But the problem is that he forgets that all the five fingers are not alike, and individuals differ in their outlook. Even then he seems to have earned the respect of the men, and that is a good point.
Management by Objective: The greatest trait is the ability to learn and use knowledge for advantage. By his own statement he joined the company without any knowledge of the product and method but learned the things he required very fast. In other words he has shown tremendous interest in the task at hand. Thus the information gathering and processing with the objective in mind is an asset. He can use the knowledge he thus gains to motivate others. For that he has to start a discussion regarding the projects with those concerned and probe their mind before assigning tasks. He says that he does follow up with the involved persons after the tasks are assigned to them, and takes steps to make things happen.
The asset, namely his keen appetite for information and through understanding can be used by him in discussing all aspect of the business, product launch for example with all the persons involved in such a way that those who are not conversant get his ideas well. He also hates explaining and repeating. This can be avoided first by probing the knowledge and understanding of the employee first and filling the gaps. The workers seem to respect him a lot for his knowledge. Alex also seem to have the ability to multitask; which is evident fro the way he conducts the interview with the press and simultaneously attends important calls on which he is to take decisions. This is a rare ability and he can show interest in cultivating that further.
Alex mentors his subordinates and those who wish for help. Although this trait is appreciated by the team, and it is an asset, there appears the fact that the teams are put off at times by his preemptory style. The mentoring and training of the team is an entrepreneurial ability which he must commit...
No doubt Alex has all the team leader qualities that are prized in work places. There is keen enthusiasm and team spirit and the willingness to learn and put in hard work and long time at work to achieve the desired objective. Alex is ambitious and wants to climb the ladder of the company or break out on his own. The spirit of achievement in his case goes hand in hand with the desire to make his team efficient and grow with him. His ambitions are not wrong and unlike Caesar who had to pay for his ambitions; at Landers perhaps the company will encourage his ambition to create not only a great product line, but also a great marketing division. His dynamism and vision has been acknowledged by the higher up and the staff. Therefore it is time for Alex to:
Improve upon the people skills, at the same time retaining the enthusiasm he has and the mentoring capabilities and attitudes.
Create a system for him where he would be able to effectively delegate some of the work to the others and limit intervention only to a supervisory level.
Must train some of the willing staff into his mindset and way of thinking so that he can be more effective in delegating and accomplishing his goals.
Thus Alex can use all his existing positive nature and the effective behavioral patterns he has shown in the profession, but has to learn to trust others and acknowledge that there is diversity not only with people but also the way they think and work. If he is able to acknowledge this then automatically he will be able to use his characteristic assets with greater control and effect.
References
Day, David V; Zaccaro, Stephen J; Halpin, Stanley M. (2004) "Leader Development for Transforming Organizations: Growing Leaders for Tomorrow" Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ.
Williams, Michael R. (1998) "Mastering Leadership: Key Techniques for Managing and Leading a Winning Team" Thorogood: London.
