France, the world’s seventh-largest economy, exerts major influence in luxury, aerospace, energy, and finance, while accelerating in tech and sustainability. Its leadership culture is marked by strategic thinking, analytical rigor, and centralized decision-making often shaped by elite institutions and a strong emphasis on expertise. In this context of global competition and renewed social expectations, leadership remains a critical lever for organizational transformation.According to Hogan Assessments, the analysis of a benchmark of over 2,000 senior executives in France reveals the characteristics that drive promotion and recognition at the top of French companies along with potential blind spots. To deepen the cultural interpretation, a local expert contribution was provided by Chloë Touati, founder of Authentic Talent Consulting, authorized distributor of Hogan Assessments in France.
The Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) measures the values, drivers, and preferences that shape what people desire, prioritize, and seek at work. The French profile emphasizes imagination, originality, and human connection more than predictability or profit.
Highest engine in the French profile : Aesthetic, +14 points higher than the global executive benchmark. This reflects a desire for expression, creativity, and a refined sense of style, aligned with France’s cultural anchoring in art, design, and innovation. These leaders value beauty, spontaneity, experimentation, and freedom in ideas. In management roles, they tend to create visually refined environments open to new perspectives and conducive to creative problem solving especially in sectors where originality is essential.
Second highest value : Affiliation, scores +7 points above the global benchmark. It reflects the importance of collaboration, community, and interpersonal relationships. Leaders strong in Affiliation pursue social cohesion and belonging. Their style is relational, built on frequent dialogue, inclusion, and attention to team dynamics.
Conversely, the Security scale appears 11 points lower than the global average. Lower Security scores indicate comfort with change and less need for structure or long-term guarantees. These leaders are more inclined to take calculated risks, embrace innovation, and challenge the status quo particularly when creativity or strategy is at stake.
Two other MVPI scales fall below the benchmark: Commerce (–16) and Altruism (–11). Lower Commerce indicates a reduced focus on financial indicators, sales targets, or personal gain; monetary motivation weighs less in decision-making. Low Altruism may reflect a preference for autonomy, empowerment, and others independence rather than direct caretaking behaviors.
A persistent tension in France is the coexistence of strong regulation and a deep desire for freedom. While the state structure is powerful, many resist being constrained by rules. The combination of high Aesthetics and low Security points to motivations of singularity and creativity sometimes at the expense of consistency or efficiency.
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Upon joining in a company, each leader often brings their own vision and aesthetic powerful, yet potentially disruptive if everyone seeks to leave a unique mark. Security and conformity may be valued nationally or in the public sphere, but are less central in business, where agility and innovation dominate. As a result, leadership culture often favors aesthetics, individuality, and “intellectualism” over process and order.
On the coaching side, efforts focus on impact awareness, consistency, and follow-through. The word discipline is unpopular; framing development through impact and team well-being works better. French culture places great emphasis on the collective connection, collaboration, belonging. Yet, while leaders want inspired, cohesive teams, they sometimes struggle to embed the corresponding daily practices (constructive feedback, avoiding micromanagement, etc.).
Finally, although Affiliation is high, Altruism remains lower. Chloë notes that actions taken to protect social climate or avoid conflict (e.g., with unions) are often strategic rather than compassionate. Profit remains a sensitive topic in established companies: it is discussed, but indirectly.
“We are like a bunch of kids playing in the rain. We don't want to go back Inside ! ”
— an HRD to Chloë Touati, illustrating strong Aesthetics, creativity, and a taste for collective joy, which can slide into rebellion or immaturity without maturity and attention to detail.
The Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) describes how individuals behave at their best, shedding light on leadership style, work habits, and goal attainment. The French profile broadly aligns with global trends, with one notable deviation: lower Prudence (–11 points).
Lower Prudence points to flexible, agile leadership. Less attached to rules, policies, and procedures, these leaders thrive in fast-paced environments, able to pivot and experiment. Combined with low Security from the MVPI, we observe comfort with ambiguity, openness to trial and error, and willingness to question existing structures—fertile ground for creativity and originality.
Moderate scores in Ambition and Learning Approach indicate balanced motivation and continuous appetite for learning. Without being overtly competitive or imposing, these leaders are confident, goal-oriented, and curious often beyond their domain. This curiosity fuels high Aesthetics: tracking design trends, technology, and organizational innovation to stay culturally and strategically ahead.
