Lessons Learned from

‘A Day in the Life

of Alex Sander’
What are your takes from
the case?
 1. Analysis of the case background
• Industry - beauty
• Company background
– Landon Care Products - American firm
– Acquired by Avant-Garde – European company
• What’s the reason for the acquisition?
• Alex Sander
– Previous corporate experience
– Alex’s track records
– Position & Role in Landon
– How significant (indispensable) is Alex:
• To Landon?
• To Sam Glass
 2. Alex’s Personality
• What is personality?
– ‘the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to
and interacts with others’ (Robbins, 2013)
• Types of personality. Eg. Big 5 Personality Model
– Extraversion,
– Agreeableness,
– Conscientiousness,
– Emotional stability,
– Openness to experience.
• Often measured by High or Low
5-5
 Examples of other relevant types of
personalities
• Machiavellianism (Machs)
– An individual high in Machiavellianism is pragmatic, maintains
emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify means.
High Machs manipulate more, win more, are persuaded less,
and persuade others more. High Mach outcomes are moderated
by situational factors and flourish when they interact face-to-
face with others, rather than indirectly, and when the situation
has a minimum number of rules and regulations, thus allowing
latitude for improvisation. High Machs make good employees in
jobs that require bargaining skills or that offer substantial
rewards for winning.
• Narcissism
– Narcissism describes a person who has a grandiose sense of self-
importance. They “think” they are better leaders. Often they are
selfish and exploitive.
• A 2005 on senior managers and CEOs found that
characteristics of psychopaths contribute to
success in the corporate world!
– http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10683
160310001634304#.VRv6X_zGddy
• Another study found that being a “self-
promoting narcissist” could help leaders become
more effective. But…..
– http://www.humanresourcesonline.net/narcissistic-
leaders-effective/
• Accurate analysis of Alex’s personality help
you to predict his/her potential response to
the issue
 3. Should Sam invest more time helping
Alex to progress?
• Yes or No
• How did you decide? Criteria of decision?
1. …
2. …
• Case facts for support?
How significance is Alex to Sam / Landon?
 The High Maintenance, High
Performance /Value Employee.
 8 characteristics HMHP
https://www.managingamericans.com/BlogFeed/Management/Caring-For-The-High-MaintenanceHigh-Value-Employee.htm

q 1: They are NOT great team players. They would prefer to do their own thing & make their
own rules.
q 2: They don’t care much for company policy. They know their own value and can’t be
bothered by structure.
q 3: They don’t like a lot of attention and public praise, for others or themselves. They are
there to work, bring value and move on. Office cheers and high fives appear very superficial
to them.
q 4: They are very willing to help others if asked, but do not follow up and maintain a working
dialog with the individuals they’ve helped. It is more of a one-off relationship.
q 5: They typically create outstanding relationships with their customers, clients, suppliers etc.
q 6: They have a reputation for getting away with things, going rogue, without recourse,
because people are afraid of their emotional, sometimes angry, reaction.
q 7: They show signs of greatness & creativity, but it is inconsistent, mostly occurring when a
problem is brought to them, or when they went on one of their rogue adventures.
q 8: They probably have notations in their performance reviews that indicate large swings of
'outstanding' to 'needs improvement'. At some point they may have been considered for
termination because of it.
 Be careful of the 9th Trait
• Complains all the time.
• This is the trait that separates the high value from low value
employees.
• If the employee has all the 8 traits but spends a great deal of
time complaining about everything…don’t bother.
• You will spend all of your time focused on trying ineffectively
to satisfy their complaints rather than develop their
greatness.
• If you want your business to stand out above
the rest, these are the people that will help
get you there, make your business more
competitive and create a notable reputation in
your industry.
 5 Actions Boss Can Take to Generate Peak
Performance In Complex Individuals
https://www.managingamericans.com/BlogFeed/Management/Caring-For-The-High-MaintenanceHigh-Value-
Employee.htm#.Vklvyj0VFSM.gmail

