How does trust, or lack thereof, affect the CEOs’ ability to communicate?

Leo was a busy man. He supervised 21 hospitals located in eight different US states. He ran a large hospital earlier in his career, so he felt comfortable giving his CEOs advice about running their operations. Leo felt, even though he never explicitly said it, that the people who reported to him would not work as hard as he would, and that he would need to “ride” them to get things done. This was a difficult time for his company, as it had just been created through an employee stock ownership plan, and cash flows were extremely important. Leo was charged with increasing the profitability of each of his hospitals and generating greater cash flows.

Leo was so busy that often he did not have time to speak directly to his CEOs. Consequently, most of his interactions with them took the form of memos, e-mails, and reports that he required his CEOs to produce. These reports allowed him to understand the operations of the hospitals, from the current state of accounts payable to staffing ratios. If he did not understand a report or had an underlying question, he would immediately call the CEO who produced the report. Because Leo was so busy, he frequently reviewed the reports late at night or on the weekend. He had the home and cell phone numbers of all the CEOs, and when he called he expected them to pick up and answer his questions. Although he sometimes felt overwhelmed, he also felt compelled to stay heavily involved in the day-to-day decision-making, lest the organization’s profit goals not be met.