Too Much Emotional Intelligence? Is That Possible?

 

Photo courtesy of 123rf.com

 

If you're reading this to feel good and looking for a happy ending with peace, love, and rainbows, then stop reading now.  If you're reading this to understand how the corporate world can sometimes "throw you a curve", than continue reading.  The more you understand, the better off you are in managing the corporate culture. In fact, this story is about how love and understanding is unappreciated in the corporate environment.

 



Last week, a friend of mine who is incredibly successful in medical sales was being interviewed for a VP position with a very large company.  He had been working at the company for over 6 years, his team was #1 in the country, and he felt like he was more qualified than the rest of the other candidates to win the position. 

The position was overseeing an entire team of people who would be selling and cross selling a variety of biomedical devices.  Since my friend had experience in selling and managing a team he thought for sure he had a good chance of being promoted.  Compare to the other candidates, he had more experience in the field, better sales numbers, more tenure, a better reputation in the company, and he had sold all of the biomedical devices being offered so he could relate to any of the 100 or so sales reps he would be leading.  It seemed like a "no-brainer" to me.  But then again, I was being objective and assuming the people making the decision were intelligent, but of course I was wrong.

After 2 weeks of interviews with 12 different people it came down to 3 candidates, and I apologize to all the women out there that who were probably qualified but didn't make the final cut. But that's another issue corporate America needs to work on.  I've listed the final 3 candidates below and their stories:

1.)The Outsider - It is so typical of companies to bring in an outside candidate to lead their team because they want to "shake things up".  However, what happens is this type of hire usually shakes things down, and I mean specifically employee morale.  The message being sent is "none of you are good enough to be our VP".  I'm not saying don't hire candidates from another company, but I would recommend if you, meaning CEO's,  have internal people who are more than qualified than promote them for God's sake!  The Outsider had a wealth of medical experience but in an operational position, and why was he even being considered for a sales VP?  No idea, but then again, I'm thinking rationally.

2.)The Insider - Too often, people hire someone in their own image.  Someone they like, simply because, "she reminded me of myself at her age", or "he's a lot like me, self made, tough as nails, and takes no prisoners." How narcissistic is that?!  Well candidate number 2 was with the company a little over a year, and he came from a different medical device company.   He had already turned over 4 of his reps in less than a year and he was floundering at number 15 out of 30 in the country.  However, my understanding from my friend was that he was hired to assume this VP role because the CEO had made a "suggestion" to hire him a year earlier.  What is interesting is that my friend liked him, and was rooting for him, if he himself didn't get the job.  Can you imagine that?  My friend was big enough to support a decision for a candidate with less experience and poor performance.

3.)The Right Stuff - So this seems like the obvious candidate to promote to the position.  He had come through the ranks and moved up the ladder because he was able to motivate people in a positive way.  Even during the interview process, one of the panel had said to him, "you seem to have such a great reputation in the company, great numbers,  and you really know how to rally the troops. It seems like your the ideal person for the job."  Now, when he told me after all the interviews that this panel interviewer had said this to him, I immediately knew he wasn't going to get the position.  Why?  Because no one tells you that you're the ideal candidate in the interview process unless they are trying to find a way NOT TO GIVE YOU THE JOB! That's a preface for them to start picking you apart and finding any reason they can not to give you the position.

Needless to say, he wasn't awarded the VP position.  When he asked some of the interviewers for feedback on what he needed to work on, if this opportunity ever again presented itself, they all seemed to respond with similar answers:

• "You do a great job of working with your people to get results but can you make the tough decisions."
• " Your ability to engage your employees might influence your decision to fire them or lay them off."
• " When you have so much invested in your people, it's not always easy to let them go. Some of the panel wasn't sure you'd be able to do that. "
• " You do such a great job of getting people to work together, but how well can you lead them when they aren't unified? And will you fire people who aren't working out?"
• " Your emotional intelligence is very high and that's great in the field, but at a VP level it's almost a liability, rather than an asset."

He told me this, and my response was, "are you f#$king with me?  One of them actually said you might have too much emotional intelligence?"

Keep in mind, my friend had laid off a lot reps when the company had downsized and he had hated doing it, but he did it anyway.  Despite his high emotional intelligence, he had made the hard decisions, and he told me that it made the lay-offs easier.  Because without a relationship with his employees it may have become a volatile situation in some cases.

My friend was confused by the answers and the decision but he still has a good job, at a good company and this opportunity may come again soon.  But still it really sends out the wrong message to the field, particularly when a person so well respected, with great numbers, is passed over for a promotion.

So I guess the message he received from this corporate sleight of hand was this:

"Care about your employees but don't care too much."

Have a good day?