When I stepped out on my professional journey, I remembered a Paulo Coelho quote I had seen on a T-shirt somewhere: “Whatever you decide to do, make sure it makes you happy.” This totally resonated with me, and I sort of made it my motto as I walked down the road. A budding Organizational Psychologist, I was fresh with new ideas, and was searching for consulting organizations which follow the Scientist-Practitioner model and would give me the right environment to explore my passion and research orientation. That search led me to ThreeFish Consulting, and this is where my journey with Hogan began! Personality research in organizations and “how people are” was always an area of interest – Hogan just came and fit with what I wanted to learn and practice as a professional. It just checked all the right boxes!
When I was first introduced to my scales, I was absolutely astounded – and did not trust the report. While ironic in itself, this was exactly what my high Skeptical score portrayed. As I was debriefed, I resonated with my scales; saw where my strengths were and how my watch-outs would play out in a professional setting. I was lucky I guess – because, right at the beginning – at perhaps the most critical stage of my career, Hogan gave me an insight into my ‘self’. I began to appreciate the difference – as young students, we would define self as whatever we identify with – however, at the workplace, the reputation is what takes the spotlight – because that determines how I will succeed as a leader. Hogan gave me that deep awareness of how I would be predisposed to play my scales.
My high score on Ambition and Inquisitive were strengths I was already aware of, but the watchout of those scales was a big revelation.
As someone with a high Interpersonal Sensitivity score, along with a high Altruistic Motivation – I feel that psychology as a field was meant to happen to me. And Hogan just beautifully captured my core values as an individual, i.e., the commitment to helping others in the community and being there for others. I had always been puzzled at how I never liked to network – even though I would tend to build deep relationships – and my low Sociability scale gave the answer. And this is an insight which I took to action first – I keep in my mind to reach out, keep people in the loop and widen my span of connections.
Hogan makes me appreciate my self and introspect. Especially, understanding my derailers certainly makes me create toolkits and action plans on how to manage the under-stress behaviors. And, when I got certified and started understanding the nuances of the scales, I also started managing my scales better. I feel that I have a head-start in my career now and I will always be thankful for Hogan for being a friend in need – and for giving me personalised cheat codes in an unpredictable game! I think I AM living my motto now…
