Hogan Leader Focus
Not everyone is meant to be a people leader. Most organisations classify career advancement as transitioning into a series of people leadership roles. But, what does that mean for an organisation’s high performers whose strengths are not managing themselves or others?
The Leader Focus Report is a personal development report from Hogan Assessments that identifies six leadership styles based on your employees’ strengths and values.
Do you know your style?
Who you are determines how you lead
Do you prefer to have meetings during happy hour? Perhaps you think you’re always better off safe than sorry.
Explore these six leader types to find out what kind of leader you are.
Thought Leader
You're a visionary leader
Social Leader
You make sure everyone is on board before the train leaves the station
Process Leader
You’re the one who makes sure the train arrives on time
Data Leader
You paint—and do everything else—by the numbers
Results Leader
You are unstoppable. All you do is win, win, win no matter what
People Leader
You radiate warmth and compassion to your peers and employeesThought Leader
You're a visionary leader
Strengths
Weaknesses
There's always a better way
How you manage others
You like to lead from outside the box. Way outside. You believe that even the most mundane problems have creative solutions.
You always push your team to choose the road less traveled, and you reward unorthodox ideas and risk-taking, even if it means wasting time and money.
After all, there’s no growth without failure. You’re tolerant—even encouraging—of employees’ unconventional habits and workflow, because you tend to think the same way.
How you prefer to be managed
You do your best work away from the screen, whether sitting on your sofa or surrounded by whiteboards.
Nothing kills your vibe like unnecessary constraints. As such, you need a boss who gives you plenty of space to create.
You like to experiment—to throw a bunch of ideas against the wall and see what sticks. Your ideal boss is comfortable letting you pursue impractical ideas, and doesn’t look over your shoulder before your product is ready for the big reveal.
How you can be more effective in operating with leaders of other types
Process
While you’re more of a big-picture person, your lack of attention to detail may make you seem flaky to Process-oriented leaders in your organization.
Take a moment to think about whether your ideas are practical, realistic, and based on actual need versus want, then provide details about how your ideas can be implemented.
Results
How does your idea contribute to business goals, both short- and long-term?
Pinpoint the “why” in everything you do, and make sure your ideas focus on a central theme when you’re pitching to Results-oriented leaders in your organization. Tie everything to the bottom line.
Relationship with your employees
You want a team full of trendsetters.
You’re drawn to hipsters and early-adopters—the first in their group of friends to own a smartphone, when it was cool, but not necessarily functional.
You genuinely believe that there are no stupid ideas when it comes to brainstorming, and in turn, you tend to reward team members who seem the most imaginative.
So what if their ideas are so impractical they never quite make it off the whiteboard?
Relationship with your boss
You tend to view yourself more as an artist or innovator than a manager, and you see your boss the same way—as a creative colleague whose main function is to be a sounding board for ideas.
You’re likely to enjoy grabbing a beer and discussing big ideas, but you’re uncomfortable setting concrete milestones or timelines for your projects.
You prefer a supervisor who takes a more hands-off approach, allowing you to set a goal, then work with your team to decide how to solve the problem.
Process Leader
You’re the one who makes sure the train arrives on time
Strengths
Weaknesses
Better safe than sorry...
How you manage others
People know what to expect when they’re around you, which, rather than making you seem rigid or boring, actually puts your employees at ease.
You have a place for everything, and you appreciate everything being in its place. You take a disciplined approach to managing your team.
As long as people do what they say they’re going to do by the time they told you they were going to do it, all is right in the world. You don’t have the patience for people who like to shake things up just to see what happens; that kind of chaos is your kryptonite.
Your primary concern is to make sure everything is in order and that everyone follows the rules. In your world, structure and order create success.
How you prefer to be managed
You want to know what to expect, and what’s expected of you.
As such, you prefer a boss who lays out exactly what they need you to do and why at the beginning of any project.
You don’t mind being micromanaged, because at least there’s continual feedback.
Any indecision or ambiguity on your supervisor’s part is likely to give you fits.
How you can be more effective in operating with leaders of other types
Results
Results-oriented leaders always have their eyes on the destination, not necessarily the path.
Although your attention to detail is key to timely arrival at the destination, to Results leaders, it seems like you’re getting in the way.
Make sure you don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees. Results leaders also tend to shoot from the hip and ask questions later, so be prepared to make decisions or push for results more quickly and with less information than usual.
Thought
Nothing is going to stress you out like laying out a Gantt chart and project timeline only to have a Thought-oriented leader come in and move the target.
And from their perspective, your unwillingness to accept new ideas once a project is underway can seem overly rigid.
