Erik Peterson

Starting a new position does not always go as planned. For Erik Peterson, a newly appointed GM, he faced problems in concerns to the turn on date for Green Mountain Cellular Telephone Company (GMCT). Problems delaying the date began right away. Erik planned on reporting to the tough and impressive president of CelluComm the fast growing cellular company, Ric Jenkins, however he was reporting to Jeff Hardy, Director of Budgets and Plans of CelluComm.

Another problem Erik faced was the frequently used subcontractor company that was constructing the cell towers was behind schedule and facing complaints from citizens related to cutting private property. To make matters even more complicated, Curt Andrews the Chief Engineer at GMCT was a poor planner and failed to prepare the five activities necessary for the turn on date.

To help pick up the pace, Erik hired three more young professionals who unfortunately did not have a lot of experience in the industry but did have impressive credentials. When Curt and another employee found out about the new employee's salaries, their protests led to the new employee taking a pay cut.

Another obstacle was that the equipment selection was delayed because headquarters delayed decisions and made changes to the specified equipment resulting in constant changes in patterns for GMCT. Altogether, Peterson faced problems with communication, employees, money, subcontractors, citizens, zoning, and time constraints. Luckily, as the “Crucibles of Leadership” Warren Bennis points out, the skills required to conquer adversity are the same needed to make extraordinary leaders.

The underlying causes of these problems primarily result from poor decisions made by CelluComm's upper management. They refused to relocate Curt, they were behind schedule for important decisions, and they made too many changes in