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Charisma in Cable

Throughout the last five weeks at Charter I have been paying attention to all aspects of leadership that are shown within the different directors and managers at Charter, however I have been paying special attention to my boss’s boss’s boss, Kathleen, who I have written about when it comes to the idiosyncrasy credit that she possess.  Kathleen is the head of the Marketing Communications department and she has over about 30 people that report to her both directly and through other people. Kathleen uses a charismatic leadership technique to work with those reporting to her. Leaders who use this style of leadership transform the needs, values, preferences, and aspiration of followers from self-interest to collective interests.  Kathleen does this with those that she works directly with. 

This week, there was a new hire that was starting in the Marketing Communications department. I could tell within minutes of meeting Tyler that he was very nervous about starting this new job in an unknown environment, after working in the same company for 12 years, knowing basically everyone that he worked with. Kathleen could tell that this was happening as well, and she showed him empathy and expressed to him that she wanted to know what was important to him in order to show that he was important to the team. She listened to him as he explained what his ideas were to implement within his new position, and she suggested multiple employees of Charter that would be of both use and also comfort to him, seeing as how some of these had transferred to charter from the same company that he had.  She clearly is displaying the ultimate goal of charismatic leadership which is showing that the main ideas and goals of the group can be accomplished and that all issues can be resolved in order to do so.

Along with this, Kathleen is an outgoing and bubbly person to be around. She is always the first to address the issue in the room as will give the group her two cents as to how the issue can be resolved and that the goal will stay in tact, which in her case is the retention of their customers. She works specifically on retaining customers to Charter, specifically within the on-boarding phases of their purchase, which is within the first 0-3 months of having Spectrum cable. Kathleen is exceptionally talented at arousing the emotions of those working for her. She will make sure that they are all passionate about their project and if they’re not, she’ll work with them until they are. My manager Kate, had expressed to her that she was no longer happy just working on the finances of the department. Kathleen empathized with her and understood that Kate wanted to take on a more diverse role within the group and has since worked with her to implement this role.

Kathleen is a charismatic leader and she works with the group personally, increasing their passion, and taking the attention that she commands in group settings, in order to make the groups goals for the company a reality.