Case Study on Leadership

Leadership

Michael A. Todman has a position of legal authority in the company as the president of Whirlpool. He exercises leadership not only through his official position with the company, but also in his symbolic role as being a visionary and global communicator. His colleagues describe Todman as a stellar decision maker, which is a core component of effective leadership. Being born in the Caribbean means that Todman also has a global foundation from which to base his communications decisions, and other members of the senior management team characterize Todman as being a global leader. Todman understands how to triage problems and create lists of priorities, which helps him lead teams through times of crisis. His familiarity with operations and organizational culture alike make it so that Todman's decision-making is logical. One of the ways Todman has been able to be an outstanding leader for Whirlpool is by encouraging members of his team to think creatively about problems and solutions. He has come up with ways to get offices in disparate parts of the globe to work together, focusing on common goals and objectives. His strategic vision for Whirlpool is essentially global and forward thinking in scope, which is why Todman has been singled out as an award-winning leader.

2. Todman serves in several distinct but interrelated leadership roles at Whirlpool. For example, his position as president makes Todman a spokesperson for the company. As president, Todman represents the company as a figurehead abroad. Todman's awareness of diversity makes his leadership role as president especially effective from a global standpoint.

Second, Todman took charge of improving Whirlpool's communications benchmarks. Both internal and external communications needed a boost, and Todman was there to help by increasing the number of board meetings, encouraging a culture of honesty and frankness, and by "pushing employees to think more broadly, more creatively," (p. 30).

Third, Todman has revolutionized operations in a way that suited current Whirlpool goals. He integrated Maytag into the product line fully, cut costs by closing inept plants, and managing brands. Todman's brand management strategy is international in scope, requiring a deft understanding for language and cultural communications. He also has the foresight and awareness to understand logistical issues including time zone constraints in communications that may impact the global operations management at the Whirlpool Company.