Hogan and the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) partnered to launch Reflect by GMAC, the first self-directed, personality-based development tool designed to bring the power of self-awareness to B-school students.

Reflect evaluates personal and professional qualities deemed imperative in today’s workplace by 800 corporate recruiters. It provides concrete action items to help individuals learn more about themselves, improve their strengths, and address their weaknesses. The Reflect tool is the only interactive platform that goes beyond results to provide a personalized action plan, library, and benchmarking data from 14 job functions.

The assessment measures 10 key competencies:

• Innovation - generates new and unique ideas
• Operational Thinking - works efficiently and effectively
• Decision Making - selects best course of action
• Strategic Vision - combines own ideas with others
• Strategic Self-Awareness - recognizes own strengths and weaknesses
• Resilience - performs well under pressure
• Drive - holds high standards for self and others
• Interpersonal Intuition - adjusts communications to audience
• Valuing Others - builds trust-based relationships
• Collaboration - promotes team accomplishments

More on Reflect by GMAC, powered by Hogan

Over the past 12 months, Hogan has discussed a number of hot topics in the talent management arena. We’ve introduced you to an interesting, entertaining, and derailing cast of characters with howdoyouderail.com, and we’ve provided insight about engagement, team building, and organizational culture with our series on The Rocket Model. After reviewing the blog entries for this year, I compiled a list of Hogan’s Hottest, Hot Topics in 2012. 

1. The Dark Side: Derailment and the Hogan Development Survey
This topic makes the top of the list because it is a real phenomenon. It is estimated that at least half of the individuals who are currently in leadership roles are failing or nearly derailing. The Dark Side (i.e. behaviors that emerge when we are under stress, pressure, or simply not self-monitoring) can rear its ugly head in a number of ways. We’ve all met the Loose Cannon, worked with the Show Off, or tried to deliver feedback to the Skeptic. These derailing behaviors can be career killers…literally. So it’s important that we focus on our reputation and self-awareness.

2. Self-Awareness: The value of understanding one’s reputation
One of the largest debates in the area of personality is that of identity and reputation. Identity relates to our values, goals, hopes, and dreams while reputation represents the behaviors that other people see that can either help or impede goal attainment. Reputation is what matters. It is what helps you climb the corporate ladder or go down the chute of derailment. We cannot modify our reputations without understanding why we do the things we do. Self-Awareness is the key to reconciling the differences between identity and reputation. Self-Awareness is the key to leadership success. 

3. The Talent Management Gap: Building a high potential pipeline in a Millennial world
If you have doubts about the generational differences in the reliance on technology or the importance of social networking just ask any 10-year-old who wants an iPhone for Christmas, or consult the children’s toy aisle at your local big box store and you will find an assortment of Kindles, Nooks, and even iPad look-a-likes for babies. I can personally attest to this because my five-month-old received one from our friends for Christmas. There are differences in the way Millenials and eventually Generation Z will approach the work world. These groups have a significant reliance on technology, are highly affiliative, and require immediate and regular feedback. Jackie VanBroekhoven’s blog, The Generational Workforce of the Future, is a great illustration of the need to understand each of the generations representing the workforce in order to build the talent bench of the future.

4. Engagement: Focusing on the employee and the team
Employee engagement has been a hot topic for a number of years and it will likely become increasingly important as we see a shift in the make-up of the workforce. Engaged employees tend to be more satisfied and more productive, and productivity ties directly to the financial bottom line. The moral to the story is that morale and engagement matter and an employee’s engagement is largely driven by his/her boss. That being said, we need to focus on developing leaders who can empower and foster engagement in their staff.

What’s in store for 2013? We have a number of new and interesting topics to address next year, so stay tuned for more information from The Science of Personality. Until then, Happy Holidays from all of us at Hogan!

Popeye is self-aware.

At the recent Conference Board in Chicago, a number of talent management professionals and consulting experts gave presentations on next-generation leadership. These discussions included a variety of topics, from recruiting generation Y and Millennial employees to social networking and overcoming the talent management gap as Baby Boomers retire. The common thread in these topics there were three recurrent questions 1) how do we develop next generation high potentials for senior leadership roles, 2) do we tell them they are high potentials, and 3) how will this impact their ability to be authentic leaders?

The general consensus from the Conference Board attendees was that telling these individuals was important for a number of reasons. Mostly, formal identification of high potentials allows employees to opt out of these programs if they are not interested. For those who are interested, formal identification may increase commitment to such programs. One of the concerns with telling these individuals they have been identified as the future of the organization is that they may lose sight of what they need to do from a development perspective today to ensure success once appointed to these senior leadership roles. Additionally, there is a concern about the ability of these individuals to be authentic leaders.

Last week my colleague Jackie VanBroekhoven wrote about the shadows leaders cast. These shadows begin developing early in our careers, and without careful attention and behavior modification they may supersede our successful initiatives and bottom line results. When reflecting on the Conference Board dialogue about high potential identification, the importance of shadow management could not be truer. In addition to committing to development programs these high potentials also need to commit to self-development and shadow awareness.

The current political environment is a great place to observe the consequences of our shadows in action. As we prepare for the 2012 election year the speeches and promises for change are in full force. Regardless of your political views, you are likely to observe politicians leveraging their confidence, charisma, and innovative ideas to change the current economy to get your vote. The question of authenticity comes into play when it is time to put these plans into action. Take Rick Perry’s current proposal of a flat tax plan. Is this the new financial strategy to save the US from the current debt crisis or is it simply a political message to take interest off his poking fun of President Obama’s birth certificate situation? What sort of shadow does Governor Perry cast and will this shadow impact his success in the upcoming election?

These leadership shadows are much easier to identify when people are in the public eye. Politicians, CEOs, and other public figures likely have these shadows following them quite literally when paparazzi are lurking in the bushes and standing in their driveways.

Public figures aside, have you ever thought about the shadow you cast? If others were to describe you when you weren’t around what would they say? Are you confident engaging and charming or arrogant socially dominant and risk taking? In addition to self-awareness and behavior change we all need to be mindful of these looming success killers or shadows that may negatively impact our reputation.

This topic of shadow awareness is particularly salient in the current workforce. Although organizations may not be identifying the next CEO or United States President in their current high potential programs, they are indentifying the next generation of leaders who may be tasked with ascending the ranks of the organization faster than their predecessors. That being said, these programs need to focus on developing the skills and behaviors for leadership, but also challenging these individuals to think about the legacy they want to leave behind and figuring out whether you’re afraid of your shadow is a great place to start!