• Treat Them As Your Equal

• Be Direct With Them
• Explain Your Expectations
• Make A Commitment To Them
• Be Willing To Compromise Or Make Exceptions
To Rules
Real case example?
 Ferguson’s formula
https://hbr.org/2013/10/fergusons-formula

• If Steve Jobs was Apple, Ferguson is MU

• How do you manage 30 top professionals,
millionaires?
• Never, Ever Cede Control
– Before I came to United, I told myself I wasn’t
going to allow anyone to be stronger than I
was. Your personality has to be bigger than
theirs. That is vital.
– It doesn’t matter if the person is the best
player in the world. The long-term view of the
club is more important than any individual,
and the manager has to be the most
important one in the club.
– It’s important to have confidence in yourself
to make a decision and to move on once you
have. It’s not about looking for adversity or
for opportunities to prove power; it’s about
having control and being authoritative when
issues do arise.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ucYd3b2DYQ
4. Has the 360 degrees PA been
effective?
 Performance appraisal
• Who evaluate your performance?
– Top down approach (assumption: boss knows best; if subordinates
want to succeed they must follow what the boss wanted them to
improve). Traditional method – often seen as incomplete, arbitrary,
subjective, prone for lawsuits.
– Spherical approach – 360 degrees
• Top down, bottom up approach, lateral approach, external parties
(customers, suppliers, etc.)
• Assumptions – to develop yourself, you need accurate data from
all perspectives.
• Personal bias and self-deception – we see what we want to see,
we give more credits than what we deserve
• The concept of Johari window
 Johari Window
• In order to truly improve
ourselves, we need to
know what we don’t
know
• Johari Window as a tool
to increase our self-
awareness
 Considerations when designing 360
degrees feedback
Yemen, G (2005) 360° Feedback

1. Who initiates the process? HR or employee?

2. Who nominates the people to provide feedback? The employee, HR, managers, or someone
else?
3. What framework or model around which the feedback revolves? What dimensions will
people be assessed?
4. What scales should be used? Likert scale? Open ended? Etc.
5. Who would use / have access to the data? The particular employee only? Or others?
6. Who would house / maintain the data? Inside department or outside vendor?
7. What is the purpose of the 360 feedback? Is it for performance appraisal (reward/promotion
purpose) or is it developmental purpose?
8. How often should employees utilize the process? 6 months? 1 year? What is the right
timeframe before someone can change/improve?
9. How to implement the system in the organization? Whose cooperations is needed?
10. How much time and energy should go into the process?
11. What are the benefits of the system to the individual and organization?
12. How would the data be analyzed? Eg. could the system generate average profiles, conduct
gap analysis, etc.
13. Paper-based or web-based?
Criticisms against performance reviews
• Performance reviews are a trap. http://qz.com/407697/performance-reviews-are-a-trap-heres-
how-to-really-advance-your-career/

– Labor market has changed (no job security, constant learning is critical,
highly competitive)
– A system whereby you are being evaluated by your current company
against their organizational objectives is outdated. Performance
reviews are rigid. The objective is to make you stay with them.
– You cannot leave it to your boss to decide what/how your future will
look like.
– Instead you must take charge.
– Other than the internal performance review , you must also get
feedbacks from outside (analyze your industry, feedbacks from your
contacts, assess yourself in relation to your peers in the industry).
Criticisms against performance reviews
(cont.)
• Human bias - Personality of raters matters
http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/introverts-are-the-most-ruthless-employee-evaluators

– Research shows that extroverts received the harshest

evaluations from introverts, who consistently undervalued
their outspoken coworkers' abilities and contributions.
– Likewise, introverts systematically rated the performance
of fellow introverts higher than the average employee.
Employee evaluations that extroverts gave, however,
tended not to be affected by the personality of who they
were evaluating.
Criticisms against performance reviews
(cont.)
• 360-degree feedback is the grown-up version
of a horrible game played in middle schools.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2015/10/21/the-horrible-truth-about-360-degree-feedback/
360 at Landon
• What’s the background of the 360 approach in Landon?
– How was the 360 implemented?
– What was the purpose? Development vs Performance
– Preparation?
– Training? Do raters know what to measure?
– Planning? Eg. scheduling
– Had the comments been helpful?
– Delivery of feedback? Had Sam been effective in communicating it?
Were Sam overall comments justified and balanced? (reflect what
others are saying?)? Was the meeting appropriately planned? Should
Sam show the total feedback to Alex?
– PMS – how is it being tied to the overall HR functions?
– Etc.
 The 7 Reasons Why 360 Degree Feedback
Programs Fail
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2012/08/17/the-7-reasons-why-360-degree-feedback-programs-fail/

