Ask yourself these questions as you ponder that fact:

-Are you fighting for them?  They don’t trust that you have their backs when the chips are down.

-Are you micro-managing them?  They are dependable and creative, often with no credit from you.

-Are you keeping them out of the loop/in the dark? They have no idea what your vision really is.

-Are you getting in the trenches with them? They see you removed from their day-to-day grind.

-Are you are indecisive? They are waiting for you to give them permission to make you look good.

-Are you shutting them down? They have valuable feedback that can help you and the business.

-Are you being inconsistent with them? They are looking for stability and strength.

If this is your behavior, you are getting the results you deserve... and they are "leaking" this to your customers. 

People will "leak" their displeasure to the world if they don't like working for their manager or boss.  Year after year they share and pass them along to new employees (Once they have checked them out and approved them to stay – an unwritten policy). 

The new crop of trainees has already been indoctrinated by them. 

Shutting down their communication is hostile.  Look at regimes in North Africa several years ago who tried to shut down social media sites in the “Arab Spring.”  They were eventually overthrown in place of supposedly open communication leaders.

      You can’t silence people, but you can train your staff to work alongside you.

This is the reason the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright preferred to train his own apprentices.  He wanted them trained in his style by the best person to do just that – himself. Whenever new apprentices entered his workshop, Wright always put their drawing table next to his own.  Also, Abraham Lincoln frequently went out into the field to personally meet with and coach each new general he hired.  He gave them direct orders, unlike any president before him.

You can’t control others' behaviors, but you can control how you treat people... and the results that will bring.  The question is: What are you doing to promote animosity?  Is your behavior leading your people to "leak" information to your customers?  What actions are you taking to be self-aware and reinvent your leadership style?  

You are feeding this situation by rewarding it or penalizing it.