Leaders and Managers: Flashy Tesla at Work?

[Lex]

Love how we're justifying that we saved and splurged, to get the world's first practical all-electric car. Fresh air and elimination of the wasteful and toxic oil-to-fuel supply chain are top priorities for me, affording a big stretch from the "affordable."

But that said the humble in me is strong and sometimes I'm thankful mine is "just" a 70D with the textile seats and old headliner.

I meet with a lot of people in my work and I've only had one really negative experience in my recent memory. I can't say whether my car had anything to do with it but if it did I bet you could easily guess the industry if given 3 tries

 

[cellphonechris]

Love how we're justifying that we saved and splurged, to get the world's first practical all-electric car. Fresh air and elimination of the wasteful and toxic oil-to-fuel supply chain are top priorities for me, affording a big stretch from the "affordable."

But that said the humble in me is strong and sometimes I'm thankful mine is "just" a 70D with the textile seats and old headliner.

I meet with a lot of people in my work and I've only had one really negative experience in my recent memory. I can't say whether my car had anything to do with it but if it did I bet you could easily guess the industry if given 3 tries

Oil and Gas?

 

[apiske148]

I get looks but not in a negative way, people who I work with that I know it's my car dont give me a hard time either. I do not flaunt the car and dont bring it up because I am not that type of guy...

 

[timvracer]

As someone else mentioned, here in the Bay Area, owning a Tesla is nothing special... they are ALL OVER the place! I frequently will be in a line of 3 or 4 Tesla's in the carpool lane during my commute, and they are crawling all over my neighborhood.

Our work parking lot typically has about 30 cars, 3 are Tesla's daily, and today there will be 5 (board meeting).

 

[Ofarlig]

To add to what I said before, I know some people at my work place most likely think it's weird I got a $110k car when im around 10-15 years younger than the second youngest person in the company. But as I said before, what they choose to spend their money on is their business and the same goes for me.

I seem to be decently good at saving money on most things compared to others so that means I can splurge more on certain things.

 

[PhilDavid]

What's the reaction to driving your Tesla to work? If you're the CEO or sole proprietor then it's not an issue. But if you're an employee and report to others, wouldn't driving a Tesla to work risk sending the wrong kind of message? If you're a leader at your organization how would you feel with your employee driving the most expensive car in the employee lot? What about if you're a client seeing your agent/vendor/partner roll up in a Tesla? Not sure if it makes any difference but my S is red with Arachnids and kind of looks like sex on wheels.

If you are uncomfortable just tell them that your wife/significant other bought the car for you.

Act surprised that their wife/siginificant other has not bought them an electric car as well...

 

[Pinot.Noir]

As someone else mentioned, here in the Bay Area, owning a Tesla is nothing special... they are ALL OVER the place! I frequently will be in a line of 3 or 4 Tesla's in the carpool lane during my commute, and they are crawling all over my neighborhood.

It has been a bit of culture shock driving here in Summit County, CO. Tesla's here are fairly rare, with most of them only stopping at the Supercharger in Silverthorne and then getting back on the freeway. I've had a lot of questions, thumbs up, and several taking photos of the car. Kinda cool....nothing like in California where they are a dime a dozen.

On the topic at hand, I was 2 levels away from the CEO (until my retirement on 7/3), and he drove a Prius. He was always very complimentary of my car, but then, my former employer does a lot of business with Tesla, so that helped.

 

[Altes]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...Tesla....Flashy.....not around the Bay area....dime a dozen three alone in my parking lot at work. Drive it every day 100 miles round trip....kinda why I got it....commuting here sucks, may as well lessen the blow with AP2

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

I don't really see a Tesla as a status symbol as much of a choice whatever our reasons for it might be.

For me in terms of monthly payments it's not any different than it was with a leased Porsche Cayman. I didn't see that as particularly flashy either.

 

[whitex]

A close friend of mine is the prez and CEO of a small insurance firm. He built the business from scratch and employs 30-40 people. He has a really nice car and a couple collector cars from the 60s and 70s.

Drives none of them to work.

It’s for the same reasons mentioned above and by the OP too... it can give the wrong impression to lower workers, and undermine trust in a small company.

I think I missed something. Why would you not trust a company whose CEO drives a nice car? Or is it the fact that the car is from 1960 with no modern safety features like seat-belts, so it would create an impression of being reckless or otherwise clash with your expectations of a CEO of an insurance firm (they tell me to wear seat-belts but his car doesn't even have them)?

Would you buy insurance from a firm whose CEO is driving a non-showy, inexpensive car like this?

