Trust
The hard truth about CEOs and their “ability” to sink a company
A quote from the book “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz:
Without trust, communication breaks. More specifically: in any human interaction, the required amount of communication is inversely proportional to the level of trust.
Consider the following: If I trust you completely, then I require no explanation or communication of your actions whatsoever, because I know that whatever you are doing is in my best interests. On the other hand, if I don’t trust you at all, then no amount of talking, explaining, or reasoning will have any effect on me, because I do not trust that you are telling me.
In a company context, this is a critical point. As a company grows, communication becomes its biggest challenge. If the employees fundamentally trust the CEO, then communication will be vastly more efficient than if they don’t. Telling things as they are is a critical part of building this trust. A CEO’s ability to build this trust over time is often the difference between company that execute well and companies that are chaotic.
Nothing more to add. Simply exemplary.
Link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Hard-Thing-About-Things/dp/0062273205