Synthesis paper

Earthlink Company

Earthlink Company is a communications network firm based in Atlanta Georgia. The company serves over one hundred and fifty businesses worldwide with most of its consumers coming from the United States. Earthlink operates under two distinct divisions;EarthLink Consumer Services and Earthlink Business Services. EarthLink Business Services offers connectivity services such as the Ethernet, DS3,DSL,T-1, wireless and MPLS. It also offers wholesale services in the field of network services and fiber capacity. This company offers services to a considerably huge population of the United States of America. EarthLink has a subsidiary in Rochester, NY where they provide technical support for online and phone services. I had the opportunity to speak with Tom, the technical special manager tasked with the responsibility of supervising technicians. He also handles complains related to technical support.

What knowledge, skills, and abilities is the manager looking for in a leader?

Tom told me that a leader should help in meeting the organizational goals. New leaders in EarthLink Company are expected to delegate duties to the employees in a manner that will help meet the company’s objectives. Through their strong career commitment, they should lead by example. With the constant advancement of technology, leaders should keep up with innovations by carrying out constant research. Currently, EarthLink’s biggest challenge is increased competition from other market players. Therefore, to ensure that their company remains competitive, leaders must see to it that their company offers the best services. The new leaders must be people who continuously do research to ensure that the company offers the best services. Following this, the new leader must encourage other employees to find any useful information that might lead to the development of unique services. The leaders must gain the credibility of the employees and the public in general. A leader should be in a position to instill confidence among his employees; this ensures that the employees carry out their duties without any hesitation. To get a job as a leader in the EarthLink Company, a person must be very confident in making decisions. The leader must ensure that they make well informed decisions that will make the organization more focused on its goals. As a manager of EarthLink Company, there are set standards that the leaders must possess in order to qualify. Through a series of tests, our interview panel will choose the right person for the leadership position. Additionally, a leader must possess the ability to make right decisions leading to an improvement of company performance.

Describe the type of person you would most likely place in a leadership role.

  Apart from being more innovative, they must have motivational skills. This means that a leader provides the necessary encouragement to keep employees going. I would choose a leader who maintains good employee welfare. This is achieved by providing a good working environment, sufficient remuneration, strict adherence to work ethics as well as creating a healthy working environment. Since EarthLink Company largely engages with young innovative people, the leader must be very approachable. Another skill that the EarthLink company leaders should portray is the ability to delegate responsibilities in their departments. Delegating the duties and responsibilities in the organization plays a key role in team building. The employees work as a team and assist each other in income generating activities. TheEarthLink company has several departments whose success is based on the successful completion of responsibilities from other departments. For instance, if the production sector manufactures beverages on time marketers will be able to carry out their duty as well as the supplies and logistics. The new leader in Earthlink Company must have the ability to communicate their responsibilities to the employees using the right terms. If a leader comes up with an idea but fails to communicate well to the employees then it will not be well implemented. The manager needs to pass the ideas to the employees exactly as it should be implemented so as to gain the expected results. Earthlink employees should understand what the leader expects them to do. The leaders should also learn to accept criticism by listening to the opinions that their employees have. Leaders also make mistakes and should be able to accept what their employees do so.

What are the benefits of having an education when entering this field?

  The candidate should have a Bachelor of Science degree. The education background of a leader is very important since it horn his/her decision making skills. For example, Earthlink prefers candidates who have the right educational background which imparts them with problem solving skills. Anyone intending to be a leader in this field should be aware of the market population, company branches, and the firm’s level of participation in the industry. In addition, they must have a good grasp of the company’s growth trends and be in a position to predict its future prospects.

Teacher Comment

This is very interesting!  Remember to ask for examples so you can use them in your paper.  I look forward to reading more about Earthlink!