The Dark-Side of Personality

The Dark-Side of Personality 

Big Words – Big Impact 

Before I started my Hogan Certification last month my mind was focused on one thing: The Dark-Side of Personality. What exactly is that? How dark can a personality be in the context of workplace personality diagnostics? How do Hogan assessments measure the Dark-Side of personality? 

After quick research I figured out what this label was about: The Dark-Side of personality can induce dissatisfaction and stress in the realm of management and leadership for teams. 60%-75% of U.S. American employees state that the worst and most stressful aspect of their LIFE is their direct superior. 

In the Hogan certification workshop, things did not start off quite so dark. In leading the certification workshop, Julia Reimann, psychologist with over ten years’ experience in coaching and consulting, distinguished herself through clarity, psychological safety, and a strong connection between theory and practice. With a small group of seven participants, we first focused on the scientific and theoretical context in which the Hogan Assessments were developed 

• Reliability and validity 

• Personality and the Big 5 

• Identity vs. reputation 

And the interpretation of the scales of the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI, Bright-Side of personality), Hogan Development Survey (HDS, Dark-Side of personality), and Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI, inside of personality). Finally, on the second day we focused on the Dark-Side of personality. The HDS measures personality based derailers which are present during stressful and/or demanding situations. According to Hogan, these are often overused strengths, which when regulated, create a positive impression and drive performance or enable effective leadership. Most people have two to three derailers with higher risk on the HDS. This information helped tremendously to put the label “Dark-Side of personality” into context. Peter Berry (Peter Berry Consultancy) compares the scales on the HDS with the barriers of getting along and getting ahead, while highlighting the importance of regulation to use these barriers as strengths.  

Which derailers contribute to success or failure often only becomes clear once the context of the role, the team, and the organisation is considered. Besides those immediate factors, it is important to consider cultural expectations of a role for the interpretation of the Hogan Assessments. That is why, Hogan preaches a very context-based interpretation of their assessments. 

This is exactly what made a great impression on me personally: The significance of judgement-free interpretation of the assessments and implementation of feedback and workshops. There is no right or wrong profile, only a fitting and non-fitting. The Dark-Side of personality is a tendency, a probability, and not an absolute which is always present during stress. An open, unbiased stance greatly enhances interpretation and in turn helps receivers of feedback understand how to manage their derailers. The Dark-Side of personality can induce a lot of stress in a working context but awareness of ones derailers positively influences team development and selection processes on the company level and understanding and development on the personal level. Strategic self-awareness and self-regulation are of utmost importance in today’s world which is also highlighted in data – about 70% of engagement in a team is dictated by the leader. 

The Dark-Side of personality is not only a catchy label to generate attention but a great starting point for coaching and development. Equally important is the way in which insights from the Hogan Assessments are communicated. Big impact does not need big words but the right ones. 

Book chapter 1: Dark and Destructive Leadership – Google Books 

Podcast: Global Spotlight Series: The Dark Side of Personality 

Gallup: Managers Account for 70% of Variance in Employee Engagement