Case: Lessons on Leadership from Ann Fudge
• Openness to Experience: The way she approaches problems, learns new information, and reacts to new experiences are showing that she is open to new experiences and curious. For example, she willingly took 2 years off to travel and see the world—try new things—and define her life by more than her career (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012, p. 233). She exposed herself to new cultures and ideas. She is very strategic and has her eye on the big-picture which indicates her high level of openness to experience. Agreeableness: How does she get along with others, as opposed to getting ahead of others?
Again, it is likely she would score high on this factor. She is about being out with people (customers and employees) and listening to them. She has the ability to interact effectively with all constituencies of a consumer business. She could engage all three constituents in the same day. She is approachable and optimistic. Extraversion: Fudge is self-confident, competitive, likes being around people (and in a team environment), decisive, goal-oriented, and drives to make an impact. Neuroticism: How does she react to stress, failure, and personal criticism? Moderate to high on this factor.
As her old boss pointed out, she is very comfortable with who she is and is not interested in pretending to be someone else (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012, p. 233). This indicates she can handle the personal criticism and deal with it. However, the fact that she decided to take some time off and do other things might show she was not dealing with the stress and pressure well. • Analytic Intelligence: Although not as important in this case, her track record for high levels of success and performance indicates she likely has a high degree of general mental ability.
Practical Intelligence: Also known as “street smarts,” has been important in her new job. She has used her knowledge of the business and industry to land some very big new clients to the firm (i. e. , Microsoft, Toys R Us). • Benefits: It allowed her to gain new and broader experiences. Perhaps, even it helped increasing her commitment to various and diverse ideas as a way to stimulate thinking and business. She was also true to herself about what she wanted to do to define her life. In addition, it also provided her with a chance to take a break and recharge her battery (and avoid urnout)—in the end this has the chance to make her more of an asset to her organization and employees. Drawbacks: Leaving the industry for 2 years could result in losing contact with the industry as well as updating the current trends. It might hurt her credibility in the sense that others thought she could not “hack it” when things were getting tough. The perceptions others have might be an initial hurdle, but Fudge appears to have cleared this and other potential drawbacks and is leading Y&R back to the top in this industry.
