The modern economy is changing more and more rapidly than ever before. Companies depend on their leaders to guide them through this turbulent marketplace, making the availability of savvy, well-developed leaders a crucial part of business suc­cess. However, a recent survey found that although the majority of HR directors identified high-potential leader development as their most important focus, more than 80% of those surveyed expected their HR budget either to shrink or stay the same.

This leaves many HR managers struggling to answer an important question: In such a cost-driven busi­ness atmosphere, how can companies still provide critical professional development opportunities to their leaders? “Awareness Coaching” demonstrates that by combining the powerful science of personality assessments with a limited number of coaching sessions, companies can provide a highly impactful, cost-effective experience for their high-potential employees.

The modern economy is changing more and more rapidly than ever before. Companies depend on their leaders to guide them through this turbulent marketplace, making the availability of savvy, well-developed leaders a crucial part of business suc­cess. However, a recent survey found that although the majority of HR directors identified high-potential leader development as their most important focus, more than 80% of those surveyed expected their HR budget either to shrink or stay the same.

This leaves many HR managers struggling to answer an important question: In such a cost-driven busi­ness atmosphere, how can companies still provide critical professional development opportunities to their leaders? “Awareness Coaching” demonstrates that by combining the powerful science of personality assessments with a limited number of coaching sessions, companies can provide a highly impactful, cost-effective experience for their high-potential employees.

Narcissists don’t just think they are better than everyone else, they actually ARE better – at least when it comes to interviewing. In his recent study, Dr. Peter Harms (a Hogan academic partner) found that narcissistic behaviors such as self-promotion and self-confidence make narcissists more desirable during job interviews. Ultimately, narcissists better communicate why they’re able to do the job.

As reported by U.S. News, Harms explained, “This is one setting where it’s OK to say nice things about yourself and there are no ramifications. In fact, it’s expected. Simply put, those who are comfortable doing this tend to do much better than those who aren’t.”

Although narcissists may ace the interview, their self-promoting ways likely catch up with them sooner or later. Confidence, ambition, and competitiveness taken to the extreme can damage relationships and lead to career derailment, especially for those in leadership roles.

In a recent Hogan survey, 52% of respondents identified arrogance as their bad boss’s worst quality. Arrogant bosses tend to blame their mistakes on others, feel entitled to special treatment, and lack a sense of team loyalty. Thus, the characteristics that seem desirable at first are the same ones that cause leaders to fail.

You don’t have to look far to find examples in the popular media. Take Mad Men’s Don Draper for example. As the narcissistic creative director at a Manhattan advertising firm, Don appears attractive, charming, witty, and confident. However, you soon realize Don is also off-putting, aggressive, and overly demanding of his direct reports. Don’s narcissism causes both the initial attraction and eventual alienation of his employees.

Beyond fictional characters, you can also find examples in the business world. While partnering with a convenience store chain, we found that narcissists within the company were successful in certain leadership roles, but not in others. For lower-level store leaders, narcissism was actually a positive characteristic. Narcissistic individuals came across as decisive, assertive, motivated to get ahead, and more successful overall. Similar to Dr. Harms’s research, these store leaders leveraged their narcissistic tendencies as strengths, leading to enhanced performance.

However, for those in senior leadership roles, the same self-promoting tendencies were detrimental to performance. Instead of appearing decisive and assertive, narcissistic senior leaders came across as aggressive, intimidating, and difficult. As a result, they alienated those around them and their performance suffered.

In summary, strong self-confidence and fearlessness can contribute to one’s success…to a point. Although narcissists may be convincing during an interview – beware. Everyday strengths, such as assertiveness and ambition, can easily turn into derailers.

On Monday night the University of Kentucky beat the University of Kansas to claim the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. Didn’t watch it? That’s okay; I wasn’t that interested either. However, this sporting event has given us an opportunity to observe some basic social psychological phenomena in action that have implications not only for sports fanaticism but for the workplace as well.

