I know lots depends on the industry and so on (and size of the company etc). So to narrow down the scope of the answers let me provide some context: A mature startup in the software industry.
So the question is: are managers expected to work longer hours than their subordinates?
If the answer is yes, does this logic apply for each level? ie
- entry level employees work 8 hours a day
- therefore their boss must work 10 hours a day
- therefore their boss's boss must work 12 hours a day
etc?
if the answer is no, how else can the manager inspire their subordinates to work harder and longer hours?
update - addressing comments
Many comments where made and I would like to address some:
- The start-up is actually not that mature.. ie < 3 years, < 30 employees.. so that can explain the added pressure/need to work harder and longer hours
- Compensation includes stocks as most start-ups would do. That's why any talk about getting paid overtime doesn't make sense. Your overtime is compensated by the stock value appreciating, if you don't get that formula, you shouldn't be at a start-up
- a lot of people are citing studies here and there about the limitations of working past 40 hours/week. Sure if someone is coding for 10 hours straight their code quality will regress and then they'll end up breaking things then fixing them etc.. but I never advocated that people work continuously in one block. I for example chunk my work in intervals.. I go to the gym in between, I go home spend time with the family, then go back to work. I pace my self and take breaks, but I still work longer hours and I make sure that my hours are productive (ie if I'm really tired I just leave work even if it's in the middle of the day.. If I see an employee working while being fatigued or not focused.. I ask them to go home.. sleep, then work some more). Further If I expect people to put more hours some times, by the same token I shouldn't mind them doing less hours when there is less pressure.. this point was well argued in the book The One Thing
- A lot of the comments are one size fit all-absolute statements. Even in the same company can have different work ethics and expectations. For example the culture of Microsoft Bing is much more demanding and intensive than for example Windows. The nature of the job requires constant production support and constant deployments and updates (such is the nature of our start-up), that's not the same as the Windows team that has much longer release schedules (It's like having the same conversation about work hour demands when talking about someone who works in the ER and a pharmacist doing some research work).
That said the points about the difference between inspiring and demanding are very well taken and appreciated. Also about quality being more important than quality. Thank you :)