Leaders Need To Be Seen

By Ed Konczal

During World War II, one of the most effective military leaders was Field Marshall
Rommel (The Desert Fox). A key leadership attribute was that he frequently visited,
talked and ate with the front line troops. While greatly outnumbered in troops and
resources, he developed a legendary reputation with his opponents. Rommel had at
least one of the characteristics of all outstanding leaders—true leaders create a
culture of spirits and hearts not just heads and hands.

I remembered this and noted that many corporate leaders isolate themselves in their
plush Offices and people start to view them as the Corporate Aristocracy. As I worked
with a variety of companies, I observed how leaders developed increasingly narrow
vision as they moved up the organization charts. They seemed to be seduced by the
limos, executive dinning rooms and other perks that came with every promotion.

I experienced this first hand when I was appointed to a function that required
organizing quarterly presentations of departmental performance awards. The group
that won the award always went to the executive conference rooms to receive the
award. Fred, the VP, would give a short speech and present the award, and the group
would then leave. It was a very staged event. I jumped at the chance to try
something new.

I approached Fred with a suggestion. I recommended that he go to the winning

group’s work area in person and present the award. He seemed to be reluctant at
first but he agreed. The award day came and I accompanied Fred to the work area; I
wasn’t sure he even knew where it was. The group was ready; I don’t think anyone
was absent, and the group had arranged for snacks and goodies. It was a big success
—people were delighted that Fred came to visit them.

The award seemed to be less important than the fact that they had a chance to meet
Fred in a more comfortable manner and to talk with him. Fred benefited also, he
heard more about what was going on in this area of his department.

People talked about the event for some time and future award ceremonies were
never again held in the executive meeting rooms.

POSTSCRIPT

The “Leaders Must Be Seen” approach is becoming even more important as we move
further into the 21st Century environment. Effective leadership styles need to change
and change fast-- command and control is out, organizations are getting flatter, the
competitive landscape is chaotic, markets are morphing, people are looking for
meaningful work, customers are in control, these and more demands are being
placed on today’s leaders.

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 We are in the midst of a transition that is frequently compared to movement to the
Industrial Economy, the Information Economy. But the breadth of developments and
changes of this transition are so dramatic that there is little precedent. It’s like all
you learned and all of your experience came during a period of linear (or constant
rate) of change. Now you look out your window and everything is changing at an
exponential rate of change.

Pace Of Change

CHANGE
GAP

Past Education, Experience

A key area is how leaders communicate with the most important company asset –
people. In the typical (non face to face) communication process there already is built
in noise (encoding, decoding, selected channel) that distorts the message. Rapid
changes add more noise that further distorts the message.

TYPICAL COMMUNICATIONS

EN/DECODING CHANNELRAPID CHANGE Workforce

Leader
Perceived
Intended
Rapid Message
Message C

NOISE

LEADERS MUST BE SEEN

Leader Workforce
Intended Direct Contact + Listening Perceived
Message Message

Leaders must develop more effective direct communications that include more listening
to what employees have to say. Harvard Business School professor Joe Badaracco
believes part of knowing your audience is the ability to listen. “Communication can’t
always follow the top-down model,” he says. “With the fluidity of information in business
today, leaders need to be masterful listeners; they need to be able to receive as well as
send.”

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So get out of your office, let your employees see you and listen carefully to what they
have to say.

LESSONS FOR LEADERSHIP

 Corporate Aristocracy type Leadership is very Old Economy. Tom Peters

coined the phrase “Management By Walking Around” in the 1980s. To his
credit the concept is still current.

 Get out of your office go to where your people are located and talk with them.
In one of the best articles on leadership published in The Harvard Business
Review, Naval Officer Mike Abrashoff mentioned, “. . . I had come to realize
over the course of my career that no commanding officer has a monopoly on a
ship’s skills and brainpower. There’s an astonishing amount of creativity and
know-how below decks, just waiting to be unleashed. To set it loose and make
it flourish, a leader should provide vision and values, and then guide, coach,
and even follow his people.”1
 Get rid of the special parking places, the executive dinning room,
anything that gets between you and the people who you support—yes
support. In his book Servant Leadership Robert Greenleaf talks about, “. . .
the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious
choice brings one to aspire to lead. The difference manifests itself in the care
taken by the servant—first to make sure that other people’s highest priority
needs are being served.”2

 Meet the people you support often. Don’t wait for the special events. Invite
small groups to neutral area, the cafeteria during off peak hours is good. If
this doesn’t work, your office is OK, but be sure that your desk is not a
barrier. Move your chair to the front of your desk. Have people speak first and
listen. Ask what their suggestions are to do things differently.

 Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, once said, “Any company
trying to compete must figure out a way to engage the mind of every
employee.”3

 Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 “The e-leader is one who creates a culture where people dream, imagine,
collaborate, invent, and experiment.”4

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  The bigger the company, the more it is that the chief executive has lost touch
with the front lines. This might be the single most important factor limiting the
growth of a corporation.5

 “The best way to understand your company, your industry, and your job is to
open your office door and get outside. That’s how you will learn about your
company or your division or department—its problems, its competitive
advantages, its image and its potential.”6

NOTES
1. “Retention through Redemption,” <
http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/hbr/articles/article.jsp?
ml_action=get-article&articleID=R0102L&ml_page=1&ml_subscriber=true > (Feb.
2001).
2. Robert K. Greenleaf, “Servant–Leadership,”
<http://www.appleseeds.org/srvlead1.htm> .
3. “The Gallup Path To Business Performance,” <
http://www.gallup.com/consulting/1531/Gallup-Path-Business-Performance.aspx> .
4. Swarup Bose, Leadership research, <http://www.hrfolks.com/articles/orgn
%20mgmt/leadership.pdf> (6/12/2004), 23.
5. Robert Trout, Trouble Begins and Ends with the CEO,
<<http://www.assureconsulting.com/books/bigbrands.php> .
6. Peter Nauert, “If You Want to Improve Your Company, Get Out,” 2002 Handbook
of Business
Strategy, (Faukner & Gray, New York 2002), 333.