It may be that Green and Davis are different action logic types.
Analysis:
Thomas Green and Frank Davis appear to fall into the two very different action logic types—the opportunist and the expert. An opportunist tends to externalize blame, focus on personal wins, manipulate situations in his/her favor, and participate in frequent rule breaking (Rooke and Torbert). Green worked to manipulate colleagues when he openly challenged Davis’ his pro forma numbers during the 2008 Budget Plan meeting and then continued to discuss his over-projections with co-workers rather than taking his concerns directly to Davis (Sasser and Beckham). Also, Green continued to fail to comply with Davis’ request for hard data to be presented to clients …show more content…
Davis pushed Green for data from his first week on the job, “I think we would have been more effective if we have been able to provide the clients with some market data” (Sasser and Beckham). Experts are great individual contributors but can sometimes be problematic as managers because they tend to believe that they are always right (Rooke and Torbert). In Frank Davis’ email to Shannon McDonald he detailed his interaction surrounding the presentations, spreadsheet models, and emails used by another colleague that he recommended Green considered utilizing for future strategy (Sasser and Beckham). After Green refuted his ideas, Davis recommended a short period for correction before firing while displaying the “my way for the highway” characteristic of the expert action logic (Rooke and …show more content…
With Thomas Green’s promotion it has become apparent that he is missing the relationship management competency of his emotional intelligence. The relationship management competency includes the “ability to communicate clearly and convincingly, disarm conflicts, and build strong personal bonds” (Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee, Primal Leadership). Green seems to be lacking in this competency as he continues to avoid making the corrections requested by Davis regarding his work performance. Green demonstrated his inability to disarm conflict, “I know my mood is terrible. The excitement’s gone from work. I must say, though, I’ve had a couple of good chats with managers from another part of Dynamic Displays, and they’re supportive. They told me to stand my ground” (Sasser and Beckham).
As Green builds tension in the office he is likely to lose the support from McDonald—a relationship that can be credited for his promotion and one that he hopes to credit for his continuation in his position. Green failed to maintain his relationship with McDonald after getting his promotion, another pitfall of his underdeveloped relationship management, “He had met one-on-one with McDonald only twice since he moved to the corporate headquarters. He had been preoccupied with the job itself, and with living up to McDonald’s expectations” (Sasser and