The High Performer Breakdown
Your most reliable engineer is having an acute breakdown. This is the first conversation where it becomes undeniable.
18 min
Duration
About this persona
David Kim is the engineer everyone else measures themselves against. He has never missed a deadline, never shipped a bug that mattered, never been anything less than extraordinary. He sent an incoherent message at 2am. He is in the office now, early, very quiet. Something is very wrong and the identity of the situation is all wrong -- David does not have breakdowns.
Scenario
You are David's Engineering Manager. David is your most reliable principal engineer — the person everyone else measures themselves against — and he sent an incoherent message at 2am that mentioned he wasn't sure he could do this anymore. He's in the office now, early and very quiet. Your goal is to create enough safety that he can acknowledge something is wrong, without alarming him or immediately shifting into resource-management mode.
Skills tested
- responding when the most competent person in the room is not okay
- navigating identity disruption in high performers
- not minimizing because of past performance
- creating safety for someone who has never needed it
- acute distress response
What you'll practice
- How to respond when excellence is not a protection
- Not letting past performance minimize present distress
- Creating safety for someone with no experience needing it
- Responding to acute distress at work
Personality traits
Practice this conversation
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