being reachable isn’t the same as being responsive. I’ve seen senior bankers who have their phones with them take hours to respond to urgent messages.
They might be stuck in back-to-back meetings or simply overwhelmed by the pinging inbox. Sometimes, more cynically, they’d just rather the whole thing blew over without their fingerprints. Every banker I know has seen this happen. Being accessible means little if you can’t act.
Plan for the unplanned
Maybe the real lesson from Heathrow is about clarity. If senior executives want or need to switch off, they should do it — but deliberately, not by accident.
That means setting up escalation protocols, delegating authority in advance and making sure teams know when and how to bypass an absent decision maker. In finance, ambiguity kills deals.
The Heathrow deputy did the right thing by stepping in and stepping up, but the fact that the CEO’s unavailability became a news story suggests the protocols perhaps weren’t as robust as they should have been. The CEO said his phone had gone into silent mode without his knowledge.
Ultimately, the unreachable boss is a symptom of a broader tension in modern professional life. We want leaders to be human, with friends, families, hobbies and a decent night’s sleep. Yet we also expect them to be omnipresent, ready to spring into action whenever needed.
Striking that balance is messy but essential. Whether you’re running an airport or an investment bank, the one thing you can’t afford is silence when the power goes down.