Michael Yardley was worried as he hung up from a phone call with Megan Barnes, the most promising salesperson at Spring Board Technologies (SBT). Michael had hired Megan out of college only four years ago, and already Megan had distinguished herself as one of the best salespeople in the company. This was saying something as SBT had a worldwide sales force of more than 2,000 salespeople. Michael had already promoted Megan to senior sales account manager. In addition, Melissa Hendrix, executive vice president of sales for the company, had made it known to Michael and Megan that she was well aware of her performance and had targeted her for a fast track in the company.

Now Michael had just learned Megan was going to have her first baby, and he was having serious doubts about her future. Megan had married her college sweetheart soon after graduation. He was an engineer, and they had both come to enjoy the benefits of two incomes. Megan’s sales success had surprised her. Her natural ability coupled with a focus on contemporary selling had given her the opportunity to build significant partnerships with some of SBT’s largest customers. At the same time, Megan had communicated to Michael that, at some point, she wanted to have a family. Megan was experiencing a great deal of role conflict. She wanted to take the time to start a family (she had thought she would take five years off while the baby was getting ready to start school) but also wanted to continue her career at SBT. At the same time, Michael was concerned about losing his star salesperson, dealing with customer disappointment, and having to tell Melissa that a person she had felt was on the fast track at the company may be leaving to start a family. He knew there were no easy answers and was considering the options for Megan as well as SBT.

Questions

1. If you were Megan, what would you do and why? What factors should most influence her decision? Is this an either/or choice?

2. If you were Michael, how would you handle this situation? What advice would you offer to Megan?

3. If you were Melissa, would you get involved in Megan’s decision? Why or why not?