What Is and What Is

There is a gap between what "is" for a senior executive and what "is" for the person in the field - the one that has the closest contact to a customer. 

When you own your own business and are a company of one, that gap doesn't exist. 

But as you grow, and as levels of management are inserted, the gap between what company leadership thinks is happening and what you think is happening can widen quickly. 

There are few reasons why the gap exists.

1. As communication moves up through the ranks, everyone puts their own filter on it. By the time the message gets up to the top, it's been diluted so much, that the information is basically a blasé statement. 
2. Managers live in a state of fear. How many times have you been knocked down for telling it like it is? We call that, "not being a team player." 
3. When senior executives go out and visit the field, what ends up happening is that managers provide enough forewarning that everyone prepares. That way, what the executives see is exactly what their direct reports told would happen.

As you move further up in an organization, it becomes even more important to keep your eyes and ears closer to the customer and the people that have the most contact with the customer. 

More importantly, as a leader, it's your responsibility to create an environment that welcomes bad news as exactly what it is- bad f**ing news. Once it's on the table, you help create solutions to address that news head on.

Being a leader means that your 'is' matches the 'is' of the person who is on the lowest level totem pole in your organization. 

Try and work hard to keep that.