dentify specific EI competencies that Diana needs to strengthen. Identify at lea
ID: 421714 • Letter: D
Question
dentify specific EI competencies that Diana needs to strengthen. Identify at least 2
different competencies for each of the 4 dimensions of EI and give evidence from the
case to support your views. (Refer to the competencies shown in the PowerPoint slides
for Chapter 4). (20 points)
b) Answer these 3 parts (30 points- 10 points each part):
i) How did Julie’s and other managers’ actions toward Diana likely reinforce some of
Diana’s behaviors?
ii) Discuss how well Diana’s boss (Julie) did her part in developing Diana’s EI
competencies. (For this you can address both positive and negative aspects of Julie’s
actions in regard to Diana.)
iii) What specific things could Julie and Diana have done to better address the concerns
over Diana’s EI competencies? Provide specific actions and discuss sequence of
actions.
Diana’s Disappointment: The
Promotion Stumbling Block
By Rosemary Maellaro, University of Dallas
Diana Gillen had an uneasy feeling of apprehension as she arrived at the Cobb Street Grille
corporate offices. Today she was meeting with her supervisor, Julie Spencer, and regional
director, Tom Miner, to learn the outcome of her promotion interview for the district manager
position. Diana had been employed by this casual dining restaurant chain for twelve years and
had worked her way up from waitress to general manager. Based on her track record, she was
the obvious choice for the promotion; and her friends assured her that the interview process was
merely a formality. Diana was still anxious, though, and feared that the news might not be
positive. She knew she was more than qualified for the job, but that didn’t guarantee anything
these days.
Nine months ago, when Diana interviewed for the last district manager opening, she thought her
selection for the job was inevitable. She was shocked when that didn’t happen. Diana was so
upset about not getting promoted then that she initially decided not to apply for the current
opening. She eventually changed her mind – after all, the company had just named her
Restaurant Manager of the Year and entrusted her with managing their flagship location. Diana
thought her chances had to be really good this time.
A multi-unit management position was a desirable move up for any general manager and was a
goal to which Diana had aspired since she began working in the industry. When she had not been
promoted the last time, Julie, her supervisor, explained that her people skills needed to improve.
But Diana knew that explanation had little to do with why she hadn’t gotten the job – the real
reason was corporate politics. She heard that the person they hired was some super star from the
outside – a district manager from another restaurant company who supposedly had strong multi-
unit management experience and a proven track record of developing restaurant managers.
Despite what she was told, she was convinced that Tom, her regional manager, had been unduly
pressured to hire this person, who had been referred by the CEO.
The decision to hire the outsider may have impressed the CEO, but it enraged Diana. With her
successful track record as a store manager for the Cobb Street Grille, she was much more
capable, in her opinion, of overseeing multiple units than someone who was new to the operation.
Besides, district managers had always been promoted internally among the store manager and
she was unofficially designated as the next one to move up to a district position. Tom had hired
the outside candidate as a political maneuver to put himself in a good light with management,
even though it meant overlooking a loyal employee like her in the process. Diana had no
patience with people who made business decisions for the wrong reasons. She worked very hard
to avoid politics – and it especially irritated her when the political actions of others negatively
impacted her.
Diana was ready to be a district manager nine months ago, and thought she was even more
qualified today – provided the decision was based on performance. She ran a tight ship,
managing her restaurant completely by the book. She meticulously adhered to policies and
procedures and rigorously controlled expenses. Her sales were growing, in spite of new
competition in the market, and she received relatively few customer complaints. The only
number that was a little out of line was the higher turnover among her staff.
Diana was not too concerned about the increasing number of terminations, however; there was a
perfectly logical explanation for this. It was because she had high standards – for herself and her
employees. Any employee who delivered less than 110 percent at all times would be better off
finding a job somewhere else. Diana didn’t think she should bend the rules for anyone, for
whatever reason. A few months ago, for example, she had to fire three otherwise good
employees who decided to try a new customer service tactic - a so called innovation they
dreamed up - rather than complying with the established process. As the general manager, it was
her responsibility to make sure that the restaurant was managed strictly in accordance with the
operations manual and she could not allow deviations. This by-the-book approach to managing
had served her well for many years. It got her promoted in the past and she was not about to jinx
that now. Losing a few employees now and then - particularly those who had difficulty
following the rules - was simply the cost of doing business.
During a recent store visit, Julie suggested that Diana might try creating a friendlier work
environment because she seemed aloof and interacted with employees somewhat mechanically.
Julie even told her that she overheard employees refer to Diana as the “Ice Maiden” behind her
back. Diana was surprised that Julie brought this up because her boss rarely criticized her. They
had an unspoken agreement: since Diana was so technically competent and always met her
financial targets, Julie didn’t need to give her much input. Diana was happy to be left alone to
run her restaurant without needless advice.
At any rate, Diana rarely paid attention to what employees said about her. She wasn’t about to let
something as childish as a silly name cause her to modify a successful management strategy.
What’s more, even though she had recently lost more than the average number of employees due
to “personality differences” or “miscommunications” over her directives, her superiors did not
seem to mind when she consistently delivered strong bottom line results every month.
As she waited in the conference room for the others, Diana worried that she was not going to get
this promotion. Julie had sounded different in the voicemail message she left to inform her about
this meeting, but Diana couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was. She would be very angry
if she was passed over again and wondered what excuse they would have this time. Then her
mind wandered to how her employees would respond to her if she did not get the promotion.
They all knew how much she wanted the job and she cringed at how embarrassed she would be if
she didn’t get it. Her eyes began to mist over at the sheer thought of having to face them if she
was not promoted today.
Julie and Tom entered the room then and the meeting was under way. They told Diana, as kindly
as they could, that she would not be promoted at this time; one of her colleagues would become
the new district manager. She was incredulous. The individual who got promoted had only been
with the company three years – and Diana had trained her! She tried to comprehend how this
happened, but it did not make sense. Before any further explanation could be offered, she burst
into tears and left the room. As she tried in vain to regain her composure, Diana was overcome
with crushing disappointment.
Explanation / Answer
As per given case study, Diana seems to be emotionally very much connected with the company and she has a strong urge of motivational needs where her promotion is one of the critical milestone of her career.
If we carefully look at the different dimensions of Emotional intelligence such as Self awareness, Empathy, Self regulation, Motivation and Social skills, Diana certainly needs to improve in “Self-regulation skills’. No doubt that Diana had been quite sincere in her work deliverables and ethics, yet she needs to control her emotions and needs to think more professionally than personally.
If we look at the different competencies for different dimensions of EI, it can be enlisted as below-
Self awareness- Two most important competencies for Self awareness is having self-confidence and possessing the self estimating skills for actual strengths and weakness.
Self regulation- Having Flexibility and self control over emotions are two competencies.
Social skills- Having empathy and aligning with organizational goals.
Having rationale thinking and impartiality.
Motivation- Having self inspirational skills and positive mindset at work.
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