Good Leaders Stay Connected to Their Employees

My boss is a voracious reader (history-related books especially) and loves the Sunday NY Times and Washington Post (and the WSJ!!!). I mentioned to him my blog assignment and he told me about a column in the Times that he has enjoyed. It's called the Corner Office and I decided to check it out.

In the August 30th NY Times Corner Office column, Deborah Dunsire, CEO of Millennium in Cambridge, Massachussetts, spoke of the importance of "walking around" to counter the "processed and managed" information that a CEO is unusually given. She speaks of the trap of the ivory tower mentality which causes a gap between the CEO's perceptions of the workplace and reality. In the previous Sunday edition of the Times, Brian Dunn, Chief Executive of Best Buy, described staying connected by calling the company's call center, visiting stores and talking to associates about what is working and what's not. This got me to thinking about how leaders can best interact with their constituents.

Management by Walking Around (MBWA) perhaps has become a cliche. The concept is certainly not brain surgery. Cliche or not, it's a sound practice. It's a practical way that a leader can connect with their employees - it keeps the leader grounded. Of course, employees are very perceptive. If the leader is going through the motions, employees will pick up on this in a heartbeat. But if the leader is truly sincere, employees will appreciate the interest shown and the leader can gain valuable insight into the health and pulse of the organization. So, what are some questions the wandering leader may want to ask:

• What are you working on today?


• What about your work most excites you?


• What is really bothering you or causing pain?

Answers to this questions can be potentially very telling. Many of us have had the experience of having a senior leader show up at the worksite unannounced, resulting in stress and concern ("who screwed up?"). What a sad commentary that the leader is only visible when there is a problem.

So MBWA is a very practical, easy concept for leaders to put in place? Why do some leaders choose to stay in the tower or not make interactions with their associates a priority? Why do some leaders choose to manage by email - yes, many do. Leaders would do well to examine how they spend their time and re-shuffle their priorities to stay connected to their employees by walking around. To do so, they send a powerful message to their workforce and the power of the connections will be immeasurable!

Here are some simple ideas I suggest for incorporating MBWA into a leader's routine:

• Make it a priority - allocate specific time each week to walk around whether it be a 1/2 hour each day or an hour every Friday morning


• Make plans to visit specific areas and rotate in order to cover your organization entirely


• For you introverts out there, push your comfort zone. The purpose is defeated by interacting with only those you know or are comfortable with


• Be yourself, be genuine


• When you return to the office, allocate time to take notes on what you learned and make note of action items that have been identified


• Follow through! If the water cooler on the first floor isn't cooling and you committed to getting it fixed, make sure it happens.

Good leaders stay connected to their employees...