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Due to the speed and change of business ([2] Baron, 1999) and the tendency for some managers to become overwhelmed through transitions and being rushed into authority ([38] Kolb, 2005; [63] Walker, 2002; [64] Watkins, 2004), organizations must account for managerial derailment in conjunction with managerial development in the career assessment of managers. Managers and executives who derail (i.e. have problems that stall a career) can cost their companies over 20 times an executive's salary in direct and indirect costs; in some cases, these costs can amount to millions or even billions of dollars ([16] Finkelstein, 2004; [59] Smart, 1999; [65] Wells, 2005). Poor management or failure in management, regardless of managerial/organizational level, can be detrimental to managers' work or welfare, their company, as well as those around the managers ([17] Finkin, 1991; [24] Gillespie et al. , 2001). Therefore, organizations and managers need to become aware of the characteristics of managerial derailment on a level equal to the characteristics of managerial success.
Research is needed to examine the relationship between personality and managerial behaviors ([3] Berr et al. , 2000), especially when considering the costs of managerial derailment. One personality instrument used in the training and development of managers is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The MBTI is valued for the ease with which it presents personality-related preferences, for its usefulness with work preferences and leadership style, its accessibility to practitioners, and its usefulness for research and practice in organizational and applied settings and managerial and leadership development ([3] Berr et al. , 2000; [18] Fitzgerald and Kirby, 1997; [23] Gardner and Martinko, 1996). Some researchers and experts have advocated the use of the MBTI in career counseling and in job-related activities ([31] Jackson et al. , 1996; [35] Kennedy and Kennedy, 2004; [50] McCaulley and Martin, 1995; [57] Sample, 2004). The present research takes a step in a different direction by examining an aspect rarely studied with the MBTI, namely managerial derailment characteristics. As noted above, examining derailment is critical because of the extreme costs associated with derailing managers or executives ([16] Finkelstein, 2004; [59] Smart, 1999; [65] Wells, 2005). The present research will examine if a manager's MBTI personality preference is related to various characteristics of managerial derailment as identified from...