He was a VP of some sort. You don’t get that high up without drinking a little of the LinkedIn/corporate koolaid. While he could have been innovative in his management approach, it’s unlikely given that management of people has evolved a lot recently. I’ve also worked with with a ton of people like this.

I am good at reading faces, but that doesn’t hold water in terms of assessment.

I am judging a book by its cover, but I’ve read a lot of books with very similar titles