Managers Who Made a Difference
Prepared By:

Marihan

Mohamed Abdel Aziz

Said Samy

Ahmed Nasr

Ahmed Mosleh
Submitted to:
Dr. Ossama Mosallam
Linda Wachner, CEO of Warnaco Group Inc.
Brief about Linda Wachner
• Linda Joy Wachner is an american businesswoman.
• She was President and CEO of Warnaco Group Inc. from 1986
to 2001.
• She was born at 1946 in New York to a Jewish family.
• Wachner graduated with a B.A. in business administration from
the University of Buffalo.
• In1999, Warnaco reacquired Authentic Fitness for $504 million.
• In 1993, Fortune magazine listed Wachner among the seven
"roughest, toughest, most intimidating bosses.
• Wachner was reported to be the highest-paid female
corporate executive in the United States.
• Fortune Selected Linda to be the first lady in the Club 500
Why Fortune magazine has selected Linda Wachner
to be the first lady in the Club 500
• Increased the equity with 140 billion$ during her tenure as CEO
• increased the company ROI each year by 43%
• Her Persona in managing the company as Boss as well as Woman
Where do you place Linda as: a manager or a
strategic leader? Why?
Linda as Manager
• The leadership style is autocratic taking the decision unilaterally
• Task oriented not people oriented
• Operational manager not strategic manager
• Focus on targets and goals not on vision
• Focus on work and system in first place, then people in second priority
• The emotional intendance is minimal
Do you accept – as a team- to work with Linda
Wachner as your immediate boss? Why?
Don’t prefer to work with this style due to the following reasons
• Toxic, stressful work environment
• Autocratic management style
• No motivation and inspirational
• No emotional intelligence
How was the process and dynamics of the team
decision making?
A. Process:
• Centralized control
• Limited involvement:
• Top-down directives
B. Dynamics:
• Performance pressure
• Dominant leader
• Limited debate Top-down directives
If Linda Wachner would come to the Leadership Clinic,
what would be her top 3 possible complaints, what
would be your diagnosis?
A. Complaints
• Increase in staff turn over
• No work-social balance
• Employee demotivation and frustration
B. Diagnosis
• No emotional intelligence
• No communication skill
• Anger management
What would be the top three treatments (advices) that
you will write to her in your prescription as a
management of change
• Enrich Soft skills
• Enhance Communication skills
• Attaches seasons in Time management
• Focus on team building and engagement
‫هي ديه الطريقة اللى بتجيب نتيجة و بتنفع معانا في مصر‬
• The used methodology of Linda’s management style is common and followed in Egypt
• The centralized decision-making approach can be effective in Egypt for achieving short-term
results, but it is less effective for achieving long-term results or building a sustainable business.
• It can also be difficult to implement in Egypt due to the culture of teamwork and respect for
authority.
• the centralized decision-making approach can be effective in Egypt, but there are factors to
consider before making a decision about whether it is right for your business
 Create a work culture that supports participation and open dialogue.
 Delegate authority to other executives.
 Use group decision-making techniques such as brainstorming or voting
Thank You