It’s the beginning of the year and if you are like most people, you’ve committed to getting more exercise. As a professional, one of your new year’s goals is likely to become a better leader. Why not work on both goals at the same time?
MBWA is a common acronym which stands for Management By Walking Around, invented by Hewlett-Packard sometime in the 1970s, made famous by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman as one of the ‘Eight Basics’ in their book In Search of Excellence in 1982. BusinessDictionary.com defines MBWA as:
Unstructured approach to hands-on, direct participation by the managers in the work-related affairs of their subordinates. In MBWA practice, managers spend a significant amount of their time making informal visits to work areas and listening to the employees. The purpose of this exercise is to collect qualitative information, listen to suggestions and complaints, and keep a finger on the pulse of the organization.
The more a leader walks around, not only are they getting better connected with their organization, they are getting more exercise. Doug Conant, former President and CEO of the Campbell Soup Company, went so far as to track his MBWA steps “by strapping on a pedometer and trying to walk 10,000 steps every day around our headquarters between meetings to check in with our people.”
Empower yourself to do more MBWA and you’ll be a successful and healthy leader.
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