The Hindu Business Line : Leading by seeing and being seen

I recently came across an article, “See for yourself”, exhorting persons in leadership positions to apprise themselves at frequent intervals of the ground realities and ascertain the views of persons handling day-to-day situations at lower echelons.

Its gist is: “The critical, visceral insight needed for effective leadership (comes) only from firsthand contact... The best executives get out of their offices and away from their computer screens to observe their frontline employees, competitors, customers, and suppliers on the job. Executives and companies that have ingrained a culture of face-to-face, on-the-spot problem solving have a superior ‘metabolism’. They create products and services that solve real customer problems, adopt ideas from others and make them their own, collaborate with suppliers to eliminate waste, and engage the hearts and minds of their entire workforce.”

This advice is as old as the hills. In ancient Indian lore, it was a must for the king to don different kinds of disguise and mingle with his subjects, exchanging views and comments, to get an idea of their evaluation of his performance. It was not looked upon as a mere ritual, but as a basis for prompt follow-up action. King Vikramaditya was particularly famous for putting this method into practice in a purposeful manner. The Caliphs of Persia too seem to have followed this way of keeping themselves in touch with public sentiments.

Coming closer to the present, spot inspections, tours to outlying establishments of one’s charge and ‘walkabouts’ are nothing but the outgrowths of the above proposition which is as valid, relevant and useful today as it has ever been. The article relates two instances to bear this out: Taiichi Ohno, the father of the Toyota production system, who trained his managers by having them stand in a small circle on the factory floor for eight-hour stints simply observing the manufacturing process; and Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE, who spends 60 per cent of his typical 100-hour workweek on the road.

I knew of a GM of the Damodar Valley Corporation who unfailingly got the maximum generation out of a power station under his charge by the simple process of motivating his staff and solving their problems during his ‘walkabouts’ in the mornings and evenings, often lasting 2-3 hours.

Sense of participation

Mr Abdul Kalam is fond of citing the example of his mentor, Dr Satish Dhawan, who kept an open door, and was always at hand for advice at the site of a space project that was being commissioned.

In fact, administrative manuals intended for government functionaries require them to spend a stipulated number of days every month visiting field offices and holding discussions with the personnel of all ranks, besides meeting members of the public in case of service departments.

If a leader, in whatever walk of life, is to command the trust and confidence of those he purports to lead, then there can be no question but that he must get to know the working conditions and the impact of the policies and programmes at the grass roots and with respect to their putative beneficiaries. This helps him make the necessary corrections and apply the appropriate remedies for any deficiencies that may come to light.

His appearance at the outposts also enables the employees and the public to meet him in an informal setting and be more forthcoming with their opinions than would be possible in his office back at headquarters with all its inhibiting trappings. This engenders a sense of participation which, in turn, boosts morale, guaranteeing full and enthusiastic cooperation in achieving the intended results.

Whenever one sights a successful and energetic organisation, be sure that it is because of a leader who is visible, accessible, responsive and receptive.

B. S. RAGHAVAN