Ryan cut a dashing figure. Tall, well dressed, and authoritative, he efficiently oversaw a large and far-flung logistics support company. There was a specific chain of command and he kept himself informed by receiving numerous reports in his office on how things were going throughout the company. He even visited the various parts of the operation, swooping in, getting the canned tour, and moving on. Early one morning he was awakened by a call informing him of a very serious accident in one of the company's locations. Subsequent investigation revealed that this particular location was not following safety regulations. Employee morale was low and several of the more experienced managers had recently quit. Ryan was shocked. Why didn't he know this? How could such a problem develop? He read all the reports and had even visited recently. To make matters worse, the investigation revealed that similar problems existed in other locations as well.

Why didn't Ryan know about the problems even though he read the reports and visited?

Ryan is the classic distance leader. He relied on reports to keep track of the various parts of his company. He liked efficiency. There's nothing wrong with that but it seems Ryan's love of efficiency allowed his subordinate leaders to feed him the information he desired, but not necessarily what he needed. As is so common in large organizations, the position of the senior leader had become almost royal so when Ryan did visit, he didn't really learn anything and no one saw him as approachable. As a result, his company was quickly going down hill and he didn't realize it. There's more to leadership than profit and loss statements!

What steps can Ryan take to prevent this sort of problem in the future?

The chain of command that Ryan has established is probably a good, efficient way to run the company; however, he also needs to ensure a chain of communication exists. People at all levels of the company need to be able to let leaders know when there are problems and know their input will be taken seriously. When Ryan visits parts of the company, he needs to take the time to talk to people. It will be best for him to sit down with the managers and ask them questions about what is happening at that location. The workers probably won't tell him much, but if the managers know he's going to ask them real questions, and act on the answers, they are more likely to pass on the information they know.

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