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Leaders & Teams – Leaders Need To Be Seen
BY ED KONCZAL, MBA
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.
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They seemed to be seduced by the limos, executive
dinning rooms and other perks that came with every
promotion.
www.
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
Continued on page 7
Get out of your office,
let your employees see you
and listen carefully.
 Page 7
Leaders Need To Be Seen Continued from page 6

work, customers are in control, these and more

Information Economy - Changes Quickly
demands are being placed on today’s leaders.

We are in the midst of a transition that is

frequently compared to movement to the
Industrial Economy, the Information Economy. P a ce Of C ha nge
But the breadth of developments and changes of
CHANGE
this transition are so dramatic that there is little GAP
precedent. It’s like all you learned and all of your
experience came during a period of linear (or P a s t E duca tion, E xperience
constant rate) of change. Now you look out your
window and everything is changing at an exponential rate of change.

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

TYP IC AL COM MU NI CATI ONS

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Workforce
Leader
Perceived
Intended E N /DE CODIN G CH ANNEL RAPID C HAN GE
Message
Message
C Rapid
NOISE

LEADE RS MUST BE SE EN

Leader Workforce
www.

Intended Direct Con tact + Listen ing 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.”

LESSONS FOR LEADERSHIP Business Review, Naval Officer Mike Abrashoff

• 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.
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
Continued on page 8

• Get out of your office go to where your people

are located and talk with them. In one of the best Leaders need to be masterful listeners.
articles on leadership published in The Harvard

Leaders Need To Be Seen Continued from page 7
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)
• leaders need to be masterful listeners. Don’t wait
for the special events. Invite small groups to neutral
area, the cafeteria during off peak hours is good.
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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
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employee.” (3)
• “The e-leader is one who creates a culture where
people dream, imagine, collaborate, invent, and
experiment.” (4)
• 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)
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• “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)
About the author: Mr. Konczal has an MBA from New York
University’s Stern School of Business and completed his
undergraduate at Rutgers University. Ed has spent the last
10 years as an executive consultant focusing on human
resources, leadership, market research, and business
planning and brings over 10 years of top-level experience
from AT&T in the areas of new ventures and business
planning. Ed is co-author of the book “Simple Stories
for Leadership Insight,” published by University Press of
America.
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.
Figure out a way to engage the mind
of every employee.