If I'm the CEO and I'm going to ask some people to work 80 hour weeks for a few days/weeks/months, I'd be around and find something productive to do just to show solidarity.
I've been the engineer in that scenario a number of times in my life. Almost every time there were management people who stayed who just couldn't contribute. Honestly, I didn't particularly need them to suffer. I'd rather they go home, recognize the situation and reflect on whether something should change if this is a semi-regular situation..and then act. That action is within their capacity and it would have been impactful to me.
As it was, they just didn't act, treated the suffering as a badge and pretended they were in the foxhole with us. If they could handle it, why couldn't we? Why were we bitching so much? They were right there next to us! Needless to say, I don't work in those kinds of places anymore.
It is not about just suffering for the badge of it. I guarantee you that there is actually something productive and useful to do. At the very least, as you say, you can reflect on the current situation and write-up the plan to avoid it in the future.
The only time I pulled a free week end at a company I worked for out of niceness, my boss was sitting in our office evidently having nothing to do beside support me and bring me a coffee every couple of hours.
At the time I thought that's not needed go home, but with retrospect I respect him a lot more for that.
That might sound dumb, but that's one of those things that stick with you when evaluating how you are treated by someone
Yup. If you're asking your team to dive on a grenade, the least you can do is make sure they're stocked with refreshments and feeling like you have some skin in the game.
