Max, The Human Wrecking Ball

Max’s Profile indicated that he was not likely to fit in with a company that prided itself on employee participation and morale. He has a powerhouse Energy score, indicating an abundance of emotional energy and drive. The rest of his profile showed traits that were already too high and would only be amplified by his energy. His Work and Detail score were excessively high. He could be expected to work 80-hour weeks and have the energy to sustain that pace for a long period of time. But how many people could be expected to keep up with an exhausting pace being set by someone who would one day become EVP?

His Detail score is in the range of perfectionism. This is someone of whom it might be said that, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” People with elevated Work and Detail scores put entirely too much energy and effort into everything. They working hard to do everything perfectly, even at times when it is not worth the expenditure of the time and resources being invested.

In addition to energy-driven perfectionism, he is likely to be a control freak. His Direction score is a 9.1, one of the highest ever seen by this interpreter. He is so comfortable making decisions that there is little room for anyone’s opinion other than his own. He would be very difficult to deal with as a peer. Anyone reporting to him would have little latitude to do anything other than exactly what he wants done. Add to that his perfectionism…No matter how hard his direct reports might try, they would rarely be able to live up to his expectations of perfection.

One additional problem is worth mentioning. Max is blindly optimistic (Optimism Score) and self-confident (Courage score). He is likely to make decisions based on unrealistic assessments that everything will work out and be closed to input that might dissuade him from excessively risky decisions.

His Sociable score is of interest. Note all the >’s to the right of the Sociable score, indicating a high degree of variability in the expression of this trait. He can be quite sociable and friendly when the occasion calls for it. He presented himself well in the interviews. He seemed like a hard-working, responsible person but the Profile indicates what he would be like to work with if he were hired. He’d shortly turn into a human wrecking ball and do a great deal of damage to a team that was performing well before his arrival on the scene. The company dodged a bullet in passing on this candidate.
EQ Profile used with permission of Simmons Management Systems

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