According to Chloë, education is deeply respected; leaders and employees are encouraged to remain informed and open to the world. Ambition serves bold ideas rather than a checklist of targets. With high Affiliation and moderate Ambition, the preferred style emphasizes dialogue, consensus, inclusion, and relationship preservation.
Chloë also observes that leaders avoid micromanagement, relying on flexibility and trust, with minimal control. The downside: a gap may form between innovation and execution strong ideas that do not materialize due to insufficient planning or follow-through. Rules are applied when they make sense, and debates can be lengthy in search of logic and alignment
Another deeply rooted cultural expectation is perfection: Appearance counts, as does intellectual credibility. Leaders are often highly educated and strategic but may be distanced from execution. Teams find them inspiring and visionary, while feeling the pressure for perfect results without enough guidance on the “how.” Vulnerability is seldom valued; harmony is sought while avoiding the exposure of doubt or fragility.
The Hogan Development Survey (HDS) evaluates strengths overused under pressure, boredom, or stress behaviors that can derail a career.
Among French executives, the most prominent derailer is Mischievous, scoring +13 points above the global benchmark. Mischievous leaders are bold, charming, and risk-taking. They test limits, challenge authority, and often operate on the edge especially when lacking novelty. In small doses, this is stimulating; without safeguards, it leads to impulsive reactions, rule-bending, and underestimating consequences.
A striking French example: in protest against a new regulation, farmers dumped manure in front of a government building in Toulouse an expression of the Mischievous impulse: pushing boundaries, breaking rules, favoring bold action over quiet compliance. In cultures driven by creativity and originality, this can spark change but also expose reputations and strain stakeholder relations.
Chloë notes that in many French organizations, perceived success often correlates with the ability to circumvent rules rather than apply them. The cultural preference leans toward testing boundaries and “it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” Those who strictly follow processes are less often seen as influential. This double standard destabilizes middle management, tasked with applying rules that top leaders may bypass “to get things moving.”
At the opposite end, Diligent is the lowest scale (–10 vs the global benchmark). Leaders low on Diligent tend to be relaxed, approachable, and less focused on perfection or rigid standards. They delegate easily, retain a wide-angle perspective, and remain composed under pressure. This is a strength in change contexts but, combined with low Prudence, may generate lack of structure, inconsistency, or missed details.
Chloë Touati describes a paradox: local cultures value autonomy, resistance to rules, and boundary-pushing traits at odds with diligence and micromanagement. Early in careers, precision is rewarded; at the top, excessive execution focus becomes penalizing. High potentials selected for reliability may be overlooked for executive roles if they fail to shift toward strategic influence and letting go.
In summary, risk-taking and moderate attention to detail are double-edged swords: they fuel innovation and charisma but may exhaust teams (overload, unclear execution) and obscure “how to achieve goals.” Managing these derailers is crucial to transforming creativity and agility into sustainable impact.
French leaders operate with creativity, flexibility, and relational depth. Driven by Aesthetics (originality) and Affiliation (relationships), they place less emphasis on rules, structure, or financial rewards. With a curious Learning Approach, measured Ambition, and lower Prudence, they embrace change easily and explore new ideas.
The downside: high Mischievous (limit-testing under stress) and lower Prudence/Diligent (risk of missed details or resistance to structure). At their best, they are imaginative, people-centered, and iconoclastic well suited to dynamic, fast-evolving environments.
Based on Chloë Touati’s experience, an emerging model is gaining traction: promoting leaders who dare (take risks, innovate, question norms) and care (strengthen Affiliation, connection, and well-being). Boldness has long been valued; today, the culture of Care is increasingly important, driven by talent expectations and rising social activism. Tomorrow’s high-performing leaders will balance innovation with genuine concern for people.
Personality assessment provides senior management and HR managers with a strategic compass for skills development, coaching, obstacle management and team transformation.
The French profile, aesthetic and agile, has everything to innovate and unite; its full power is revealed when the requirement for execution and the concern of people balance risk taking and the quest for originality.
For organizations that aim for sustainable performance, anchoring these levers in HR strategy, assessment, and organizational culture is a high-return investment in the service of leadership potential, commitment, and long-term success.
Within Authentic Talent, every day, we support our clients, in France and abroad, in their strategic decision-making around Talents, in selection, to develop their potential, to create succession plans. If this topic resonates with you and you wish to discuss it further:it is click here!
Original article by Hogan Assessments and Chloë Touati (in English): link
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