• The Boss doesn’t get involved or discounts the

program’s importance
• The 360 tool/questions are too vague
• People offer comments that are personal in nature
rather than constructive.
• No plan is set following receiving the feedback.
• If there is a follow-up post-360 plan, it happens only
once.
• Lack of confidentiality.
• Forgetting the strengths and only focusing on
weaknesses.
• How would you suggest to improve the 360
degrees at Landon?
 5. What should Alex do?
Should Alex change the approach?
• Yes or No?
• Weighing the options:
– No
• Narcisstic leaders get more compensation
– http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S10489843
13000805
• Narcissitic leaders bring more profits
– http://www.marshall.usc.edu/news/releases/2014/narcissistic
-ceos-and-financial-performance-0
– Yes
• Narcissism may not last long
– http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2012/01/11/why-
narcissistic-ceos-kill-their-companies/2/
• Organization and person fit factor
• Being effective and successful are two different things
Research finding –

Insert Exhibit 1.2

 What can Alex make of the 360
feedback?
• Attitude of the recipient is critical.
• To benefit most, the person needs to have a learning
attitude, and an open mind.
• What can Alex do with the feedback?
– Sort it out into categories ‘keep’, ‘lose’ (minimize), and
‘add’ (improve).
– Compare the data between ‘self assessment’ and the
assessment of others. Identify and analyze the patterns.
– Identify priorities – which area / competency must you
focus first? Whose feedback must you prioritize?
– Analyze the data in relation to her long term personal
development plan.
 Let’s relook at your suggestions for
Alex to progress.
Group Suggestions Justifications Probability of
success?
Acceptance?
Practicality? Etc.
 Your suggestions:
• Improve leadership qualities
• Improve leadership management
• Attend leadership training (leading by example, coaching
skill, communication, change mindset/open minded for
changes, delegation skill, etc.)
• Undergo self evaluation test under psychoanalysts he
thinks is genuine
• Teamwork workshop
• Communication skill – use constructive criticism than using
hostility
• Learn to be rational in difficult situations - Emotional
intelligence
 Having said that, based on the analysis of
his/her personality, what do you think Alex
would do?

• Remain at Landon and probably improve on

his approach?
OR
• Pursue his other dream?
 6. Is Alex a man or woman?
• How did you determine the gender? What
indications did you look at?
• Does gender matter in solving the case /
justifying your answer?
• Is tough guy approach more acceptable in
men? Women?
• What does the research / theories say?
https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/10/these-are-the-top-5-issues-facing-working-women-
in-g20-countries/
Glass Ceiling
Do men or women make better leaders?
 Women make more effective leader!
• A research was conducted involving analysis of 360°
feedback data on 16,000 leaders from leading
organizations in various industries worldwide.
• Out of the 16,000, two-thirds were male and one-
third female.
• The data was collected in 2011 and 2012.
• Each participant had on average 13 respondents,
including their manager, their direct reports and their
peers.
• http://www.businessinsider.com/study-women-are-better-leaders-2014-1?IR=T&r=US&IR=T
 7. Manage your Career
• To be effective, you must be prepared to learn about
yourself (your identity, strengths, and limitations).
• Know what you want. How bad do you want it. Be
strategic with your career planning.
• Choose your assignments carefully to chart your career
growth.
• Link / network to the right people.
• The power of self-reflection.
• See: Managing Your Career (Linda Hill, 1998)
– ..\Extra Readings\Managing your career.pdf