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Enemy at the Gates
207
“Any developmental areas mentioned?” asked Johnson, paging
through the reports.
“Yes, on the next page you’ll see them listed. Tom hasn’t had
much exposure to the rest of the business side; he’s primarily been in
communications. Morgan, on the other hand, came to communications
from a marketing background,” answered Carla, “so he’s had
more exposure.”
“I like that about Morgan,” added Nate. “While Tom did have
an appreciation for the business based on his MBA, Morgan could
really talk to the day-to-day issues. I’d have to score him higher on
that one.”
“How about Morgan; did he have any developmental areas?”
asked Johnson.
“Yes, he had very little supervisory experience in his career. He
started as a market analyst and then moved up into a senior-level position,
still as an individual contributor. He made a lateral switch to
communications because they had an opening and he had always
liked journalism,” responded Nate. “Morgan moved up twice in three
years, but it was only in his last job that he got to supervise people.”
“So delegation would be one of his developmental areas,” added
Carla, making a note on her file. “I did get some feedback on Tom’s
style from one source, who suggested Tom was pretty tough on his
people. No real information about Morgan’s management style from
his references.”
“I spoke with Morgan at length about his supervisory style, and
although he doesn’t have much hands-on experience, he said all the
right things,” added Nate.
“I got the same impression,” said Carla. “Morgan came across
with a lot of management theory, but he really didn’t have the experience.”
“Well, I think we can take care of that with some training,”
added Nate.
The group continued to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of
each candidate, sharing their personal impressions as well as the data
from the references.