The Marketing Society held a great-sounding event last night, 'tough at the top', 
interviews with 50 CEOs, which was held on the 28th floor of the Shard, Europe's tallest building, which is very near our offices.
I couldn't make the event, sadly, but I happened to be taking some photos yesterday lunchtime, including some of the Shard, seen from the bottom.
What occurs to me is that the best CEOs (in my limited experience of meeting them) did not get to where they are today by having only the view from the top.
They come across as quite 'grounded' and have a good appraisal of different perspectives, from the person in the street right up to those in the boardroom.
The best research is like these CEOs. It is able to distinguish the client agenda (top down view) from the interests of those on the ground. It is valuable to the former and true to the latter.
And incidentally, it may be tough at the top, but it was blooming perishing at the bottom.
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