“Do you have a minute?” asked Frank, peering into John’s office.
“Yes, sure, what’s up?” asked John, the vice president, putting down his pen.
“I need to talk to you about Dave,” started Frank, entering the office, closing the door, and taking a seat. “I’ve been hearing a lot of bad reports about him the past couple of months, and one of my best analysts just asked to be transferred off Dave’s project team.”
“Transfer? That’s not good. You think Dave’s the issue?”
“Well, I know he is,” said Frank, exasperatedly. “One of my guys came to me two nights back, after hours, to tell me what has been going on.” John leaned forward, interested in what Frank had to report. “He said that since the project started, over six months ago, things have been getting steadily worse. Dave has been disrupting and dominating the team to the point that many don’t want to work with him anymore. He apparently doesn’t come prepared, often comes to the meeting late, leaving a whole room full of people idle, yells at folks, cuts people off while they’re making their status reports, and embarrasses them if they make a suggestion. People are afraid to speak up, and they’re losing interest in the project because they feel they can’t do anything right by Dave.”
“That’s really odd, Frank. Dave has always come across as a good leader, and I thought he was well liked. Have you spoken to him about this?”
“Yes, the first time was about three months ago, when I read his interim report. It was a mess: a hodgepodge of material he seemed to cobble together because I asked. There was no organization, no synthesis, and no accurate timeline. He couldn’t—or wouldn’t—even answer some basic questions about the details and figures. I told him I expected more of a status report, complete with his personal analysis and recommendations, and more details about dates, costs, and so forth.”
“How did he respond?” asked Frank.
“Well, at first he went ballistic on me, ranting about how we have too many meetings at this company, I should trust him, and on and on. I had to close the door because he was disrupting the floor. After he calmed down, we spoke and I outlined my expectations. He seemed to understand and said he would improve.”
“Did he?” asked John.
“Yes, actually he did—dramatically, I’d say. His next two reports were outstanding. I didn’t agree completely with the timeline, and some of the material was overly self-serving, but most of it was what you would expect. So I was surprised when I heard things had gotten worse on the people side of the equation; I was under the impression that the team was working well together. Plus, some other things have come up.”
“Could it just be a personality clash between Dave and your guy on the team?” interrupted John. “Maybe Dave’s style is getting in the way.”
“No, I don’t think so. This was the second transfer request this week, and my secretary has heard other rumblings through the department. He tried to give one of the temps something to type last week and she told him that he had to get it approved first. Well, he made a big scene and got her crying before she finally agreed. Plus—”
“Frank,” started John, slowly, “I have to tell you that Dave came to me about three or so months ago. He complained that you were getting on his case.”
“He went to you about me?” said Frank, at first surprised, and then getting annoyed.
“Yes, well, we’re on the softball team, you know, so over a beer I asked him how things were going, you know, the usual chitchat, and he started in on you. He seems to have a very short fuse.”
“What did he say?” asked Frank.
“Basically, it boiled down to your being too demanding, too detail oriented, stuff like that. I told him that’s why you make the big bucks.” They both laughed halfheartedly. “I also told him that getting things done on time and in budget is what makes success here, and that he should focus more on pleasing you.”
“So maybe it was your pep talk that got to him, not mine,” suggested Frank.
“Neither here nor there, Frank. If he’s hurting the team and disrupting others, then that’s a problem. You should meet with him again,” said John. “Did you say you saw him yesterday?”
“No,” Frank said. “I wanted to touch base with you first, put together a strategy.”
“I think you can meet with him, tell him you’ve heard things, and see where it takes you,” offered John.
“There’s more, John,” said Frank seriously.
“Oh.” John paused. “What?”
Frank continued. “I’ve heard that Dave hasn’t been writing the reports himself or meeting with the other departments to coordinate the different phases. Even some of the other department heads are wondering why Dave is not meeting with them himself. Some say he’s not doing any of the work he’s supposed to. Apparently, Dorothy is doing most of the heavy work for him.”
“There’s nothing wrong with delegation, Frank. Maybe he’s developing her, or she just wants to be helpful.” John paused and thought. “Dorothy? She’s not one of yours, is she?” he asked.
“No, she’s from Jerry’s area. Dave insisted we put her on the team because she’s very motivated and can help with the artwork. I really had no problem with it and neither did Jerry,” added Frank.
“Hmmm, that’s odd. Dave was complaining about some female on the team—I don’t think he gave me her name—who wasn’t carrying her own weight. He was blaming her for some of the delays; he had to spend all his time tutoring her and fixing her mistakes. I suggested he move her off the team, but he said you wouldn’t allow it; you had made a deal with Jerry to give one of his hotshots some exposure to the product development process and couldn’t back down.”
“Well, no. Putting Dorothy on the team was Dave’s idea, and, interestingly enough, Dave never complained to me about her. Jerry does think highly of her, yes, but she needs more experience. I never heard that she wasn’t doing well at all; in fact, Dave praises her all the time. He thinks that Jerry is holding her back.” Frank and John looked at each other.
After a pause, Frank continued. “We’ve—I’ve—got a problem, John. There are too many contradictions here. I need to deal with it.”
“You’re right, we need to find out what is really going on. Look, I have a meeting in a few minutes. Why don’t you come back late this afternoon? Bring Dave’s file and whatever else you can dig up. Let’s review everything first, and then decide what to do.”
“Okay,” said Frank, getting up and heading toward the door. “I hope this is just a big misunderstanding.” He sighed.
“Doubtful, Frank,” said John.
Discussion Questions