It's interesting, because in that regard she's the polar opposite to Babs. Babs has built up her team on trust, friendship, a good reputation within the cape community, or at the very least, offering decent paychecks.
Whereas Kat knew, given her past interactions with Barbara, knew she had no trust or goodwill or any strong sense of friendship, so her only option was to barge in and make demands, and use blackmail. I suppose she was either expecting or hoping that trust would follow eventually, but, as we know, our Birds are not so easily manipulated.