Overview
Like many leaders we meet and work with worldwide, Eduardo was previously an individual contributor. He is now a manager at the prosthetics company you were introduced to in Module One.
Below are comments from his first set of feedback received after his promotion to manager. Please note that this case study also appears in your textbook, but for the purposes of this assignment, let’s assume Edwardo has been promoted from an individual contributor to a manager (instead of to president).
“Eduardo is extremely intelligent and typically gets to the solution before everyone else. This is often his downfall as he moves quickly to implementing a solution when in fact the organization is two steps behind him. This creates a disconnect with the team. In his role as president, he should be ‘teaching people how to fish.’ Unfortunately, Eduardo gets frustrated with the lack of responsiveness from the organization and, as a result, hands over the ‘fish.’ This can create insecurity and frustration, with people feeling they cannot live up to his expectations.”
“Eduardo does not leverage his team to create the desired vision. Because he is intelligent and gets to answers faster than most, he loses patience and decides to do all the work himself. By doing so, he misses out on the input of others and fails to garner support for the vision. When he becomes quickly entrenched in his position, he often ignores valid input and alternative points of view.”
“Eduardo thinks he knows best and hence does not listen to others. Nor does he inspire confidence in his team. As a result, his ‘professional arrogance’ creates more of a dictatorial leadership style, which in turn produces adversarial relationships internally (Eduardo versus everyone). Over time, this outcome will also spread to external partners. In the end, we will continue to lose talent, which will eventually impact business performance.”
Prompt
Given the case as described, provide an analysis of Eduardo’s situation as it exists and suggest how you think he can handle this situation and transform his leadership style.
Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
Identify four to six leadership competencies discussed in this week’s readings that Eduardo needs to develop. Provide a brief explanation of your rationale for selection. You can consider the following factors:
Strategic thinking
Emotional intelligence
Communication skills
Provide two action items you would recommend to Eduardo for his leadership development, if you were his executive coach.
Explain how each action item might help his situation.
Formulate a strategy on how Eduardo can utilize the flywheel effect discussed in Jim Collins’s “Good to Great” article to transform his leadership style.
Specifically, identify the tasks that Eduardo should perform to turn the flywheel gradually and consistently, building tangible evidence that his strategy makes sense and will deliver results. Explain your reasoning.
Guidelines for Submission
Submit a Word document using double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. This assignment must be 2 to 4 pages in length and include references cited in APA format. Consult the Shapiro Library APA Style Guide for more information on citations.
