Excessive confidence in leaders can turn a valuable quality — self-confidence — into a major obstacle to performance and collaboration. This article explores the concept of the Bold derailer according to Hogan, its potential consequences, and the strategies that can help leaders distinguish healthy confidence from arrogance.
You will discover:
The characteristics of confident and bold leaders.
The risks associated with overconfidence.
Development strategies for sustainable and balanced leadership.
The three Hogan inventories assess:
A leader’s everyday strengths.
Potential counterproductive tendencies.
Core values.
The Hogan Development Survey — HDS — measures 11 characteristics that can become counterproductive when overused. These characteristics are known as derailers or “dark-side” personality traits. Under stress, anxiety, or boredom, one or more derailers can create organizational problems.
The Bold derailer describes behaviors ranging from moderate restraint to assertive self-promotion.
Bold leaders:
Are determined to pursue their goals with energy and ambition.
May appear exceptionally confident and entitled.
Sometimes struggle to acknowledge their mistakes or accept advice.
These leaders often achieve success and power, as illustrated by:
Mary Barra, MBA, Chair and CEO of General Motors.
Sheryl Sandberg, MBA, former COO of Meta and founder of LeanIn.org.
Dame Anna Wintour, media executive and former editor-in-chief of Vogue.
But this bold courage has a dark side: a mix of confidence and arrogance can hinder their own success.
The HDS identifies behaviors that become counterproductive at the extreme. For Bold leaders:
Excessive belief in their own personal value can undermine teamwork and collaboration.
Bold behaviors may include impulsiveness, self-promotion, and demanding attitudes.
The tendency to overestimate their skills and ignore their limitations can create conflict and frustration.
Even when a Bold leader appears talented and high-performing, their arrogance can make collaboration difficult, and they may create tension within teams.
Bold leaders need to maintain their energy and ambition, but with strategic balance.
They should continue to strive for excellence by seeing setbacks as opportunities.
They should channel competition outward, while moderating internal rivalries.
They should start assessing the impact of their communication style: a combative or arrogant tone can alienate teams.
They should stop denying their mistakes: acknowledging errors, apologizing, and adjusting behavior are crucial in high-responsibility, high-stakes roles.
These adjustments make it possible to transform excessive confidence into effective and sustainable leadership.
Erin Lazarus, MS, Senior Director of Business Development at Hogan Assessments, explains that the Bold derailerdirectly affects executive effectiveness and offers recommendations for balanced, high-performing leadership.
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