Step $3$: Review Upcoming Positions

Review the five different upcoming positions your group has been tasked with filling and the leadership competencies you identified for each position. You may also wish to review any feedback received by your Instructor about these competencies.

Candidate $5$ Rafael Mendez $$ Current Position $$ Director of Sales, New Mexico

Mendez currently is the Director of the New Mexico sales division at LSN$.$ He was LSN$\text{'}$s top salesman before taking over the Director position. Mendez is $32$ years old. A recent divorce from his wife has made him eager to make a change in his career. Mendez's wife was Brazilian. Mendez is fluent in Portuguese. When asked if he was open to moving outside of the United States, Mendez replied that he was "open to adventure." He had not traveled excessively but had gone to Brazil regularly with his wife when they were together. He was familiar with the problems of a developing country.

Mendez enjoys working with customers and spends a lot of time with them, making sure they are satisfied. Mendez enjoys LSN$\text{'}$s collaborative culture. He feels that one of the secrets to his own sales success is coordinating with other departments within LSN$,$ including purchasing, IT$,$ R&D$,$ and HR$.$ As part of his $360-$degree performance appraisal, his team gave him glowing reviews. He got equally high ratings from senior salespeople $($i$.$e$.,$ Baby Boomers$)$ and younger salespeople $($i$.$e$.,$ Millennials$).$

When asked what characteristics he thought a leader needed to succeed in the $21$st century, he replied, $"...$you need to be a good listener, first and foremost." He felt a good leader should change rapidly in a crisis and be direct and assertive when dealing with people. When asked about the idea of the competitive edge, he said, "A leader has to worry about making money every day. It is important to have immediate results for all to see, especially in sales. Even customers prefer to deal with successful salespeople than those that plod along."

Mendez believes he could do well in another country if the company ensured he received language and cultural training. He knew that understanding how people thought about business and their products was important but more likely, the sale would be clinched if he knew what was and wasn't culturally acceptable in the country in which he was selling. He stated, "Knowing your clients is everything in sales, so I suspect it is an essential part of the leadership at LSN as well." When asked how he created followers among his employees, Mendez replied he liked to have rules and room for deviation and flexibility $--$ while always remaining results$-$driven. Mendez said he was a situational leader because it encouraged freedom and allowed him to use different leadership styles with diverse employees.