Being reliable, loyal and keen to meet other people's expectations is a real professional asset. But when this desire to satisfy those around you becomes excessive, it can weaken a leader's authority, undermine the team's trust and hold back their career.
Where does dedication end and people-pleasing begin? How can you recognise the behaviours that lead a manager to seek senior management's approval at every turn, sometimes at the expense of their team?
Through the Dutiful derailer identified by the Hogan Assessments personality inventories, this article explores the risks of overly accommodating leadership and offers practical ways to strengthen decision-making autonomy, assertiveness and collective performance.
When a team member behaves in a problematic way, it is up to their manager to clarify expectations and set things straight. Yet a leader who fears coming across as too harsh or hostile may prefer to avoid that essential conversation, even when doing so risks hurting the team's performance.
This reluctance to step in shows just how subtle the boundary between dependability and people-pleasing at work can be.
Some executives care more about the image of loyalty they project upwards than about the trust they inspire in their own people. They can then give the impression of currying favour with their superiors while showing little inclination to stand up for their team's interests.
In the Hogan personality model, this behavioural tendency corresponds to the Dutiful derailer.
Hogan personality assessments make it possible to explore individual strengths, counterproductive behavioural tendencies and the values that shape behaviour at work.
The Hogan Development Survey (HDS) focuses more specifically on the dark side of personality, through eleven behavioural tendencies known as "derailers".
In everyday working situations, these characteristics can be genuine assets. However, they can hamper a career when a person stops regulating their behaviour, particularly under the influence of pressure, stress, complacency or boredom.
The Dutiful derailer is marked by a tendency to appear helpful, supportive and loyal, sometimes to excess.
A leadership style shaped by the Dutiful trait has several qualities.
Beyond their reliability, these leaders are usually seen as flexible, accommodating people who respect expectations and instructions.
Their ability to adapt to what others ask of them often makes them pleasant to be around and easy to bring into a collaborative dynamic.
In many professional settings, this attitude encourages cooperation and helps keep working relationships harmonious.
Pushed to the extreme, however, these behaviours can turn into people-pleasing, an excessive desire to please, or even a tendency to court favour with those in positions of authority.
The leaders concerned may then systematically seek their superiors' approval before acting, hesitate to voice their views, rely heavily on other people's advice or wait to be told what to do.
They are generally reluctant to contradict their bosses or to challenge established practices.
This tendency may bring to mind certain fictional characters from television series set in the workplace, such as Gabe Lewis in The Office or Tom Wambsgans in Succession.
These characters show, sometimes in caricatured form, the difficulties that arise when an excessive need for approval overrides independent judgement.
In a video devoted to the subject, Ryan Rush, PhD, explains how the Dutiful derailer works and analyses its consequences for team trust, leadership credibility and career progression.
His contribution sheds light on the risks of excessive loyalty, especially when the wish to meet senior management's expectations prevents a leader from fully exercising their responsibilities.
The reliability that allows a professional to earn the trust of those around them early in their career can, when taken too far, end up damaging their reputation as a leader.
Without strategic awareness of their behaviour and its effect on others, managers with a strong Dutiful tendency risk limiting their own career development, distancing themselves from their teams and slowing down the achievement of their organisation's goals.
As a professional takes on more senior responsibilities, what is expected of them as a leader changes.
Organisations expect their executives to show independence and autonomy, and to be able to take a stand and then defend their decisions.
In most workplaces, moving into leadership roles means developing a degree of self-reliance, knowing how to make the call and showing firmness when circumstances demand it.
A leader who remains systematically dependent on senior management's approval may therefore struggle to meet these new demands.
When a manager cannot make a decision without first getting their superior's permission, their team may gradually lose confidence in their ability to lead.
Likewise, if they constantly try to win favour with people in positions of authority, their team may doubt their willingness to back them and defend their interests.
This behaviour is sometimes summed up by the English expression "kiss up, kick down", which describes being obsequious towards one's superiors while taking a tougher stance with one's subordinates.
An excessive wish to please can also make conversations that call for critical feedback difficult, particularly in a formal setting.
Yet giving constructive feedback, even when it is uncomfortable, is one of a manager's core responsibilities.