To avoid any unpleasantness, take time at the outset of a project to make sure all of their ideas have been captured and incorporated into the plan.
Relationship with your employees
You expect a lot from your employees, and tend to reward team members who follow through on commitments without creating problems.
When someone drops the ball on an assignment, even if it doesn’t really matter, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to hide your displeasure. As a result, your team will produce consistently good results.
However, routine predictability can make you gun-shy when it comes to taking risks, so projects that require innovative solutions will require you to step out of your comfort zone and work well with cowboys and visionaries.
Relationship with your boss
Your boss probably sees you as dependable, someone they can rely on to hit deadlines and produce consistently good—if never quite groundbreaking—work.
They love that they never have to worry about you bending the rules or rocking the boat.
Data Leader
You paint—and do everything else—by the numbers
Strengths
Weaknesses
Human beings are highly illogical.
How you manage others
For you, there’s strength in numbers. Every decision you make is accompanied by a spreadsheet, and you spend hours poring over data before making a call.
You expect the same of your team.
You see work as a meritocracy where top performers are rewarded, and the people dragging down the team average get cut loose.
As such, you prefer to conduct performance reviews with your employees based on metrics and quantifiable goals, and tend to let the data speak for itself.
How you prefer to be managed
Knowledge is power.
Because you base all of your decisions on data, your performance depends on having the most complete and up-to-date information.
Your ideal boss grants you unfettered access to the ones and zeros at the heart of your organization, because being out of the loop with what’s going on above you increases your risk of making the wrong decision.
You prefer a boss who understands the merits of giving you unlimited resources and opportunities for training and development to maximize your potential.
How you can be more effective in operating with leaders of other types
People
Remember that although you tend to rely on the numbers, People-oriented leaders may view that approach as cold and methodical.
It’s important to put down the spreadsheets every now and then to allow time for people to give you subjective information to supplement your facts and figures.
Making people feel heard will go a long way toward getting buy-in on big decisions.
Thought
Not all answers are as obvious as you’d like them to be.
Before jumping to a conclusion based on the numbers, make sure you allow time to let the creative juices flow.
Thought-oriented colleagues may surprise you by suggesting a unique approach to something that you hadn’t considered.
Relationship with your employees
You don’t have much patience for people who make decisions based on their instincts.
To you, even an educated guess seems lazy. You tend to say yes to people who can back their initiatives with data, and as such, your team is probably made up of people who are handy with a pivot table and always on top of the latest industry trend.
You expect your people to be lifelong learners, and you tend to reward ambition with additional training and development opportunities.
Relationship with your boss
Your boss loves you because you easily take emotions out of the equation and make consistently good, logical decisions.
Your relationship may be strained by your constant search for the truth or the motive behind organisational decisions, which are sometimes illogical.
Interactions with your supervisor are mostly based on exchanging information, and could probably be confined to email (if you weren’t so set on maintaining your inbox at zero).
Results Leader
You are unstoppable. All you do is win, win, win no matter what
Strengths
Weaknesses
Second place is the first loser.
How you manage others
You love to win.
Like, really love it.
That’s why you surround yourself with all-stars and expect your people to play like champions every day of the week.
You’re not afraid to give an impassioned speech or throw a chair onto the court to get your team on track.
You seldom hesitate to cut players who aren’t holding their own.
How you prefer to be managed
When an organization is looking for a “motivated self-starter,” they’re talking about you.
You go out of your way to accept challenging assignments, and love the opportunity to show people what you’ve got.
You’re at your very best when someone puts you in charge and then gets out of your way.
You think the results should speak for themselves, so having someone look over your shoulder or scrutinise your methods will drive you crazy.
How you can be more effective in operating with leaders of other types
Process
You demand a lot of your coworkers and subordinates, which can leave Process types feeling stressed about how they’re going to deliver results.
Providing a game plan and creating structure by defining deliverables and milestones upfront will help them keep their cool.
People
You’re so focused on driving results that you don’t always notice when you step on someone else’s toes.
Take some time to get to know your peers and employees before you start demanding results.
Making sure they know what you expect of them and allowing input at the outset will foster long-term commitment.
Relationship with your employees
You put all of your energy into winning, and you expect your subordinates to do the same.
You love it when your employees show a little courage and try to one-up each other.
Nothing gets under your skin quite like mediocrity, and you’re probably not shy about showing your disappointment.
Employees who don’t show up to win are a mystery to you.
Relationship with your boss
You’ve got the drive and ambition, and the win-at-all-costs attitude it takes to climb the corporate ladder.
