Last week President Obama and members of Congress expressed their strong disapproval for the outrageous bonuses given to top wall street executives.  These bonuses were payed out even after accepting tax payer dollars because they were not prepared for the economic meltdown that has occurred.  Since then millions of Americans have agreed with this sentiment, which is a big part of the resistance against the remaining bailout proposal.  Many people I have spoken to feel as though CEO’s just don’t get it and feel entitled to perks such as the million dollar renovation conducted by Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain.

Over the weekend I was thinking about how out of touch many CEO’s are with the needs and opinions of not only the public, but their own employees.  While watching the news I came across a story on Haruka Nishimatsu, the president and CEO of Japan Air.  Now this is a man every CEO in America, and especially those asking taxpayers for money, should be taking advice from.

Here are some of the guidelines Haruka Nishimatsu follows:

• He knocked down all the walls to his office to allow his workers to feel as though they can approach him at any time and that they are on the same level.
• Takes the city bus to work everyday
• Buys his clothes from discount stores saying a boss who wears Armani puts himself at arm’s length from his people.
• Regularly pops onto planes to meet flight attendants and take part in duties such as sorting newspapers and preparing for meals so he can stay in touch with the front lines.
• When he was forced to cut salaries, he cut his own to a mere $90,000, which considering he runs the 10th largest airline in the world looks like minimum wage compared to his industry counterparts.

In an interview with CBS, he said that he does this because “If management is distant, up in the clouds, people just wait for orders…I want my people to think for themselves.”  And what if an employee comes up with an idea?  No trying to schedule a hard to come by appointment here, simply approach him in the cafeteria where he eats with the rest of the company.  Nishimatsu says a CEO doesn’t motivate by how many millions he makes, but by convincing employees you’re all together in the same boat.

From an HR prespective, Nishimatsu provides a great example of someone who will not only run a company, but motivate employees to take the initiative giving them a feeling of job ownership.  Put in the context of the economic meltdown, the majority of these steps should be a no brainer, something John Thain and others need to take a long hard look at.