At first, the new leader seemed magnetic. People were drawn to the way they dismissed risks, led with excitement, and didn’t worry about consequences. But then things turned. The leader took reckless chances that backfired, ignored commitments to their team, and didn’t acknowledge mistakes. Their behavior caused discord, stress, and mistrust among the team.

At Hogan, we call this type of leader behavior Mischievous. Someone with Mischievous tendencies is likely to seem bright, charming, impulsive, and limit testing. In leadership, risk-taking can yield positive outcomes when leaders find the right balance.

In 1776, the founders of the United States of America wrote that a government derives its power from the consent of the governed. What core leadership principles are necessary for a successful democracy? The characteristics of effective leaders apply well beyond governments to every kind of organization.

Ryne Sherman, PhD, and Blake Loepp observe the 250th anniversary of the United States by exploring what the American experiment can teach us about democratic leadership principles.

Much of what directs organizational behavior lies below the surface. Individuals must reconcile organizational goals with their personal goals—often subconsciously. What drives the secret life of organizations? Evolutionary theory and personality psychology.

Robert Hogan, PhD, founder and president of Hogan Assessments, discusses his newest book, Personality and the Secret Life of Organizations. The book represents the broadening of Dr. Hogan’s ideas on personality psychology to the highest level: the organization.

Your manager obsessively checks every step of your work. Or takes a task away from you to do it themselves. Or never assigns you any significant responsibility in the first place. If so, you’re probably working for someone who is hard to please and reluctant to delegate: a perfectionist.

When not managed, perfectionism at work can turn into micromanagement. To executives, a manager who focuses on details and quality may appear ideal, but direct reports know the truth. Leaders who lean too much on perfectionism seem controlling and stubborn. This can leave employees feeling alienated, disempowered, and distrusted. At Hogan, we call this behavior Diligent.

If your engagement surveys haven’t told you, your organizational performance probably has. Manager engagement has fallen. In fact, the data show that your managers are in crisis.

Overall global employee engagement may be down three percentage points since 2022, but the manager engagement numbers are even more concerning. Global manager engagement, which was 31% in 2022, fell to 22% in 2025. That’s nine percentage points in four years. Manager engagement has never dropped so much so fast.

Declining manager engagement is the primary driver of the broader downturn in employee engagement, which cost the world economy an estimated $10 trillion in lost productivity last year. The steep downward trajectory of manager engagement also bodes ill for many other crucial organizational outcomes: the well-being of employees, team effectiveness, and leadership pipelines.

Identifying and developing effective leaders is at the core of Hogan Assessments work. Hogan Assessments recently conducted a global study that reveals a striking divide between the characteristics executives display and the qualities employees say define effective leadership.

We present you a discussion between Hogan’s Managing Director of Asia Pacific Krista Pederson, PhD, and Senior Consultant of Asia Pacific Nicole Dickie, MS, about key findings of the Global Leadership Effectiveness Study and implications for leaders around the world.

Hogan’s newest report, The Leadership Divide, contains personality assessment data from more than 21,000 executives in Hogan’s global database and survey responses from nearly 10,000 full-time employees around the world. Let’s explore.

When a team member shows problematic behavior, the team leader’s job is to address expectations. But a leader who is afraid of seeming harsh or hostile may avoid that important conversation altogether—even at the cost of team performance. This reluctance to act stems from the fine line between dependability and people-pleasing at work.

Some leaders are more concerned with appearing loyal to executives than earning their team’s trust. It can make them seem ingratiating toward authority and unwilling to protect their employees. At Hogan, we describe this type of behavior as Dutiful.

Team engagement and psychological safety are both influenced by leadership effectiveness. When both are high, a team likely performs well. But what happens when a team experiences an imbalance? And how can a leader set things right?

Melvyn Payne, commercial director at Advanced People Strategies (APS), an authorized Hogan distributor in the UK, discusses finding the right balance between team engagement and psychological safety.

“In the perfect ideal, everybody’s equal in the team,” Melvyn said. “Everybody has a voice. Everybody is comfortable putting their hands up if they make a mistake but then wanting to improve performance.”

You know this plan won’t work, but everyone else approves so you keep quiet. Or you have the same meeting over and over again, but nothing ever gets resolved. Or you think your boss is dismissive, but you’re afraid to say so. Or you don’t speak up because nothing will change. These aren’t isolated frustrations. They’re symptoms of broken team communication. They can signal avoidance of difficult conversations and even significant team dysfunction.

Gustavo Razzetti, CEO and founder of Fearless Culture and author of Forward Talk: The Bold New Method for Getting Teams Unstuck, discusses why teams get stuck and what it takes to get them moving again.

“If you want to change your culture, you need to start by changing your conversations,” Gustavo said.

You work with a leader who talks a lot—and loudly. They tell long, dramatic stories; their voice usually dominates meetings; and they’re attracted to workplace drama. It’s true that they are highly entertaining, but their constant attention-seeking behavior can be frustrating. Worse, they can become easily distracted and struggle to get anything done.

This behavior, which Hogan calls Colorful, can be both an asset and a liability. Leaders who seem talkative, drawn to drama, and entertaining can be excellent at engaging and influencing others. However, if taken too far, their approach can also make them appear boastful, distractible, and attention-seeking.