This is where your knack for taking on high-profile challenges could pay off in a big way.
However, for all of your competitiveness, you’re smart enough to know that the one person you shouldn’t compete with is your boss.
Especially since he or she will decide whether you move up to the next rung.
People Leader
You radiate warmth and compassion to your peers and employees
Strengths
Weaknesses
Why can’t we all just get along?
How you manage others
You’re working hard to fill the office with warm fuzzies.
You think of the people you work with as friends before colleagues. When you’re faced with a challenge or tough decision, you bring it to the team rather than making a top-down call.
You go out of your way to get along with everyone and make sure your employees feel valued. That means you avoid conflict like the plague.
Even when faced with a tough conversation, you do your best to make sure everyone walks away unscathed.
How you prefer to be managed
You prefer to be managed just like you manage others.
You regard your immediate boss as a friend and mentor, and tend to blur the line between work and home.
You’ve probably invited your supervisor out for a drink after hours, or to your house for dinner or your kid’s birthday party. You prefer coming to a mutual agreement rather than being issued orders.
You’re not afraid to apologise or admit mistakes, either; you view authenticity as a way to drive results and accomplish goals, not as a sign of weakness.
How you can be more effective in operating with leaders of other types
Results
You may be focused on maintaining relationships with your peers, but to your Results-oriented colleagues, it can seem like you’re taking your eye off the ball.
Make sure to focus conversations around output and results, and don’t be surprised if they come across as curt.
Remember, they want to win, and don’t mind ruffling feathers to get things done, so expect conversations around performance expectations to be direct.
Data
Data-oriented leaders don’t really care about things like keeping employees happy unless they find evidence to show it’s going to impact the bottom line.
Be prepared to make data a bigger part of your decision-making process, and make sure you can justify your choices with numbers.
Using the relationships and trust you’ve built to access information to make your case will go a long way toward getting along with Data leaders.
Relationship with your employees
The most important thing to you is thoughtful communication, so long as it’s not so open that it gets in the way of cooperation.
When one of your employees is struggling, you expect others to step in and pick up the slack.
When someone is going through a hard time, you’re the first to offer help, and you expect everyone to contribute. In return for their trust, you’re always willing to go to bat for your employees.
Relationship with your boss
You maintain a friendly relationship with your boss, making small talk throughout your meetings, occasionally oversharing, and almost never experiencing friction.
It’s a good thing, because confrontation makes you really uncomfortable.
Even when things are going badly, you tend to steer the conversation toward how you can pull the team together to overcome whatever challenge you’re facing.
Contact us to get your own Leader Focus report
Social Leader
You make sure everyone is on board before the train leaves the stationStrengths
Weaknesses
How you manage others
Growing up, your teachers probably pointed out how well you worked with others.
As a manager, you view your employees as equals. Your desk is out on the floor with your team rather than in a private office, and you ask that your employees call you by your first name.
You run your team like a democracy, and when you have a hard decision to make, you make it as a team. Your openness earns trust among your employees, even if it does slow down progress at times.
How you prefer to be managed
When it comes to your supervisor, you expect them to be as much a part of your team as your employees.
Unlike peers of other types in your organization, you frequently invite your boss to team meetings, team lunches, and happy hours.
At the very least, you like to check in often and run decisions by them to make sure you’re moving in the right direction. You also want your supervisor to treat you as you treat your employees, asking for input on decisions being made at their level.
How you can be more effective in operating with leaders of other types
Data
Building a consensus is important, but data-oriented colleagues are going to want some numbers to back that up.
Put the trust you’ve earned with your team to work by requiring them to provide hard data to accompany their ideas.
Process
On your own team, you’re probably used to dividing up work informally during meetings with your employees.
Process-oriented leaders need you to take the lead and be a little more formal. Rather than waiting for someone else to take the initiative, create concrete deliverables and deadlines, and make sure you set clear expectations.
Relationship with your employees
Your employees probably blur the line between their work and social lives, spending a lot of the day making small talk and preferring to meet over coffee or at the bar for happy hour versus in the conference room.
You want to foster great relationships, which is mostly a good thing, but it can lead to interpersonal friction when you confuse activity with productivity.
Sometimes you need to leave people alone to get their work done.
Relationship with your boss
You treat your supervisor the same way you treat your employees, more like a bestie than a boss.
You’ve never met a stranger at any level of the organization, which tends to serve you well professionally.
You follow the rules and seek affirmation from your boss to validate your decisions; the last thing you want is to rub anyone the wrong way and risk being ostracised from the group.