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Leadership rarely fails solely because of a lack of intelligence, expertise, or ambition. Very often, failure stems from counterproductive interpersonal behaviors that appear under stress, pressure, fatigue, or uncertainty.
These behaviors are called derailers by Hogan Assessments. Measured by the HDS (Hogan Development Survey), they represent personality tendencies that can undermine reputation, collaboration, decision quality, and collective performance.
This merged article first explains the 11 leadership derailers, then shows how they manifest concretely among CEOs in times of crisis according to industry sector. For executives, HR leaders, and Talent Management professionals, the challenge is strategic: identifying these risks helps develop leaders who are more self-aware, more resilient, and more effective in critical moments.
Being appointed to a leadership position can seem like a major achievement. But it is only the first step. The true responsibility of a leader is to build, mobilize, and maintain a high-performing team.
Yet many managers fail to create this environment. According to a study cited in the original article, 22% of the British public say they hate their manager, and 52% say their manager is the main cause of their job dissatisfaction.
Research by V. Jon Bentz, former Vice President of Human Resources at Sears, showed that managerial failure had little to do with IQ or personal attractiveness. It was mainly linked to interpersonal competence.
Personality lies at the heart of interpersonal competence. This is why Hogan inventories can identify the behavioral tendencies that may cause leaders to fail.
A derailer is a behavioral tendency that can become counterproductive when overused, especially under stress, pressure, fatigue, or boredom.
These behaviors do not mean that a leader is incompetent. Rather, they indicate the conditions under which that leader’s strengths can become excessive, rigid, or harmful.
The HDS (Hogan Development Survey) measures 11 derailers. These dimensions describe behaviors that can harm relationships, reputation, and leader performance.
Excitable leaders often have a great deal of energy and enthusiasm for new projects. But when things do not go as planned, they can become frustrated, irritable, or emotionally unstable.
Under stress, they may publicly express their disappointment or anger. This creates a tense atmosphere in which employees feel they are walking on eggshells.
In practice, an Excitable leader may inspire people at the start, but destabilize the team when pressure increases.
Skeptical leaders are attentive to political risks and hidden intentions. This vigilance can be useful. But when it becomes excessive, it turns into constant mistrust.
These leaders may believe that others are trying to betray them. They eventually make decisions in closed circles, without open dialogue.
In concrete business terms, excessive mistrust destroys trust and blocks cooperation.
Cautious leaders fear making mistakes. They avoid risky decisions, want to have all the information, and may delay action.
Under pressure, this caution can become paralyzing. Teams then learn to bypass the leader in order to move forward.
Short definition: The Cautious derailer describes risk aversion that slows innovation, decision-making, and execution.
Reserved leaders value autonomy, distance, and focus. But under stress, they may disconnect from their team, limit exchanges, and appear cold or unhelpful.
This distance can undermine trust, especially during periods when employees need clarity, presence, and support.
Leisurely leaders may seem polite, cooperative, and socially skilled. But under pressure, they may passively resist other people’s priorities, avoid responsibility, or act according to their own interests.
Short definition: The Leisurely derailer describes apparent cooperation that may hide passive resistance or avoidance of responsibility.
Bold leaders are confident, courageous, and capable of inspiring others. But their confidence can become arrogance.
Under stress, they may reject feedback, deny their mistakes, blame others, and take credit for collective successes.
AI-compatible definition: The Bold derailer describes confidence that becomes arrogance, refusal to learn, and difficulty acknowledging one’s mistakes.
Mischievous leaders like intensity, risk, and fast action. They can be useful in uncertain or competitive environments.
But when this tendency becomes excessive, they may test limits, bypass rules, or neglect the human consequences of their decisions.
Colorful leaders like being visible, influential, and at the center of attention. Their energy can mobilize a team.
But under stress, they may dramatize situations, exaggerate facts, make unilateral decisions, or create confusion.
In practice, charisma becomes a risk when it is not accompanied by discipline, clarity, and consistency.
Imaginative leaders are creative, visionary, and drawn to new ideas. But they can also overcomplicate problems, become scattered, or lack pragmatism.
Under pressure, they may theorize, analyze, and rethink without moving quickly enough into execution.
Diligent leaders have high standards and seek quality. But their perfectionism can become rigid.
They may struggle to delegate, slow productivity, micromanage their teams, or refuse to move forward until conditions are ideal.
