France is a global leader with a longstanding tradition of intellectualism, cultural influence, and economic sophistication. As the world’s seventh largest economy, it plays a pivotal role in sectors such as luxury goods, aerospace, energy, and finance, while also advancing innovation in tech and sustainability. French business culture is marked by strategic thinking, analytical rigor, and a centralized approach to decision-making, often shaped by elite educational institutions and a strong emphasis on expertise. As French organizations adapt to global competition and evolving workforce expectations, leadership remains central to navigating complexity and driving transformation.
To better understand the executives leading this change, Hogan Assessments evaluated data from more than 2,000 senior leaders in France. This robust benchmark revealed the leadership characteristics that define the French executive profile—highlighting the traits that are most often promoted, rewarded, or undervalued within the country’s corporate landscape. These insights offer a deeper look into the preferences, priorities, and potential limitations that shape leadership at the top of French organizations.
For expert insights into local organizations, we collaborated with Chloë Touati, founder at Authentic Talent Consulting, a Hogan authorized distributor in France, to glean unique deeper understanding about the personality trends among French executives.
What Do French Executives Want?
Hogan’s Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) assesses the core values and drivers that shape what people desire, prioritize, and work toward. When we look at French executives, a unique profile emerges—one that celebrates imagination, originality, and human connection more than predictability or profit.
Aesthetics
The strongest driver among French executives is Aesthetics, scoring 14 percentile points higher than the global executive benchmark. This value reflects a desire for self-expression, creativity, and a refined sense of style—hallmarks that align with France’s broader cultural appreciation for art, design, and innovation. Leaders who score high on Aesthetics tend to value beauty, spontaneity, experimentation, and the freedom to explore unconventional ideas. They often bring this into their leadership by fostering workplaces that are visually appealing, open to new perspectives, and conducive to creative problem-solving. These leaders may be especially drawn to roles or industries where imagination and originality are core to success.
Affiliation
The second most elevated value is Affiliation, scoring seven percentile points above the global executive benchmark. This value highlights the importance of collaboration, community, and maintaining strong interpersonal relationships. French executives with high Affiliation scores are likely to prioritize social cohesion and a sense of belonging within their teams. Their leadership style may be more relational, characterized by inclusivity, regular dialogue, and a focus on team dynamics.
Security
In contrast, French executives are less motivated by Security, scoring 11 percentile points lower than the global average. Low scores on this scale suggest comfort with ambiguity and change, as well as a lower need for structure, stability, or long-term guarantees. These leaders may be more willing to take calculated risks, embrace innovation, and challenge the status quo—especially if doing so leads to greater creative or strategic outcomes.
Commerce and Altruism
Two additional MPVI scales are notably lower among French executives compared to other countries’ executives: Commerce (16 percentile points below the benchmark) and Altruism (11 percentile points below the benchmark). Lower Commerce scores point to a reduced focus on financial metrics, sales goals, or personal gain, suggesting that monetary incentives are less central to their decision-making. Similarly, lower Altruism scores may reflect a preference for autonomy, self-reliance, and empowering others through independence rather than direct caretaking or service.
According to Touati, there’s a deep tension between regulation and a desire for freedom. While the country has strong governmental structure and regulation—rooted in its revolutionary history—many individuals resist being confined by rules. From a motivational perspective, French leaders often want to express their individuality and creativity, sometimes at the expense of efficiency or consistency, revealed in this high Aesthetics and low Security combination.
For example, leaders entering organizations tend to bring their own vision and aesthetic, which can be incredibly positive—but potentially disruptive—especially when every leader wants to leave a unique mark. While security and compliance may be valued at the national level or within the governmental sector, these priorities are not always embraced strongly in the world of business, where flexibility and innovation are prized. The result is a leadership culture that often prioritizes aesthetics, individuality, and intellectualism over process and order.
In Touati’s work with leaders, coaching efforts often focus on helping individuals build awareness of their impact and the importance of consistency and follow-through. While the word discipline is culturally unpopular, framing development around impact and team wellbeing has proven effective. There’s a strong emphasis on collective culture and affiliation—employees frequently cite a desire for connection, collaboration, and belonging. However, while leaders want to foster inspiring, well-connected teams, they sometimes fall short in day-to-day team-building practices, such as offering constructive feedback or avoiding micromanagement.
Additionally, while French leaders often score high on Affiliation—valuing connection and team belonging—they tend to score low on Altruism. According to Touati, there is a recognition that leaders may act to protect the social climate or avoid conflict (e.g., with unions), but such actions are often strategic rather than compassionate. Altruism behaviors are less common and, when they happen, they’re not deeply embedded in leadership motives. Finally, there’s also a cultural ambiguity around profit. Money remains a sensitive topic, especially in established companies, and conversations around profitability are often veiled.
