* From a pal…

Hey, Rich. Have you seen a website called empowermebruce.com?

A friend got a call telling her she could win $100 for the educational institution of her choice by visiting the site and answering six questions. The questions turn out to be about a person’s workplace style — collaborative, detail-oriented, etc.

The call and site briefly mention Rainer but don’t do a hard sell. Weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t figure out what it’s supposed to accomplish.

* Election day is a pretty slow news day until after the polls close, so, OK, let’s check it out. From the EmpowerMeBruce site…

Our goal is simple: To help YOU empower YOURSELF so you will be better able to EMPOWER OTHERS.

With just six clicks, your name, and an email address, EmpowerME sends you a report that shows your primary and secondary Personal Style Types. Then it dives into how you can better communicate and influence others like you, but also those who differ from you so you can be more effective in your work, play, and family life settings.

And all those who complete the EmpowerME site are entered into a drawing where winners receive a $100 check they can donate to the Illinois school, college, or university they choose. Imagine how good it will feel supporting this worthy cause. Bruce Rauner knows this feeling. He has been supporting education for Illinois youth for many years.

Be sure to make your vote count for Bruce today.

* Click on the “red star” and you get this page…

Welcome to EmpowerME

EmpowerME is a WorkSTYLE PROfiler that delivers a three dimensional report of your personality, work style, and behavior. It offers coaching on how to better communicate and influence the people in your work, leisure, and home lives.

Provided in support of Bruce Rauner for Governor, this experience empowers you to better empower others– the path that let Bruce to his personal and business success, and will lead Illinois to a successful future once Bruce is elected. Completing the WorkSTYLE PROfiler qualifies you to enter the Empowering Education drawing where 10 winners receive $100 they can contribute to the Illinois educational institution of their choice.

Be sure to make your vote count on November 4. Vote Rauner for Governor.

* Then you enter your first and last name and are taken to another page…

Welcome to the Personal WorkSTYLE Profiler

For the next six questions, pick the ONE button that BEST FITS how your typical work behaviors compare to the descriptions in the left and right definition boxes. For example, if you think the left side box exactly fits your behavior pattern at work, click the button labeled ‘Exactly like above’. If you think your behavior is more like the description in the right to the right, but not all the time or exactly as described, then pick the button that best fits. If your work behaviors are an even mix of both definitions, then pick the ‘Balanced’ button.

* The options are…

Maintain a consistently controlled and calm exterior even when being challenged, ignored, insulted, or interrupted.

And…

Become highly animated when challenged or ignored | Respond directly and aggressively when someone disagrees or argues with you | Use dramatic physical gestures to emphasize points and make sure people pay attention

* They ask you more of these personality questions and then when you finish…

Thank you for taking the EmpowerME Assessment. A copy of your WorkSTYLE report will be sent to the email you entered at the beginning of the assessment.

And please remember to make your vote count for Bruce today so Bruce can EMPOWER US ALL as the next Governor of the State of Illinois.

* I checked with the Rauner campaign and they had never heard of it. “Not us.”

Hmm. Well, when you take the test, you’re on a domain owned by PeopleAssessments.com. From the company’s site…

PeopleAssessments provides assessment solutions for companies that want to hire better people, faster, for less total cost.

We balance a commitment to science-based best practices with a passion for leveraging the power of the web. Our goal– drive wasted labor effort from talent decision processes so you can lower costs while raising the bar on talent quality and attract more of the top talent to your brand.

* I called the company and the phone was answered by Tom Janz, the firm’s chief scientist.

Dr. Janz said the study was paid for by “a friend of the candidate” who thought this might be helpful. But they got such a late start that they weren’t able to roll it out until this afternoon.

Janz said the study is similar to a “Wilson” type of self-completed questionnaire.

* But what was the point? Janz said the original goal was to goal understand individual voter personality types and then match candidate messages to them based on their types.

So, to simplify it, if a person was a bold, salesman kind of person, the message would be short bullet points for why Rauner was the best candidate. If it was a more academic respondent, he or she would be sent detailed reasons. Etc.

It’s about “tooling the process of the message,” Janz said. But, unfortunately, the project came to him too late to matter much.

Thoughts?