The Boss's Human Touch

So yesterday, I jokingly compared Paul Levy to Peter King. Today, I found out it might have been an apt comparison.

For those of you who don't follow Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column for Sports Illustrated, he is known for several peccadilloes. One, as mentioned yesterday, is his off-topic discussions of coffee. Another is his regular updates of his daughter's high school field hockey team.

In his most recent post, Levy updated his readers on the happenings of youth soccer in Newton. The Newton Thunder rolled to the championship. No specific explanation was given as to the affiliation.

This post, along with yesterday's post about hotel water, brings me to an interesting point. For the most part, Levy's blog is a serious take on many of the issues that face a hospital CEO. At the same time, he provides stories like these, which provide insight into the boss's personality.

I know several people who work or worked at BIDMC. They all seem to have the same opinion of Levy: He is a hard-working CEO and a nice guy. Some of this, no doubt, comes from his blog persona. It makes you wonder how much this helps him when something bad happens.

We did find out last spring how people would react to his malfeasance. As would be expected, there were people calling for him to be fired. Some threw "transparency" in his face. In the end, Levy apologized and most people moved on. In my opinion, the issue does not affect medical care. It is a board issue that really shouldn't concern the public at large. And for the most part, people who knew Levy and weren't just naturally cynical of his approach felt the same way.

I bring this up because on his blog, Levy tries to make himself as human as possible. He isn't egotistically. He isn't judgmental. You may not agree with his opinions entirely, but he usually gives every issue a fair shake. This last point is something that was lost on all the people crying for his head when the news broke about his mistress/employee.

I am reminded of the interesting phenomena within the medical malpractice world. It turns out doctors don't necessarily get sued if they are bad doctors. Doctors get sued based on how well they are liked by their patients. Basically, if you make a mistake, but your patient likes you, he or she is less likely to sue you. Some people just don't like him and were waiting for a reason to "sue" him. Others really do like him and were more able to let it go.

That is the whole point of a CEO blogger. Make yourself and the company likable and establish both as experts in the field. If he does it right, he is making himself into a person. This is seemingly the whole premise behind CBS's "Undercover Boss." As I said then, I don't know if that show does a meaningful job of this. Blogging, on the other hand, is a persistent effort, a commitment to a philosophy, which requires sincerity and hard work.

I know salacious stories sell papers. And I also know it is human nature to tear down anyone who dares to be different, especially if they are successful at it. But years of honesty and openness can help insulate a CEO and a company when something goes wrong...without the lawyers, guns or money.