C-Suite executives need to know that they represent the company even when they are off the clock. The recent jettisoning of Kroger’s chief for activities away from work is a sobering reminder.
Personal conduct away from the office, even if it has no relationship to any co-worker or the finances of the company, may go against company policies and could be harmful to the business.
The demise of executive Rodney McMullen was quick. The Kroger grocery chain board learned of some “personal conduct” of his they called “inconsistent” with the company’s business ethics policy and immediately acted. 
Executives often are fired for lagging performance, failure to meet financial goals, misconduct at work or relating to employees and simply not delivering expected results. But your conduct off the job matters too. It does not have to be criminal or actionable for it to be stupid and offensive enough to alter your job status. The world is no longer compartmentalized.
We live in a time when it is not just sexual misconduct that causes people’s employment to be in peril, but also inappropriate, racist, misogynistic and other potentially offensive comments made away from the work environment can reflect on the company and the employee.
And a CEO will be held to a higher standard when it comes to what can tarnish their reputation or the company’s. The Kroger CEO is not the first C-Suite inhabitant to be tossed like this. Law firm Boardman Clark discussed an exec with a podcast who made negative comments “about women, his anti-transgender opinions, and his opposition to diversity initiatives” on his podcast. He argued in a lawsuit that it was within his First Amendment right to do so. But non-governmental employees can be fired for what they say because aren’t protected by the First Amendment.
As a company executive you may be off the clock, but you should not think any potentially offensive comments or behavior will stay off the record. As a C-Suite denizen, you are always representing your company.