A Day in the Life of Alex Sander
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Your goals for the meeting
Situation Analysis & Alexs point of view
Putting Sam Glasss shoes, I must analyze the current situation and understand Alex Sanders point of view in order to have effective/ efficient meeting with him.
Current Situation
Alexs point of view
He does not like/trust 360o review
Though its the anonymous report, I know who contributed to the report. As far as I know, they are not as good professionals as I am. Spending time in reading their negative ideas about my management style is the waste of time.
He cant see the value of the 360o review. Its the least prioritized task for Alex.
Opinions in the review are tainted and subjective. I have a long list of urgent task like launching Nourish in the U.S. market, so I do not have time for 360o which creates no value.
Alexs individual performance is outstanding, but hes not interested in becoming motivator, team builder, and team-leader. Whats worse, hes not willing to change his work/management style.
Im making waves in the team full of the dull and urging team members to pull their weight. All the great performance so far has been achieved by my aggressive management style. If theres anyone who is not able to stand my style, theyre not good enough.
Understanding Alexs character
Alex sander seems to have very strong ego, too much confidence on his achievements and work/management style. Its very hard to make this type of persons admit their weakness, and its a reason why Alex sander does not like to even read 360o review which reveals the negative sides of his work/management style. According to the Alexs dialogue with his neighbours, he already sensed how his subordinates/ colleagues/ bosses were viewing his style at workplace, but the point is that hes not willing to change/improve since he strongly believes hes on the right track.
In addition, hes a very good self-motivator. Seeing his dedication to his task, I can conclude he usually like to plunge into what he personally thinks important and interesting. I should give Alex strong causes and reasons of 360o review if I really want him to be involved in the process.
My goals for the meeting with Alex
Given above analysis, Ill set the following goals for the meeting.
Give Alex a feeling that Im standing on his side: Alex would see himself as a lonely bulldog that is making wave for the idle organization. If I directly point out whats wrong with him, his counter-attack would be more severe. In addition, as hes thinking about leaving Landon, I must avoid unnecessary emotional conflict.
Help Alex understand that, wherever he is, being a successful motivator and team leader is important for his career: What Alex concerns are to have much influence over strategic decision and to keep degree of success in his jobs. Although he said he does not care about promotion at the last meeting, but promotion is a way to achieve the influence and the degree of success. Thus, I will relate “being a successful team leader.” to his future career.
Help Alex find the value of 360operformance/ Feedback review: Without strong cause and reason within him, Alex is never willing to involve in 360o review. Thus, as his supervisor, Ill help him to have clear understanding why the 360o is a good tool to find/ complement his weakness.
Keep Alex in Landon: I personally admit that Alex makes waves and appraise his achievements so far. One of my objectives should be to keep Alex in Landon as long as possible.
What will I say in the meeting?
Give Alex a feeling that Im standing on his side
Ill relax Alex by casual opening chat. The subject would come from Alexs daily life, not tasks, showing that I, his supervisor, am interested in him.
(Example)
☞ You get more and more healthy! What secret do you have for maintaining your health? You must work out every morning!
And then, Ill appraise Alexs achievements so far and attribute them to his potential leadership skill. By this, I can smoothly move the conversation into the next goals “Help Alex understand being a leader is important”
(Example)
☞ I thought