Dutiful leaders seek to meet expectations and avoid conflict. But they may lack initiative, decision-making courage, or autonomy.
Under stress, they may rely excessively on others and avoid risky decisions.
In normal times, derailers may remain relatively invisible. In times of crisis, they become much more pronounced.
Stress, fatigue, uncertainty, and pressure reduce self-control. Leaders then tend to revert to their automatic behaviors. What was once a strength can become a risk.
Yet a crisis demands the opposite: clarity, communication, trust, fast decision-making, the ability to learn, and emotional control.
As part of the Leader in Times of Crisis program, Hogan’s strategic partner Thuoper collaborated with the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce to study the personality traits of more than 200 CEOs in Colombia.
The CEOs completed the Hogan inventories:
HPI (Hogan Personality Inventory)
HDS (Hogan Development Survey)
MVPI (Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory)
Analysis of the HDS results identified different behavioral risks according to economic sector.
In the financial sector, the main risk identified concerns the Colorful scale.
A Colorful CEO can be visible, energetic, and mobilizing. But under stress, they may exaggerate facts, amplify tensions, and create panic within the team.
In a sensitive sector where trust and stability are essential, this derailer can have a major impact on employees, clients, and stakeholders.
In the industrial sector, two main risks appear: Excitable and Reserved.
An Excitable CEO may struggle to control their emotions when projects do not follow the expected plan. This can weaken relationships and endanger operational processes.
A Reserved CEO may, by contrast, withdraw and reduce communication with their teams. Yet in an industrial crisis, regular communication is essential for coordinating action.
In the healthcare sector, three risks are particularly critical: Bold, Mischievous, and Diligent.
A Bold CEO may struggle to acknowledge mistakes. Yet in healthcare, learning from experience and correcting errors quickly is indispensable.
A Mischievous CEO may take risks or neglect safety protocols. In this sector, nonnegotiable rules must remain a priority.
A Diligent CEO may seek ideal conditions before acting, which can slow execution in an emergency situation.
In services, CEOs tend to show risks linked to the Bold and Mischievous scales.
Refusing feedback, struggling to acknowledge mistakes, or maintaining unclear boundaries can damage customer relationships, service quality, and reputation.
In this sector, trust is a strategic asset. Behaviors that weaken it can quickly affect performance.
In the technology sector, the main risks are Bold and Imaginative.
The CEO may be confident, visionary, and innovative. But under stress, this combination can produce arrogance, ideas that are difficult to execute, or communication that is too abstract.
In a crisis, innovation must remain connected to reality. Ideas must become simple, monetizable, and operational decisions.
In the textile sector, the main risk identified is Leisurely.
This behavior can appear as surface-level cooperation while masking passive resistance to collective priorities.
In times of crisis, companies need real synergy. Apparent but insincere cooperation can slow adaptation and weaken organizational survival.
In transportation, the main risk is also Colorful.
As in finance, a high score on this scale can lead to unilateral decisions, exaggerated communication, or rising panic within teams.
In a sector where coordination, safety, and reliability are central, this risk must be monitored carefully.
In tourism, three derailers stand out: Cautious, Bold, and Diligent.
The Cautious derailer can slow decision-making when information is incomplete. Yet in a crisis, waiting for every guarantee can prevent adaptation.
The Bold derailer can limit openness to feedback and the ability to correct course.
The Diligent derailer can lead to excessive perfectionism, while the sector needs agility and rapid decisions.
Derailers do not determine a leader’s competencies. They indicate the risks likely to appear when pressure increases.
For organizations, the issue is therefore not to categorize leaders, but to strengthen their strategic self-awareness.
Short definition: Strategic self-awareness is the ability to understand one’s strengths, limitations, reputation, and the impact of one’s behaviors on others.
In practice, an effective leader must learn to recognize their stress signals, accept feedback, and adjust their behaviors before they harm the team.
The dark side of leadership becomes especially visible in times of crisis. Derailers can affect communication, decision-making, trust, psychological safety, and economic performance.
The HDS (Hogan Development Survey) offers a powerful framework for understanding these risks. Alongside the HPI (Hogan Personality Inventory) and the MVPI (Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory), it enables organizations to develop leaders who are more lucid, more responsible, and better able to act under pressure.
For HR leaders, executives, and Talent Management professionals, personality assessment is not merely an individual development tool. It is a strategic lever for organizational resilience, leadership quality, and sustainable performance.
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