As I dictate this article to Mia, it strikes me that I haven’t (except for brief interludes) sat at my own desk for probably 15 or so months.

This is ok. In fact, I rather prefer it.

Why? Well, for one thing, it frees me. For example, how many people do you see sitting at their desks, reading mindless e-mails, jokes, advertisements, and the like? Since I rarely see that stuff, I save a hell of a lot of time.

Don’t get me wrong --- there are going to be times when you have to sit at your computer and I understand that. But since I do a lot of work through dictation (if it’s a short text, I just speak it to Siri, my virtual Apple assistant) and my ubiquitous mobile devices, this is not all that important to me.

I bring this up because I had a recent guest on the radio show who was talking about the difference between average and great managers. Consider this:

• An executive comes to his or her office via private elevator from a private parking space deep below the building.


• Entering through a back door, the executive goes to their office where they are protected by both a secretary and an executive assistant. (Yes, you have to burst through two layers to get to this individual.)


• Lunch for our executive is in a private dining room, served by a private chef.

The last time this individual wandered through his/her offices or visited one of his/her factories? A year earlier perhaps? Never? Great companies fail, and in part, because the “entrepreneurial impetus” provided by the founder or founders goes away as that founder goes away. Oftentimes, this impetus is never replaced.

Instead, and in the place of the entrepreneur/founder, we see either a well-traveled CEO on his or her third tour of duty demanding numbers and meetings instead of names and activities; or we see a burn-out case more readily known as a “family member.”

In either case, the fire, the innovative zeal that made that company great, is extinguished.

A good friend of mine took over management of a rather large department at a local university. His first order of business was to go around to each of the sub-managers on his staff and not only get to know them, but to appear regularly on their turf.

These managers were astounded. No one had ever previously done this.

Another good friend of mine, a contemporary who did two combat tours in Vietnam once told me, “Ron, it’s very easy to kill someone from a jet airplane five miles up. From that distance, you only have the concept of a kill.

“But try shooting an enemy who is standing only ten feet away and whose breath you can see in the early morning chill. I’m sure you’d agree that this is a very different and much more difficult thing to do.”

Thank God we don’t shoot people in business (so far as I know!) but we do so much better when we go to their turf and look at the photos of their loved ones while talking about their issue.

It’s called “showing respect.” It’s also called “listening.” Good managers know this and good managers practice this --- away from their offices.

People will perform for people they respect, like, and know have their best interests at heart. It’s called trust.

And the acts of doing nothing or patronizing immediately destroys trust. So do closed doors and/or a series of “blockers” between you and the individual you must get to for approval.

Many textbooks refer to staying out of one’s office as “MBWA,” or “Management by Walking Around.”

By the way, you may not know this but Accenture Corporation (I think they used to be Arthur Andersen?) has no offices! Neither do they have a headquarters! They found both to be superfluous in this wired age.

I fully expected this from some company. In fact, this is a trend that I believe has only begun. Why? Because the world is fast becoming a place where, and at least in theory, everyone has the ability to monitor almost anything … and at any time.

I once heard this described as the globe having a kind of “skin.” In other words, the world, and because the various social media report “conditions” and events in real time and everywhere, the well-wired corporation or individual has an almost unfair competitive advantage!

Companies that can take advantage of the above are understanding trends, markets, and geopolitical conditions way ahead of their competition. Think about it, think about being able to “take the pulse” of any geographic location or current event in the world. Twenty-four hours a day and 365 days a year.

I believe that organizations will mimic this concept and in fact many already have. The globe is wired, the early adopter data consumers are carrying their “ports of entry” (iPod, iPad, laptop) at all times so that nothing escapes their scrutiny.

This is real. This is now.

But for now, let’s just live within our present means. We all can start by opening up those submarine doors and giving everyone access to every single individual and piece of data in the business.

And while you’re at it, take the advice from the beginning of this column and WALK AROUND! Learn your people! And learn their capabilities and fears.

Then stand back and watch your organization grow and prosper.