Assignment 3:
Lisa Benton Case Analysis
Katherine Torkelson
Jack Welch Management Institute

JWI 510 Leadership in the 21st Century
March 10, 2013

Executive Summary
This paper will discuss and analyze Lisa Benton, a recent Harvard Business School graduate. She is now an assistant product manager at a company called Houseworld. Lisa has a poor relationship with her new boss and coworker and she recently received a poor performance review. She is worried about her future with the company, and if she chose the right company to begin her career after receiving her MBA.
Introduction
Lisa had a tough decision to make. During her time in school working towards her MBA, she worked as the assistant to the president of Right-Away …show more content…

Mr. Welch states “how too many people—too often—instinctively don’t express themselves with frankness. They just don’t open up” (Welch J. &., 2005, p. 25). For example, when Lisa and her boss were speaking about someone who has earned their MBA, Lisa came back with a defensive rebuttal to her boss’s comments (Weber, 1994). This is not the type of assertiveness that is required to gain influence. According to the American Management Association, assertiveness is when employees make them visible within the organization, work collaboratively and take responsibility for their own actions, decisions and behaviors (McIntosh & Luecke, 2011). In order for Lisa to influence her boss, she can also apply the Cohen-Bradford Influence Model as well. This model is based on using reciprocity to gain influence. Reciprocity is “the belief that all the positive and negative things we do for (or to) others will be paid back over time” (Mind Tools). According to the professional website, Mind Tools, “the Influence Model is useful whenever: 1. You need help from someone over whom you have no authority. 2. The other person is resisting helping you. 3. You don’t have a good relationship with the person from whom you need the help. 4. You have one opportunity to ask the person for help. 5. You don’t know the other person well.”
There are several steps needed for the Cohen-Bradford Influence Model to work smoothly