Pam Slim’s open letter to CxOs of all types couldn’t be more dead-on.

She calls for honesty, respect, profit sharing, and cooperation between the executives and the rank and file. Hardly revolutionary, but it’s all true.

I have the luck of working at a company with a (relatively new) CEO who takes his employees seriously. It wasn’t always the case. The original management team once told an employee who was worried about a salary freeze that he “wasn’t here to coddle employees.” Not that he didn’t take home a nice bonus check after helping us lose a few hundred million dollars.

This same letter could be read to anyone in a management or leadership position of any organization. Respect the people working with you. You serve them as much as they serve you. A leader is nothing without his followers. Keep that in mind.