The phenomena are known as BIRG, or Basking In Reflected Glory, and CORF, or Cutting Off Reflected Failure. Grounded in Social Identity Theory, BIRGing and CORFing represent two strategies people employ to enhance or protect their self esteem. BIRGing occurs when someone attempts to enhance their self esteem or image by aligning themselves with a success or “glory” for which they had little to no role. Often times this behavior or cognition is unintentional and somewhat subtle. In the context of the basketball championship, I have seen plenty of BIRGing from Kentucky fans this week as their tweets, Facebook posts, and water cooler conversations include some reference of “we” in relation to the Wildcats’ win. “We won!” “We played so well!” “We kicked KU’s butts!” We are also more likely to see them sporting their Kentucky apparel. These fans are aligning themselves with Kentucky in order to bask in the reflective glory of being national champions, despite the fact that they did not spend a single minute on the hardcourt defending shooters or sinking three-pointers.

Many of the Kansas fans, on the other hand, have been CORFing, wherein we attempt to distance or separate ourselves from some failure that may have a negative impact on our self esteem, reputation, or self image. Whether intentional or not, we likely hear many Jayhawk fans using the pronoun “they” instead of “we” when referring to the Kansas basketball team. “They couldn’t finish.” “They let Kentucky get too far ahead early on.” “They weren’t strong enough.” Many of those same fans who were likely declaring “We are the best” (BIRGing) after each of the great comebacks KU enjoyed leading up to the final have now turned to CORFing by a simple change in pronoun.

These phenomena are easy to witness within the world of sports, but they also make their mark in the workplace. Within organizations, employees are motivated to align themselves with successful projects and products and distance themselves from failures. Although the point can be made that employees are doing it for the same basic self image benefits, they are also motivated to BIRG and CORF for job security, keeping themselves off the radar in bad times and calling attention to themselves in good times.

Despite the fact that this is a very common and innate tendency, we do tend to see some individual variability in the expression of it and I believe it is often a function of personality. Specifically, I see scores on HDS Bold functioning as a moderator of the expression of BIRG and CORF. Individuals who have higher scores on the Hogan Development Survey scale of Bold tend to have an inflated view of self-worth and are very motivated to protect that image. Our research indicates that our high Bold managers are likely to overstate their accomplishments and blame mistakes and failures on others. Hence, we are likely to see high Bold managers BIRGing and CORFing more often or to a greater extent than your average Joe as they jockey themselves into position for ego-preservation.

Such behavior can erode followership or a productive team atmosphere as others start to recognize that Bold Bob is a fair-weather fan, only aligning himself with us when the going is good and “throwing us under the bus” (trust me, I loathe that phrase too) when we hit some rough patches. An effective leader must be willing to weather the storm, sharing in the collective successes but also standing up for their team when things don’t go to plan. For most, BIRG and CORF can be more difficult to accomplish in the workplace as our affiliation with a particular team or project is often more obvious. Bold Bob and others like him will find a way to do it, though. It may come in the form of claiming to have always disagreed with the failed approach the team took (CORF), or claiming to have been a staunch supporter/leader of a successful project that, in reality, they demonstrated ambivalence toward (BIRG).

In our efforts to develop and coach our Bold managers, we need to cast light on past occurrences of this behavior and the fallout or ramifications it caused. However, we must remember that BIRGing and CORFing are not always intentional and that these managers may not have realized the subtle (and not so subtle) ways they have exhibited it. By helping to create strategic self-awareness of this tendency and the effect it has on team relations, we can hope to curb its prevalence. Only then can we hope for them to be more like my non-Bold colleague and staunch Kansas fan who owned the big loss in her Facebook post, stating “Well played Kentucky…you deserve it. Love that our Jayhawks fought the whole way though…what a ride! Rock Chalk!”

As a world leader in personality assessment and consulting, Hogan strives to provide the highest level of service to our customers. Practitioners, stand-alone consultants, coaches, and other domestic independent users are one of the fastest-growing segments of Hogan’s business.

To better serve this market segment, Hogan announced the Independent Consultancies Team, a new division under the Corporate Solutions department dedicated to providing world-class support to these United States practitioners and their clients.

To learn more about what these changes mean for you, or for information about joining Hogan’s network of independent consultancies, contact us at info@hoganassessments.com.

As a world leader in personality assessment and consulting, Hogan strives to provide the highest level of service to our customers. Practitioners, stand-alone consultants, coaches, and other domestic independent users are one of the fastest-growing segments of Hogan’s business.

To better serve this market segment, Hogan announced the Independent Consultancies Team, a new division under the Corporate Solutions department dedicated to providing world-class support to these United States practitioners and their clients.

