CEO to HR: "You are simply only here to advise me..."

We lack context of course.  

The bit I object to is:- "Whether or not I take your advice is none of your business as I run the company, not you."  

Again depending on how it was said, I know my wife would have said something directly to him and told him that she didn't like the way she was spoken to.  When I was scaffolding  I knew quite a few lads who would quite happily have given the CEO a black eye  - at least!  But really it depends on the cirumstances.

I ran an outdoor centre but whilst I can't remember a similar occasion I certainly would have said the some thing had I been given repeated 'instructions' from one of the staff on what dto do and how to do it.  I'd hope that I'd have the good manners not to say it such a rude manner..

I don't think it is HR's job, or anyone else's to tell the CEO what they should or should do.  I think it is HR's job to advise the CEO of the choices and possible outcomes of any particular decision.   I know sometimes I've given advice to the CEO where the riskier choice , but more financially lucrative one, was  the chosen even though I personally wouldn't have risked it.  And not a few times have I suggested routes I would take which were riskier were rejected for reasons which I was informed about and couldn't have taken them into consideration.  

But that is the point.  He/she was the CEO - not me! 

Running a business isn't about staying safe.  Sometimes its about taking great risks (or opportunities ?) and that is often not something many HR departments like doing.  Hence the kind of advice we often  give is; "Don't do this there is the possibility you may end up in court", even when the probability is  extremely unlikely.  As an example, it now seems normal practice to avoid anything else than tombstone references, although I can only remember one case where a company faced civil action over a reference, and even that was an FSA company where there are specific rules around giving references.

We lack context of course.  

The bit I object to is:- "Whether or not I take your advice is none of your business as I run the company, not you."  

Again depending on how it was said, I know my wife would have said something directly to him and told him that she didn't like the way she was spoken to.  When I was scaffolding  I knew quite a few lads who would quite happily have given the CEO a black eye  - at least!  But really it depends on the cirumstances.

I ran an outdoor centre but whilst I can't remember a similar occasion I certainly would have said the some thing had I been given repeated 'instructions' from one of the staff on what dto do and how to do it.  I'd hope that I'd have the good manners not to say it such a rude manner..

I don't think it is HR's job, or anyone else's to tell the CEO what they should or should do.  I think it is HR's job to advise the CEO of the choices and possible outcomes of any particular decision.   I know sometimes I've given advice to the CEO where the riskier choice , but more financially lucrative one, was  the chosen even though I personally wouldn't have risked it.  And not a few times have I suggested routes I would take which were riskier were rejected for reasons which I was informed about and couldn't have taken them into consideration.  

But that is the point.  He/she was the CEO - not me! 

Running a business isn't about staying safe.  Sometimes its about taking great risks (or opportunities ?) and that is often not something many HR departments like doing.  Hence the kind of advice we often  give is; "Don't do this there is the possibility you may end up in court", even when the probability is  extremely unlikely.  As an example, it now seems normal practice to avoid anything else than tombstone references, although I can only remember one case where a company faced civil action over a reference, and even that was an FSA company where there are specific rules around giving references.