The Case of the Temperamental Talent

The intended audience for this piece of writing is struggling entrepreneurs. These employers or owners can belong to either big business or

Patrick Lencioni is an American writer, who focuses on writing books particularly in relation to business and team management. He is best known for ‘The Five Dysfunctions of a Team’, an allegory following the journey of DecisionTech’s new CEO, Katheryn Peterson. In this tale, Lencioni revels the basics of teamwork by creating a fictional business, in which is struggling to grow as a company, due to lack of commitment by its employees. The company fails to accept responsibilities and to come to any agreements, ultimately, resulting a plummeting disposition. Furthermore, throughout the fable, the five dysfunctions of a team become more evident, in which are, absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment avoidance of accountability and

My work with Mike has transformed in the two months of us working together. Mike has formulated various behaviors that have challenged me as his case worker and therapist. Mike has used manipulative behavior to try and persuade my opinion in his relationship with his significant other and with staff at the Bedford VA. This behavior has me constantly meeting with my supervisor after sessions to process what my thoughts were while in the session, and determine which statements should have further follow up with trying to connect Mike with the appropriate services. Frequently, I have found that my sessions with Mike have him making provocative statements which my supervisor and I both feel that are being made to garnish a reaction but it is unclear why. My supervisor and I have been working on countertransference to ensure that I am not having my emotions intertwine with Mike’s.

In the case of “Thomas Green: power, office politics, and a career in Crisis”, it describes the dilemma of Thomas Green who works in a company called Dynamic Display. Thomas was recruited as an account executive, and then five months later, he was promoted as a Senior Market Specialist directly by the President Shannon McDonald. Thomas’s boss Frank Davis hadn’t expected to choose Green as the new senior market specialist, and he was very dissatisfied with Green’s work style and performance three months after the promotion. After being informed that Frank Davis had emailed McDonald about his concerns about Green’s performance, Green was getting really worried about his situation and not sure how to explain his perspective to

“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” shows us how basic human nature does not change, whether it is firing as a means to resolve disputes, or in the

As there are many satirical components in this book, Heller could not miss the opportunity to observe the science of success in contemporary society. Statistically speaking, the average CEO has been diagnosed with an anti-social disorder which means that they do not have a moral compass. In order to get what they need, they will use these methods in order to succeed. Heller sees that these business leaders are not necessarily intelligent, but more that they have learned the system. Any fool can learn a system and manipulate its outcome; therefore, it does not require a brain, merely a soulless

In chapter 1, and the videos presented to us, we learned that there are bad decisions being made at all levels of management. We assume that as executives the answers should be straightforward and easy. The reality is such that decisions made by these individuals are flawed from the beginning due to nature of thinking applied to them.

Although Enron rated poorly on people and team orientation, they rated very highly on risk taking, aggressiveness and outcome orientation. The most salient aspect of Enron’s organizational culture is their risk-taking proclivity. Enron throughout the span of 24 months transformed from being the “Forbes most innovative company” to a company that was forced to file for bankruptcy and lay off almost 20,000 employees in part due to the risks they took. The corporation encouraged its employees to take risks at all costs as long it either improved the balance sheet or could be treated as a profit. The Darwinian culture at Enron cultivate a fiercely competitive environment. Employees saw one another as competition that they must beat to earn promotion and lucrative bonus. Due to this the traders at the company took numerous ill-advised risks and eventually gambled the company’s reserves away. The company’s emphasis on outcomes regardless of the steps taken presented a unique conundrum. Per one scholar, “If corporate leaders encourage rule-breaking and foster an intimidating, aggressive environment, it is not surprising that the

A person’s success in the organization not only depends on his or her personality but it is also based on how well he or she resolves conflicts. To successfully manage interpersonal relationships in the corporate world the power and influential structures have to be understood within the organization. Developing effective work relationships can cause satisfaction, high job performances and avoidable conflicts. This case study is an excellent example of how work styles and politics within the organization can result in a career crisis.

Leaders of organizations are expected to make decisions that positively impact the organization. Not all decisions of leaders are made with the best interests of the organization at hand and not all decisions are beneficial for an organization or the organizations’ employees.

People seem implicitly to attach the word 'good' to the word 'leadership'. This tendency may explain why academic researchers have avoided managerial (and leadership) incompetence. The recent implosion of several organizations (i.e. Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Hollinger International) and the associated media coverage has called attention to the existence of bad leaders. This article draws on the knowledge base concerning the dark side of personality to define the critical issues associated with managerial derailment and to offer guidance to leadership development practitioners. The paper is organized sin three sections. First, we

‘What a star, What a Jerk’ is a Harvard Business review case study which deals with the basic human attributes of attitude and behaviour and the closely intertwined connection among the two. The case tries to highlight one of the most common issues faced by organisations, that is, how to handle a star performer who has a rash and bullying attitude towards others in an organisation. The basic and the most important managerial roles

While the author of the case was brought in to unify the people, functions, aspirations, and directions of the company, it was evident that there was a significant disconnect between management and Ben, Jerry, and Jeff Furman, their longtime attorney and general counsel. Ben and Jerry had originally developed a unique company mission and principles and had placed more of their focus on maintaining a fun and open structure of operating that married simple business principles with an innovative company culture. Conversely, the managers shared a more common focus, one that was centered on dealing with the day-to-day issues of running a business that included unclear lines of authority and responsibility, lack of operational control and feuding amongst themselves. In some cases, there was a lack of support or belief in the socially oriented policies and notion that work is supposed to be “fun,” policies and a notion that Ben and Jerry had originally developed the company based upon. Further exacerbating the issue is the differences in personality between Ben, Jerry, and Jeff and

The third error is leaders lacking a vision. A successful transformation according to Kotter requires “a picture of the future that is relatively easy to communicate and appeals to customers, stockholders, and employees.” A vision clarifies the direction of the company and helps to create motivation. The fourth error is then undercommunicating the vision by a factor of ten. In other words, Kotter suggests leaders must use every opportunity possible to communicate the new vision and strategies to the entire organization. This is followed by the fifth error of leaders not removing obstacles to the new vision. Organizations should allow members to make changes to their areas of involvement. People need to be empowered in order to be part of the process (Kotter).

This case study begins with Paul Kennedy on a slow morning commute in Cleveland. During his drive, he’s worried about his wife and family, his boss, his associate, a stranger in a nearby vehicle, and even about the state of the Cleveland Browns. He is also excited about his plans to expand Daner Associates into the European market and his impending promotion to CEO. But when Paul meets with his boss, Larry, that afternoon, he discovers that he has been misreading signals. Larry is actually considering Paul for the number two role in the company and considering promoting another Daner executive, George, into the CEO position.