 

[Uncle Paul]

A few years ago there were some posts from Tesla owners in the Bay Area that their cars were being vandalized by people jealous of such fine cars. Have not heard much about this lately.

 

[whitex]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...Tesla....Flashy.....not around the Bay area....dime a dozen three alone in my parking lot at work. Drive it every day 100 miles round trip....kinda why I got it....commuting here sucks, may as well lessen the blow with AP2

Your avatar picture shows an AP1 car.

 

[shanelord]

When I was younger, like many I used to get caught up in feeling jealous about other peoples success. I'd get upset that they had things I didn't and got caught up trying to keep up with them thinking it would make things better. It made me do things with my money that were silly and short term, and ultimately didn't make me happy.

I learnt from this (and I still am!) and began focusing more on me and my family's social contributions and personal work ethic.

I now celebrate other peoples achievements rather than be jealous of them. I believe educated people with a similar view that constant personal improvement breeds success do the same thing.

Note : I don't look at success and happiness as something that requires wealth. Success is finding your place, being the best you can be at whatever you do and finding happiness throughout the journey.

Also - success in Australia (I can't speak for elsewhere) is fraught with the possibility of being hit with a thing we call the "tall poppy syndrome" supported by a "crab mentality" - this like many accepted societal norms is counter intuitive and over time I hope to see eradicated.

Based on all of this; no I don't think anyone owning a Tesla is a problem. People who do are just uneducated or haven't learnt the above lessons yet.

Thanks,
Shane.

 

[glide]

What's the reaction to driving your Tesla to work? If you're the CEO or sole proprietor then it's not an issue. But if you're an employee and report to others, wouldn't driving a Tesla to work risk sending the wrong kind of message? If you're a leader at your organization how would you feel with your employee driving the most expensive car in the employee lot? What about if you're a client seeing your agent/vendor/partner roll up in a Tesla? Not sure if it makes any difference but my S is red with Arachnids and kind of looks like sex on wheels.

The kind of person who even thinks about this is the problem. Not the people around them.

 

[johnnyS]

A lot of our clients--other small business owners--drive a Tesla. Many of the these people are true leaders. I find it leads to many interesting conversations.

 

[pinball_player]

I am a software engineer at a public company in the Boston area. I make good money, and my wife is a nurse for a large Boston hospital and also makes good money. I have no one working for me, but am a Principal Software engineer. Owning a Tesla is not a stretch at all financially, and everyone in my office knows about Tesla. So for me owning a Tesla is not something that is strange at all.

 

[powerfactor]

I'm the exact opposite of your question, OP.
The company I work for has a fairly flat management structure, The boss(owner) and everyone else.
He parks his 7 year old Audi next to my Tesla and explains to our customers that I'm driving that car because of the life choices I made.
Cultural note: In Australia my spec MS cost the same as a free standing home an hour from the city.

 

[ai4px]

Also - success in Australia (I can't speak for elsewhere) is fraught with the possibility of being hit with a thing we call the "tall poppy syndrome" supported by a "crab mentality" - this like many accepted societal norms is counter intuitive and over time I hope to see eradicated.

My ex is a teacher at a local high school. We live in a small city that has a pretty large proportion of poverty (64% of kids qualify for welfare). She has seen really bright kids with great writing skills who play the fool in class and asked them why. If they act smart they get razzed and in some cases beat up for "acting white". This is the crabs in a basket problem... one tries to escape and the others pull him back in the basket. The promise of the public schools was to educate kids no matter their station in life and let them rise up (lots of intelligent people aren't in positions to use their smarts to get ahead). The problem is that the very group which could use the ability to rise rejects it and anyone trying. Really is a shame.

Be all you can be. Don't let others pull you down. Pardon me I'm on a rant.... we've got kids trapped in poverty because of peer pressure and we've got a whole 'nuther group of kids who got participation trophies for nothing and will be sorely disappointed when the world doesn't deliver itself to their doorstep.

 

[Big Earl]

My response to people at work who give me a sideways look is usually "dual income, no kids." I manage a half dozen people of various ages. The older folks are mostly indifferent and the younger folks are excited about Tesla and electric cars in general.

We all make decisions that impact our financial situations and I'm not really worried about what other people think. With proper planning, most people can or will be able to afford a Tesla.

 

[sw4819284]

I work in Silicon Valley so having a TSLA is a complete non-event. Nobody even looks at me on the road. I counted 5 others (all MS, but did see a new M3 in there too the other day) one time on my way out of the parking garage at work (and I park pretty close to the exit). Also my boss has one too so not an issue there either .