Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This chapter explores the intricate role of senior executives in performance management (PM), emphasizing their unique position as both architects and especially objects (i.e., subjects) of PM processes. It challenges much of the thinking around traditional PM systems, arguing for a more nuanced approach that accounts for the complex, dynamic, and often contradictory performance expectations placed on senior executives and further argues that examining these issues reveals “fault lines” within PM that are worth considering. These fault lines are identified as the 5 C’s of senior executive performance: comprehensive, contradictory, constructed, composite, and consequential. The chapter also calls for research into the constructed nature of PM assessments, recognizing the subjective and context-dependent aspects of evaluating performance for all employees, not just senior executives.</jats:p>