Dension Leadership Development Survey Case Study 3 - Don

Don

• 38 years old
• Vice President, Research & Development Company
• Manages a staff of 50 people with 6 direct reports
• Responsible for ongoing research, quality and safety of organization's most important product
• On the job for two months

Don's Background

• Recently promoted to keep him from leaving the company
• Manages up fairly well
• Boss has confidence in him
  
• Unquestioned technical expertise in his field
  
  but
  
  
• Not perceived by peers or direct reports as a team player
• Seen by peers as self-serving
• Seems out of touch with the impact he has on the people around him
  

Don does not have strong working relationships with the people he comes into contact with the most. By his own assessment, he is not into involvement. This creates problems with his peers and with his direct reports. His promotion was based on the technical expertise he has that the organization did not want to lose, but his lack of leadership skills will continue to hurt his part of the organization. Others in the organization question why he wasn't simply allowed to defect. The fact that his boss doesn't see the problems either compounds the issue.

View Don's Survey