Caselet 1: Friend or Mentor? Deciding When to Take Action
It was spring, and Carol was waiting in a restaurant for Helen to pull up in her little red convertible. Back when Helen was a rookie and her subordinate, Carol recalled how Helen had achieved a banner year and received a big bonus. She had used the bonus to buy the “car of her dreams.”
However, instead of pulling up in a little red convertible, Carol noticed Helen pulled up to the restaurant in a yellow taxi. “Where’s that hot car of yours?” Carol asked her old employee. “Oh, it’s in the shop,” Helen replied, and she quickly moved on to get caught up on how her friend and former boss had been since they last met about six months ago at their company’s fall sales meeting. Over the past several years, both women had moved on within the company. Carol had moved into another sales management position, and Helen had moved into a position that handled larger accounts. However, the two women had managed to stay in contact with one another and have dinner together twice a year prior to their semi-annual sales meeting. Carol had never officially been asked to mentor Helen. However, over the years Helen had sought her advice when she had difficult decisions to make. Thus, the mentoring relationship between them seemed to naturally evolve. Lately, however, Carol had heard that Helen’s performance seemed to be slipping a bit. Other sales managers were talking about how she had missed appointments and meetings and had not met her deadlines. This certainly didn’t seem like the Helen Carol knew. About halfway through dinner, Carol noticed that the bottle of wine she and Helen had been sharing was empty, although Carol had consumed only one glass. Although the food was a little slow in being served, the popular “reservations only” restaurant they were dining at seemed to live up to its reputation. Nonetheless, when the women were finally served their dessert, Helen suddenly and loudly berated the waiter about his poor service. Carol was stunned. She had never seen Helen do such a thing in the past. Carol knew a new sales management position was opening up soon and that her opinion for a new candidate would be sought. As Helen ordered “after dinner” drinks for both of them, Carol began to reconsider recommending her for the position.
Questions
1. Where should Carol’s loyalties lie? What do you think is going on with Helen?
2. As her informal mentor, should Carol take it upon herself to ask Helen about her performance and what’s causing it to decline? Or should she mind her own business?
3. What other actions should Carol consider taking?