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For teaching purposes, this is the commentary-only version of the HBR Case Study. A leadership crisis has erupted at Barker Foods. Doug Lothian, the national sales director of the chocolates and confections division, was just fired for making some bad marketing choices, engaging in questionable selling behaviors, and, ultimately, losing the confidence of his customers and his staff. As a result, there's a schism in Sales. Senior managers are wondering whether a competency model would help the company replace Doug with the right kind of leader and prevent other leadership problems from cropping up. HR director Anne Baxter thinks Doug's situation is the perfect example of why Barker Foods needs to define exactly what it's looking for from its top people. Colin Anthony, the CEO, has given Anne the go-ahead to work with a special task force on a framework that would not only highlight the critical values, knowledge, and skills necessary to lead any of the company's divisions but also identify the corresponding tasks, behaviors, and measures of success. Colin has asked Anne and her team to present their findings to the executive committee, which has voiced mixed opinions about competency modeling. On the one hand, it makes sense to hire and develop the right people to execute the company's strategy; on the other, it doesn't seem wise to oversimplify the work that senior executives do - and boiling down great leadership to a checklist of qualities could be a step in that direction. Should the executive committee go forward with plans for competency modeling? Commenting on this fictional case study are: Reuben Mark, chairman of Colgate-Palmolive; Rebecca Ray, senior vice president for global learning and organizational development at MasterCard Worldwide; George Manderlink, a partner in Heidrick & Struggles Leadership Consulting; and Dave Ulrich, a cofounder of the RBL Group, a leadership consultancy.