As a trained psychologist and practitioner, I’ve worked with various psychometric instruments over past two decades and believed that I had a fair understanding of my own personality and its implications in my personal and professional life.
About 5 years ago, I decided to pursue Hogan certification. The phrases ‘Enablers’ and ‘Derailers’ were at best, my only associations with Hogan back then. As I received my Hogan report, “There must be some mistake,” I thought, as I verified the name on the report, twice, to confirm to be mine. The scores seemed completely at odds with how I viewed myself. For instance, how can I, having a very high clarity of preference for Introversion on MBTI, and rightfully so, but score the highest on ‘Sociability’ on Hogan!
The certification gradually unfolded and delved deeper into the interpretation of the Hogan assessments. The inner verses the real world lens, nuanced scale combinations, derailers as over – utilized strengths, and the subtlety of the sub – scales began to weave an insightful narrative. My towering scales on Recognition, Altruistic, and Aesthetic on values, in combination with enablers and derailers explained my work preferences, my leadership style, and career choices I have made along the way. Now the report actually came to life for me and since then there has been no looking back.
Today most of my work in the space of Leadership Development, be it coaching, assessments, OD interventions is pivoted around Hogan. While doing so, I am still struck with new revelations for myself. While facilitating a coaching session once, it dawned on me that my high ‘Sociability’ wasn’t about whether I preferred social interaction for its own sake – it shows up when I feel charged by the core purpose or the recognition from the environment. This really explained, why I am out there engaging and expressing myself powerfully in certain scenarios while being withdrawn in certain others.
“How can you interpret so much about me with just these graphs” A typical response I hear from leaders taking Hogan the first time. While, I find the most enriching conversations with veterans who undergo a reassessment after a couple of years. The following deep dive on the shifts being seen in their profile leads to pensive reflections on what efforts lead to these shifts, what worked well and how would they now lead from here on.
We often carry a templatized view of what an ideal leader should look like. The stereotypical ‘CEO profile’ – charismatic, decisive, and composed. But I have often come across Hogan profiles of successful C – Suite leaders that are very distinct from this template. This helps bust the stereotype. It explains that successful leadership is all about awareness on how their leadership behaviours show up in the real world, get more intentional about their actions, and identify behaviours to dial – up or dial – down to suit the context. Here’s where Hogan shines. Hogan has enabled me to keep my endeavour on leadership development grounded in the realities of everyday decisions and behaviours, rather than being overwhelmingly vague. It’s no surprise that Hogan is gaining increasing acceptability in the corporate world.
Honestly, my Hogan Journey hasn’t been mine alone, the ThreeFish Consulting team has travelled it with me all along, handheld me and given opportunities to sharpen and put my insights to use professionally. Gratitude!
