However, following the"disease" model, most current research on CEO performance during times of crisis focuses on what not to do. For example, former Exxon CEO Lawrence Rawl is often excoriated for his handling of the Valdez oil spill, in particular for his failure to publicize his personal trip to the spill site and his attempt to avoid responsibility by blaming Captain Joseph Hazelwood. More recently, BP executive Tony Hayward was rebuked by public relations professionals and the general public alike with regard to the 2010 oil spill of the U.S. Gulf Coast. When visiting Venice, Louisiana, to survey damage and issue an apology, in which he stated, "The first thing to say is I'm sorry" he told reporters. We're sorry for the massive disruption it's caused their lives. There's no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back". Hayward's gaffe reflects not only his own communicative inadequacies but a broader problem for CEOs the misperception of what constitutes effective, positive communication. Research supports the prevalence of this problem in 1998, Coopers and Lybrand conducted a survey of CEOs, middle managers, and nonmanagers. The survey found that while" 82 percent of CEOs believe that they lead by positive personal example fewer than 40% of nonmanagement employees agree. Moreover, 95% of the CEOs claimed to have an open-door policy for the communication of bad news upstream, but more than half of employees believed the bad news messenger was running a serious risk. Such a perspective does not facilitate a strong business climate in fact, such communicative problems have resulted in huge business losses, even failures. More recently, leader communication has become an even more critical element of business practice. The current financial crisis has eroded employee confidence in senior leadership from 51% in 2004 to less than 20% in 2009. What is a beleaguered CEO to do?