The Rushmore PlanKelly Dakota was recognized by associates and competitors as a woman on a mission. One of four members of the design team for a large chair manufacturing corporation, Dakota’s obsession with the creation of comfortable seating dated to a childhood back injury and a lifetime of pain. She recognized, more than most in the industry, the importance of designing chairs that offered some relief to those suffering from debilitating back, hip, and neck pain as well as helping people of all ages to avoid problems with proper posture. In her early days with the company the staff jokingly called her approach the Rushmore Plan, after America’s Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Like someone fighting to save the world, Kelly Dakota brought passion and a creative intensity to design meetings as if each drawing, each design tweak would change civilization as we knew it.Single and with no apparent family or friendship ties, Dakota was married to her work. She seemed to thrive on 70-hour work weeks, although as a salaried manager, she received no overtime pay. Even her “down time” at meals or on weekends was spent sketching, studying the latest in ergonomics, or reconnoitering each design adjustment by competitors.“When you visit a furniture store, you fully expect to see Dakota skulking about, checking to see what the competition is offering,” says fellow team member John Craddock. “We all laugh about it. The woman brings—actually brings—chairs to meetings and tears them apart to show us some miniscule discovery.”This obsession with chairs, pain, and gravity, and one-upping the competition has made Dakota a valuable employee and earned her a reputation in the industry for creative design. Not since Peter Opsvik’s Gravity Balans ergonomic chair of the 1970s has anyone made such an impact on the industry. The effect of Dakota’s work on company profits is undeniable. The intense competition with imported furniture makes her more valuable in the eyes of top executives. The fact that competitors are chomping at the bit to lure her away is also undeniable.But the Rushmore Plan comes at a price. Over the 15 years she has worked with the company, 5 as leader of the design group, there has been a constant turnover within the design group as frustrated workers leave the company to “get away from Dakota.”“Anything you could learn from this brilliant and dedicated woman is destroyed by her cold, calculating attitude,” Craddock complains. “I came to this company excited about the chance to work with her. But any knowledge she possesses is carefully guarded. Her design ideas are perfect in her mind, while ours are picked apart. We all swear she has listening devices scattered around everywhere, because if the rest of the team huddles in some corner of the world to discuss a design idea, Voila! She walks into the next meeting with our idea. Once when she was a few minutes late to a meeting, we thought we had beaten her and quickly presented our idea. Just then, she walks in, and announces, ‘Ideas must be in the air. I have something very similar,’ and throws her completed design on screen. Guess who won?”Dakota presents a continuing challenge to company management, having both incredible positive and negative influence on the culture. While her contributions to design and profits far exceed those of other employees, her negative effect on the culture and her team’s creativity and morale results in the loss of talented people and a climate of suspicion and discontent. Dakota’s threat, “I can take my talents elsewhere,” hangs over top executives like a sledgehammer.Now, Craddock and Leslie Warren, other talented members of the design team, have approached management with their own ultimatum: Do something about Dakota or we resign.Questions

If you were a top leader, how would you respond to the ultimatum? Be specific. Explain why.
What is Dakota missing with respect to her leadership abilities? How do you explain her poor leadership behavior?
If you were Dakota’s manager, how might you increase Dakota’s awareness of the negative impact she is having on her team? How would you guide her toward better team leadership, sharing her knowledge with others, and mentoring her team members? Be specific.