Head Honcho On the Line

"A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world."

     - John LeCarre, from The Honourable Schoolboy, 1977

For those of you who are still out there making a living, Neil Cavuto at TownHall.com has written an interesting column about CEO's taking the time to get close to their customers. He tells the story of Michael Dell, CEO and founder of Dell Computer, taking customer calls at his company's help desk.

"He apparently never let on who he was, so customers calling in had no idea to whom they were speaking. But there he was--the big guy, the rich guy, the 'real' Dell dude politely and professionally answering their questions."

Cavuto surmises that most corporate bosses today have no idea what's going on down on the firing line with either their customers or their employees, and that this is not good for America's long-term competitiveness.

He may be right. Having worked in three different companies over a period of 34 years, I can't remember ever having my CEO visit the facility where I was working. Perhaps this is not typical, but I tend to believe it is.

In today's fast-paced world, with many companies struggling to survive, I would think it would be even more important for top management to understand what their customers are thinking. I'm sure the pressures of running a large company make this difficult, but I believe the payoff for a CEO who schedules time for meetings with customers would be immense. David Neeleman, the CEO of the new airline, JetBlue, does this, and the company's bottom-line reflects his effort.

It goes without saying that CEO's need to understand what's going on with their employees too. This can be difficult, for many subordinates are afraid to give bad news to the chief. Only when they understand there's no reprisal for telling the truth will the truth be told, and creating that type of environment is a challenge indeed.