W Wayne Turmel is an author, speaker and president of Greatwebmeetings.com. He is a frequent contributor to Management- Issues.com, BNET, Active Garage and books by the American Management Association (AMA), ASTD and many others.
At a recent training event, two managers sat at the back of the room as a Senior Executive from their firm spoke to them about the days when he was a line manager. He waxed rhapsodic about the way he used to focus on the “soft skills” of management, of the “HP Way” and “Management by Walking Around” and how they needed to get away from their desks- stop sending so much email and really connect with their teams. Heads nodded. Some in agreement- most in boredom. Finally one attendee turned to the other and muttered in frustration, “Yeah but it’s a long bloody walk to Bangalore”.