1. Are Connie and her staff on the right track to avoid manager mishaps by defining a new set of leader rules and core values and imposing it by fiat, from the top down?
2. Do you think a more participative and open culture can be imposed on managers with value statements and training sessions? Why?
3. Why do you think Vitorio and Gary are on the defensive? Might the emphasis on core leadership behaviors be handled in a different way? What do you suggest?
In their three years at Vreeland Pharmaceuticals, Vitorio Nuños and Gary Shaw had rarely crossed paths, and they had exchanged no more than a dozen sentences. But here they were, seatmates on a plane headed to company headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. And suddenly, they had a lot to say to each other.
"What I'd like to know is why we're wasting a trip to Kansas City to hash out some new policies about leader competencies," Vitorio said.
"Because Connie Wyland is HR at Vreeland, and you and I both know that policies and models and all of that touchy-feely people stuff are the lifeblood of HR," Gary replied. "I also think a lot of this is the result of panic on the heels of the scandals in sales last year."
"I don't think there's cause for panic. The company fired the guys, apologized, and then you just move on," said Vitorio.
Gary laughed sarcastically. "No, you fire them, you apologize, and then you analyze the whole thing ad nauseam, and then you hamstring your management team with endless rules and bureaucratic standards just to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"So we all pay for their mistakes," replied Vitorio.
"We pay because HR feels guilty that those guys moved up so high in the system," Gary replied. "So now Connie and her staff have devised the ultimate solution to the problem. I don't know why we all have to go in to discuss it; she's already decided what she's going to do, and she's positive this is the cure-all to prevent any further embarrassment to the company."