To learn more about what these changes mean for you, or for information about joining Hogan’s network of independent consultancies, contact us at info@hoganassessments.com.

Meet the outsider. You’ve caught an occasional glimpse of him around the office. Capable and resilient, what he lacks in social grace he makes up in cold rationality. Sure, it gets lonely at the top, but that’s the way he prefers it. He is the lone wolf, the recluse, the strong, silent type.

In the climb to the top of the ladder, the line between strength and weakness isn’t always clear. The same rugged independence that helped the outsider early in his career can come off as cold and alienating when he’s stressed, bored, tired, or otherwise distracted.

Watch this video to see the outsider at work, or visit www.howdoyouderail.com to view the entire HDS video series. Follow on Twitter @ImHiReserved #howdoyouderail.

I-O experts from Hogan’s Research and Consulting divisions will showcase advances in personality research during six sessions, symposia, panel discussions, practice forums, and poster sessions at the 27th Annual SIOP Conference in San Diego. 

THURSDAY, APRIL 26

12:30pm
Reality Check: Explaining Complex Testing Approaches to End Users
Modern testing systems are saturated with valuable but complex concepts such as adaptive testing, detailed candidate reports, and nonlinear scoring. Yet, methods must still be explained, in detail and for high stakes, to lay end users (e.g., applicants, hiring managers). Panelists discuss the perils and opportunities therein.
Greg Barnett

3:30pm
Theory-Driven, Personality-Based Leadership Development
This session includes 4 integrated presentations that collectively demonstrate how the socioanalytic theory of personality (Hogan, 1983, 2007) can inform the development of managers into better leaders. It features an overview of the theory, new research, application models, and a case study of a global project to develop airport managers.
Robert Hogan, Joyce Hogan

4:30pm
Predicting Entry-Level Performance Using Facet-Level, Personality-Based Employability Scales
This study examined the predictive validity of a facet-level, personality-based employability measure in relation to entry-level job performance. Across 4 studies, various personality-based employability scales were predictive of supervisors’ ratings of overall performance. Organizations could benefit from using facet-level personality-based employability measures to screen in applicants for entry-level jobs.
Ashley Palmer, Dara Pickering

FRIDAY, APRIL 27

8:30am
Do Values Really Differ by Generation? A Multi-Assessment Review
One of the most popular topics in management training and development literature is managing workers from different generations. Results will be presented that represent a unique and comprehensive examination of generational differences in individual workplace values and interests to test the popular assumption that differences exist between generations.
Kevin Meyer, Jeff Foster

5:00pm
Cross-Cultural Testing Considerations for a Variety of Item Types
As organizations are becoming globally focused, considerations regarding assessment programs are necessary to ensure that the programs remain technically sound. This session presents 4 papers that describe the cross-cultural considerations when using 4 popular item types in global assessment programs. The findings of these studies will be summarized.
Dara Pickering, Stephen Nichols

SATURDAY, APRIL 28

12:00pm
The Personality of Patient Care: Increasing Leadership Impact in Healthcare
Leader performance is critical for the effectiveness of healthcare organizations as they navigate current challenges and a future of volatility. The research presented in this symposium/forum focuses on methods for leveraging personality assessments and engagement surveys as a means to identify and develop healthcare leaders in this unique environment.
Ashley Palmer, Adam Vassar

Meet the outsider. You’ve caught an occasional glimpse of him around the office. Capable and resilient, what he lacks in social grace he makes up in cold rationality. Sure, it gets lonely at the top, but that’s the way he prefers it. He is the lone wolf, the recluse, the strong, silent type.

In the climb to the top of the ladder, the line between strength and weakness isn’t always clear. The same rugged independence that helped the outsider early in his career can come off as cold and alienating when he’s stressed, bored, tired, or otherwise distracted.

Watch this video to see the outsider at work, or visit www.howdoyouderail.com to view the entire HDS video series. Follow on Twitter @ImHiReserved #howdoyouderail.

Competent leadership is crucial for a company’s success. Recent studies indicate that businesses with strong leadership are 13 times more likely to outperform their competition, and three times more likely to retain their most talented employees.

Yet, only 44% of HR professionals report having formal processes for identifying employees with leadership potential, and only 18% report having enough bench strength to meet the future requirements of the company.

“From Potential to Performance” examines how organizations can use personality assessment to identify, develop, and retain talented employees.