Reference no: EM131804908

Read the mini-case and answer the questions that follow.

Isabel McDonald, a young manager in a large software firm, has been identified as a potential candidate for a newly created executive position in her organization. Her employees say that she's like a whirlwind-that she approaches each task with a passion for identifying the core underlying problem and crafting solutions for those problems. In that respect, they call her "CSI" boss, because she's like a passionate detective on the prowl for problems to solve. She loves her job, because it's what she wants to do. That's probably why, when her employees interact with her, she seems to be so passionate. She chooses which tasks she wants to take on. Her whirlwind nature drives her to be very action-oriented. She can walk into any problem or situation and immediately take action. She calls it "her intuition," and says she's proud to not get bogged down with "analysis paralysis." "Plans are for those without intuition," she says. And, she's not afraid of failing. If something goes wrong, she doesn't dwell on it-sometimes she doesn't even know it has gone wrong since she's off to another problem. As her employees describe her, she really is like a whirlwind-a fast-moving one!

1) Which of the following captures how Isabel decides what to work on?

a. She asks ''What team member do I want to work with?''

b. She asks ''What needs to be done?''

c. She asks "What do I want to do?"

2) Which of the following does NOT describe Isabel?

a. She is very passionate.

b. She carefully plans things and takes action after she writes an action plan.

c. She uses her intuition to take action.

3) Once Isabel makes a decision or takes action, which of the following best describes her?

a. She carefully revisits the decision or action to evaluate if it worked well.

b. She may not know how things went because she's off to the next thing.

c. She checks up on her decisions and actions and changes them if necessary.

4) Which of the following best characterizes Isabel's working style?

a. She focuses on opportunities, not problems.

b. She focuses on problems, not opportunities.

c. She focuses on people, not problems or opportunities.

5) Which of the following is the most opposite of how Isabel operates?

a. She focuses on problem solving instead of on opportunities.

b. She doesn't check up on things because she's on to the next thing.

c. She writes action plans instead of just doing with no thinking or sound planning.