Title Roberto Trueba Case

Author Nuno Miguel Gomes de Pinho

Discipline Group Development

Professor(s) Professor Ignacio Alvarez De Mon

Place

PBS Porto Business School
Date

July 2014
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EMBA
Group Development
Nuno Miguel Gomes de Pinho 2014-07-17 | Page 1
Roberto Trueba is a Spanish in his middle thirties. Hes married and a father of three. He has a PhD in Physics.
He worked as an associated teacher at the University for one year after which, he went to a company Profesa.
Since the beginning at Profesa, Trueba has accomplished a reputation of highly efficient in his area of
expertise. He has created and molded a group of sixty researchers; one of the first teams to work in the sector.
Individually, Trueba was motivated through both the achievement and resolution of complex technical
problems and the public recognition of his superiors. However, lately, Trueba wasnt feeling challenged by
technical problems, either because they werent complex enough, or due to a drift in his intrinsic motivations.
I tend to believe that is due to the second reason because, by then, Trueba took awareness of something that
he thought wasnt possible: his subordinates didnt think of him as a good leader. Trueba needed to be in
control of everything and everyone; he thought he delegated tasks, but he didnt: he was always correcting
and rewriting his subordinates papers, treated highly skilled engineers as technicians and, after his promotion,
he choose to replace him the one subordinate that wouldnt mind to have Trueba making the decisions for
him. Trueba was like an emotional volcano that erupted when he recognized the truly reason for his actions:
himself.
Watching some of ones strongest beliefs falling like a castle of cards is a very important momentum in ones
life. Up to a point in time we have a Trueba deeply motivated at Profesa, working with is mentor (Fuentes)
and driven by achieving solutions for increasingly complex problems, by his superiors public recognition and
by the money. He thought of himself as a good leader and did believe that the reason for that effort and the
many hours daily spent at work (18 hours) was his family.
Suddenly, after discussing with a subordinated and talking with companys psychologist and his father, Trueba
realized this wasnt the real truth. He wasnt a good leader, in fact he wasnt able to reduce the need of the
power to control everything and everyone. Also, the reason why he has been working so hard was his own
motivation and not his family, to which he was almost a stranger.
Trueba problem is wider than choosing one of the five working positions. Trueba problem is within himself, is
about conciliating family with job, and is about having time to get to know his older son while working in
challenging tasks. Whatever job he chooses, this inner choice, this need for equilibrium, will always be present
and Trueba needs to deal with it, defining his priorities according to his beliefs and values.
When comparing with Maslow hierarchy of needs theory is interesting to
notice, in my opinion, that Trueba although thinking to be in the self-
actualization stage suddenly found himself two stages down, questioning
himself if he had fulfilled the need of belonging (is a stranger to his older
son) and the self-esteem (is not recognized as a good leader by his
subordinates).
Being aware that this lower stage needs are yet to be fulfilled, Trueba may
feel the urge to change his motivational values, which will impact on his
daily attitudes and habits.
Further, as can be seen in the side table, Herzbergs
extrinsic motivation factors are no longer totally
fulfilled. Relations with subordinates are not as good as
he thought and, since Fuentes promotion, neither was
the relation with his supervisor.
Nonetheless the level of fulfillment of intrinsic factors
may have given Trueba the feeling of high satisfaction
towards his job, the awareness that some hygienic
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EMBA
Group Development
Nuno Miguel Gomes de Pinho 2014-07-17 | Page 2
factors are not totally fulfilled is making him think if hes really satisfied with his job, questioning himself if hes
being able to balance his professional and personal life.
Talking about the intensity of his motivational factors, it seems
to me that Trueba, during his first years of work at Profesa, was
eager to show that he was highly competent, highly effective.
During that period he wanted to be the best, always winning,
demanding total loyalty from his subordinates and controlling
everything and everyone.
This behavior worked while he was growing inside the company.
However, as he reaches higher hierarchical positions he cannot
keep over-expressing those behaviors if he wants to be
successful. As he climbs the hierarchical ladder, his ability to
perform individual tasks must be overrun by his leading ability.
If he wants to perform and be known as a good leader, he must
moderate the need of power, affiliation and achievement,
adapting his behavior according to the situation and the
individual and collective characteristics of the team.

As so Trueba is truly at a crossroad. He needs to understand how to become a better leader, how to keep
performing challenging tasks and how to have time to his family, namely getting to know his older sun, one of
his main present concerns. It isnt an easy task, but the first step was taken, when Trueba realized and accepted
this reality and understood that he was the main responsible to find a solution.
To me the trigger is at Trueba being able to lead trough his AUTORITAS and not just trough his POTESTAS. Its
much easier to lead a team when people follow the leader because they believe in him, than when they obey
only because of the power of ones hierarchal position. Trueba must learn to be humble (meaning to listen,
learn and collaborate with his subordinates) and to trust and empower his subordinates. Moreover, as they
are highly qualified engineers, Trueba should approach them thinking more on McGregors motivation theory
Y, rather on theory X, adopting a more participative leadership style.
However, the same way it isnt easy to change ones motivational values, one doesnt learn how to lead
overnight. If needed, Trueba should do a coaching program aiming this specific objective.
Mandela once said It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate
victory and when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate
your leadership. The best advice for Trueba is to truly understand what Mandela synthetized in the above
sentence: get to know your subordinates, learn from them, listen to their opinion, give them autonomy to
decide how to do quotidian tasks, motivate them. However dont be a paternalist; correct them whenever
needed, but never forget to explain why, making sure they understand what was expected from them.
Building a motivated team takes time, but Trueba has to aim for that to balance his professional and personal
life. Anchored on the support of a motivated team, he would be able to pursuit highly complex tasks and still
have the time he needs to introduce himself as a father to his sun.



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