Finally, when a leader consistently holds back their opinions for fear of being contradicted, the people around them end up no longer knowing what they really think.
Over time, this lack of a clear position can harm their credibility, the quality of discussions and trust within their team.
For leaders with a Dutiful tendency, the first step is to recognise that deference towards others can become a problematic behavioural response.
The point is not to call into question the qualities associated with loyalty, cooperation or respect for hierarchy, but to understand at what point these behaviours stop fitting the situation.
To change their behaviour, leaders first need to pinpoint the circumstances that lead them to seek other people's approval excessively.
These situations may be linked to general states, such as stress, pressure or a form of complacency, but also to more specific triggers.
For example, a professional who grew up in an environment where voicing disagreement was discouraged may have learned to steer clear of any confrontation.
Likewise, a past experience in which vague instructions led to criticism can reinforce the need to keep asking for sign-off before acting.
Understanding these mechanisms makes it possible to step back from one's reactions and identify the behaviours worth changing.
Once the high-risk situations have been identified, it becomes possible to build coping strategies and try out new behaviours.
This process can draw in particular on setting precise development goals.
Role-play exercises, for instance, can provide practice in expressing disagreement or delivering negative feedback constructively.
It can also help to set explicit criteria for deciding which decisions genuinely require a superior's approval.
This clarification helps strengthen autonomy and reduce the habitual reliance on outside validation.
Another development avenue is to draw up a list of proposals for improving the organisation's processes or strategy, and then to share these ideas actively.
For a leader with a Dutiful tendency, this exercise is a concrete opportunity to practise taking a stand, expressing their convictions and defending their recommendations.
Team members reporting to a manager who is especially eager to satisfy others can also help shift the collective dynamic.
They should, however, start by gauging how much psychological safety they enjoy within their team or working environment.
If the setting feels safe enough, they can express their needs or ask their manager for support by linking what they want to the goals of the business.
This approach gives the leader a strategic, concrete reason to take a stand on their behalf.
When they want to share a view their manager might perceive as a form of disagreement, team members can also strengthen their case by drawing on objective data and on a consensus within the team.
It then becomes easier to present a differing position as a contribution to collective success rather than as personal opposition.
For a leader, developing and sustaining a high-performing team is a far more powerful source of recognition than an attitude built on the constant search for approval.
Effective leadership sometimes means being willing to contradict one's superiors, asserting a different position and having the autonomy needed to make a real impact.
The ability to stay loyal and cooperative keeps all its value, provided it does not compromise independent judgement, support for team members or the quality of decisions.
The goal, then, is not to become less dedicated, but to learn to use this quality with discernment, according to the responsibilities and demands of each situation.
The boundary between dependability and people-pleasing is a reminder that a professional quality, when overused, can become a risk factor for leadership.
Loyalty, availability and a sense of service are valuable resources. But they need to go hand in hand with autonomy, managerial courage and the ability to take a stand, including when that means voicing disagreement.
Seen in this light, personality assessment is a strategic lever for talent management and leadership development. By shedding light on the behavioural tendencies likely to emerge under pressure, Hogan inventories offer useful insight into individual strengths and the risks of derailment.
Combined with coaching and support, these insights can help executives strengthen their self-awareness, develop their assertiveness and build stronger relationships of trust with their teams.
For organisations, building this understanding of behaviour into their HR strategy and their assessment and development programmes helps raise managerial skills, supports a culture that gives people more responsibility and fosters sustainable performance.
Because leadership is not about satisfying everyone, but about knowing how to combine loyalty, discernment and courage so that one's teams succeed.
Ryan Rush, PhD, is a cognitive psychologist and senior consultant in the talent management solutions team at Hogan Assessments.
The 11 derailers series: Excitable · Skeptical · Cautious · Reserved (coming soon) · Leisurely · Bold · Mischievous · Colorful · Imaginative · Diligent · Dutiful
At Authentic Talent, we believe that objective assessment of talent and potential within organisations is a decisive factor in their future success. If you would like to discuss it with us, let's talk!
This article draws on an article published on the Hogan Assessments website: The Fine Line Between Dependability and People-Pleasing at Work
