1. To what extent do you think Dan Dienst was facing a crisis leadership
situation when he was appointed the CEO of the Martha Stewart Company?
Thecrisis leadership situation that Dan Dienst was facing was to a bigextent
because he was appointed as CEO of the Martha Stewart Companyat a time when
it was facing some lawsuit problems from competitorslike Macy’s and J.C. Penny
Co. The extent of his crisis stemmedfrom the fact that in the last ten years before
his appointment, thecompany had six different CEOs. This is attributed to their
fallingout with the founder, Martha Stewart. Consequently, the company hadalso
been faced with the departures of other senior executivesleaving it in a leadership
crisis. The financial deficits the companywas facing increased the extent of this
crisis leadership situation.
2. So what leadership steps should Dienst take to begin “rolling up his
sleeves? ”