Yesterday in my System Dynamics class, I heard Prof. J. Bradley Morrison mentioned the acronym MBWA, an enormously popular buzzword in the early 80's (according to the professor) that is short for management by wandering around. Intrigued by the term, I did a search on it and found a slew of articles written about MBWA. Make no mistake, MBWA is a non-sophisticated virtue that advocates business leaders to engage actively with the employees to make things happen, much like Alexander the Great who personally led his troops to the battlefield. Speaking of the military, I think that MBWA comes more naturally with people who have military background. As a sergeant in the infantry many years ago, I was taught to practice participatory leadership with my troops. We didn't use the term MBWA, instead we use a less catchy phrase called leading by example. Throughout my career in the military, I have witnessed a difference troops' morale and performance whenever I rolled my sleeves up and got involved with them in the tasks that I asked them to do. Ultimately great teamwork was fostered through my active engagement with the people that I supervise.

But is MBWA still relevant in today's business context? Personally, I think that it is needed more today than ever before. In my humble opinion, I feel that today's business leaders are just too fixated on interacting only with people whom they have direct relationships with - direct reports, customers, shareholders, and investors. Worse, in the advent of video conference, email, and web cast, it has become ever easier for business leaders to appear as remote figureheads, further alienating them from their organization. Instead of showing the employees a video cast of their CEO presenting the company's quarterly earning announcement, the CEO should personally be on site and address the company's rank and file. Be genuinely interested in what people do and learn about what they do and feel. If nothing else, share your vision with them. Read this article for more details on MBWA. Anyway, it is getting a little touchy-feely already (yikes ); but my point is that business leaders can't afford to be out-of-touch with the realities and the people who make up a major portion of an organization.

7/7/2006 8:06:48 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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