Hmmm, it seems to me that if an executive is reaching across the organization for that kind of thing, that's a bad sign. It means the executive doesn't trust their leadership team (in the case of a skip-level) or their peer organization (in the case of a dotted-line meeting).
That said, bad signs don't always mean bad things; as the author indicated a "Loyalty check" can range from "Just wanted to check in on how things are going and hear some detailed updates straight from the folks at the coal-face" (very healthy and normal) to "So-and-so is getting ready to betray our entire organization and I want you to plug this anonymous USB key into their computer".
I got the attention of an exec at a meeting a few years ago when I asked about opportunities intra-office and wanted to apply to some positions at headquarters (I worked from a satellite office). This was pre-COVID and aside from the public conversation with the exec in the meeting with 200+ people, I’d only hear from him via the chain of command.
I got encouraged to apply to a few jobs at the main office and when I talked to managers there, everyone acted strange and uncomfortable about it and it was obvious nobody wanted someone working “remote” on their team. Eventually they said “oh we’re not hiring for that position this year”. Drastic way to keep remote people out.
But the exec never heard from me or solicited feedback so he wouldn’t have ever known this. So his initiative was dead in the water.
This was when I was more junior. Today I’d just have shot him an email giving him a status report on my experience but in my experience a lot of “ground level” folks are terrified of interacting with execs 5 levels above them in the org.
A follow up meeting with me would have definitely revealed what was going on and he could have taken some action.
If the executive is consistently reaching across the organization that's a bad thing. If they do it once in a while to ensure they have made good staffing decisions, that's a good thing.
I don’t like that “but”. It implies trust and verification are opposites. To the contrary, verification is there to ensure that trust is not hurt in case of a mistake, misunderstanding, or whatever. “Trust and verify” is much better.
That said, bad signs don't always mean bad things; as the author indicated a "Loyalty check" can range from "Just wanted to check in on how things are going and hear some detailed updates straight from the folks at the coal-face" (very healthy and normal) to "So-and-so is getting ready to betray our entire organization and I want you to plug this anonymous USB key into their computer".