Assessment of a Dictatorial Executive

Human Resources asked me to do the EQ Profile with an executive. They had been receiving complaints about his management style. Mark (name changed) had been aggressively recruited for his technical skills. He had led a similar division in another company and his experience and skill sets were ideally suited for his position.

His Profile does show strengths. Note the high Energy score, a requirement in a job that sometimes required long hours to get projects completed in time to meet commitments to customers. His Work score is low but his Change and Courage scores are high. People with this pattern don’t work for work’s sake. Given the opportunity to create and innovate, he works very hard. People with moderate Work scores and high Courage scores work at their best under pressure such as challenging, deadline-driven work.

It should be noted, however, that his Courage score is too high. People with Courage scores this high are overly confident and may create problems by making commitments beyond the capacity of themselves or their teams to accomplish. People with high Energy scores think, act, and move quickly. He is so full of energy that he thinks he can drive additional projects through the sheer force of his will. Unfortunately, he was expecting too much in a short time and his team was missing deadlines, in spite of putting in very long hours.

His low Detail score was not an issue. Faced with challenging, creative work, he had the capacity to focus on important details. However, he is not effective at handling the more mundane tasks of managing a team. He had a competent assistant who made sure that routine paperwork and management reports were completed accurately and on time.

The source of Mark’s problems is revealed in scores that are predictive of a harsh, dictatorial leadership style. His Direction score is very high…too high. Mark is not just comfortable making decisions…he wants to make all of them. People with very high Direction scores are often described as “control freaks” and they are reluctant to delegate meaningful authority to their managers. Mark micromanaged details best left to his managers, frustrating them, and wasting time he could have better invested working on strategic issues.

Add to that a combination of four scores indicating that Mark would be very difficult to deal with as a boss. His Assertive score is high. When he found fault, which he constantly seemed to be scanning for, he is harsh and demeaning in dealing with his staff. His low Optimism score indicates that he is faultfinding, critical, and blaming when people don’t meet his expectations.

To make matters worse, he has excessively low Tolerance and Considerate scores. When angry about something, he exaggerates and polarizes positions. He sees issues as black/white, win/lose and he has little ability to compromise or find a workable solution. It is “My way or the highway.”

The low Considerate score suggests an absence of empathy. He fails to recognize the impact he has on people. This does damage to morale and relationships and he is unlikely to recognize the damage he is doing to those who work with him.

Finally, he has a very low Sociable score, indicated that he is extremely private. People complained that Mark is remote and cold. He rarely discloses much about himself or his values. He keeps himself at a great distance. All things considered, it is little wonder that people were either quitting or going to HR looking for someone to intervene. Mark may be a brilliant technician but he is a disaster as a leader.

EQ Profile used with permission of Simmons Management Systems

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