Death of a Salesman
1. What kind of leader is Howard?
Howard Wagner is the thirty-six year old son of Frank Wagner, Willy’s former boss, Howard now occupies the same position as his late father. Although Willy was the one who named Howard, Howard is forced to fire Willy for his erratic behavior. He felt Willy was a good sales man in his time, however Willy's desperation and decline in standard of work lead to Howard finding him embracing and a liability and so he found himself having to fire him.
Howard is preoccupied with technology. The recorder incident for example shows that Howard was showing off his family and purchases in an almost friendly way to Willy, however this could also be interpreted to be a flaunt of Howard's wealth. But, when Howard showed Willy the tape recorder, he constantly ignored Willy. Willy did not get a chance to talk, his words were not respected, and attention was not paid. Howard thought the machine was more worth his time than Willy; this must have made Willy felt terrible he realized he was not wanted. This shows Howard did not listen to and did not pay attention to his employees. Mangers and leaders must listen to their employees. It is really important at the decision making.
Howard inherited his position from his father, who built his company in part on Willy’s labor. But Howard sees as outdated the system of loyalty and personal connections in which Willy has put total faith. Throughout the conversation, Howard dropped obvious hints that Willy was of no importance to him; Willy was not treated like a man at all. Denial was evident when Willy was confronted with his boss, and the meeting between them also represented the end of Willy's career. We also got a glimpse of how harsh the business world was, there was no place for sympathy. Douglas McGregory’s theory X and theory Y Managers charts describe well with Howard’s X theory management. In present, we all can see 63 year old Willy has no future of sales in Howard’s firm. His desperation and
Howard Wagner is the thirty-six year old son of Frank Wagner, Willy’s former boss, Howard now occupies the same position as his late father. Although Willy was the one who named Howard, Howard is forced to fire Willy for his erratic behavior. He felt Willy was a good sales man in his time, however Willy's desperation and decline in standard of work lead to Howard finding him embracing and a liability and so he found himself having to fire him.
Howard is preoccupied with technology. The recorder incident for example shows that Howard was showing off his family and purchases in an almost friendly way to Willy, however this could also be interpreted to be a flaunt of Howard's wealth. But, when Howard showed Willy the tape recorder, he constantly ignored Willy. Willy did not get a chance to talk, his words were not respected, and attention was not paid. Howard thought the machine was more worth his time than Willy; this must have made Willy felt terrible he realized he was not wanted. This shows Howard did not listen to and did not pay attention to his employees. Mangers and leaders must listen to their employees. It is really important at the decision making.
Howard inherited his position from his father, who built his company in part on Willy’s labor. But Howard sees as outdated the system of loyalty and personal connections in which Willy has put total faith. Throughout the conversation, Howard dropped obvious hints that Willy was of no importance to him; Willy was not treated like a man at all. Denial was evident when Willy was confronted with his boss, and the meeting between them also represented the end of Willy's career. We also got a glimpse of how harsh the business world was, there was no place for sympathy. Douglas McGregory’s theory X and theory Y Managers charts describe well with Howard’s X theory management. In present, we all can see 63 year old Willy has no future of sales in Howard’s firm. His desperation and