The French brand of leadership is defined by high aesthetics, creativity, and strong team belonging. Without maturity and attention to detail, this style can veer toward rebellion and immaturity, or, as one CHRO told Touati: “We are just like a group of children playing in the rain. We don’t want to come in!”
How Will French Executives Get What They Want?
The Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) measures how individuals typically behave when they’re at their best—offering insight into leadership style, work habits, and how people achieve their goals. When it comes to French executives, their personality profile largely mirrors global leadership trends, with one meaningful distinction: a lower score on Prudence, which comes in 11 percentile points below the global executive benchmark.
Prudence
This lower Prudence score points to a more flexible, agile leadership style. French executives may be less concerned with strict adherence to rules, policies, or processes. Instead, they may thrive in fast-moving, dynamic environments where they can pivot quickly and adapt to new information. Combined with their low MVPI Security, this suggests a natural ease with ambiguity, openness to experimentation, and a willingness to challenge conventional structures—traits that likely enable the creativity and originality they strongly value.
Ambition and Learning Approach
Beyond this, French executives show moderate scores on HPI Ambition and Learning Approach, indicating a balanced drive for achievement and a steady appetite for personal and professional growth. These leaders may not be overtly competitive or forceful in pushing their agenda, but they are likely quietly confident, motivated, and goal oriented.
Interestingly, Learning Approach stands out as a key enabler of French executives’ high value on Aesthetics. A strong interest in learning—particularly outside their immediate area of expertise—helps French leaders stay informed on emerging trends and fresh ideas. Whether it’s the latest in design, technology, or organizational innovation, this curiosity helps them remain culturally and strategically ahead of the curve.
According to Touati, French executives tend to value learning and staying intellectually engaged. Education is deeply respected, and there is strong cultural encouragement for leaders and employees to remain informed and open to the world.
Touati further explains: While one might expect high Ambition to accompany a higher Learning Approach and high Aesthetics, Ambition appears more selective and purpose driven. Individuals are motivated by pursuing great ideas rather than by ticking off organizational goals. Between the moderate Ambition paired with high Affiliation, this deliberative and often idealistic approach reflects a strong preference for dialogue, consensus, inclusion, and preserving relationships.
Speaking on the trend of low Prudence, Touati explains that leaders typically avoid micromanaging and instead focus on flexibility and adaptability, trusting teams to execute but exercising minimal control or precision. However, this hands-off approach can lead to a disconnect between innovation and implementation: great ideas may never materialize due to lack of follow-through or planning. Rules are followed when they make sense, and lengthy debates are common as leaders seek logical consensus and teamwide alignment.
Furthermore, there is a high cultural expectation around perfection—appearance matters, as does intellectual credibility. Leaders are often highly educated and strategic, but they can be disconnected from execution. Teams perceive their leaders as inspiring and visionary but struggle with the pressure to deliver flawless outcomes without sufficient guidance on the “how.” This disconnect can create stress and confusion, as employees are expected to be creative and perfect, yet aren’t allowed to fail or experiment. While French executives typically have good intentions, they may lack self-awareness regarding how their expectations and inconsistency impact team morale and performance.
However, at the same time, vulnerability in leadership is still stigmatized; there’s a strong desire for harmony, but also a reluctance to show doubt or weakness. As a result, leadership decisions often involve extensive consultation to ensure buy-in while protecting everyone’s sense of face and comfort.
What Will Get in French Executives’ Way?
The Hogan Development Survey (HDS) measures strengths that, when overused—especially under pressure, boredom, or stress—can become counterproductive and derail careers.
Mischievous
For French executives, the most elevated derailer is Mischievous, scoring 13 percentile points above the global executive benchmark. Leaders who score high on Mischievous tend to be bold, charming, and unafraid of taking risks. They often test boundaries, challenge authority, and enjoy operating justoutside the lines—especially in environments that lack novelty or stimulation. This derailer can be energizing and magnetic in small amounts, but when left unchecked, it may lead to impulsive decisions, rule-bending, or disregard for consequences.
A telling example comes from a real-world event in France: in a show of frustration over mounting financial pressures, French farmers dumped manure in front of a government building in Toulouse. While extreme, this kind of behavior reflects the Mischievous tendency to test limits, challenge rules, and prioritize bold action over quiet compliance. For French executives who are motivated by creativity and originality, this derailer can manifest as a desire to provoke change or disrupt the norm, but it can also lead to reputational risk and strained stakeholder relationships.
Based on Touati’s experiences, within many French organizations, success is often tied to a leader’s ability to bend the rules rather than strictly follow them. There’s a cultural preference for testing limits and avoiding direct confrontation—leaders are more likely to ask for forgiveness than permission. This high Mischievous mindset is seen as essential to getting things done, especially in environments where bureaucracy and regulation can stifle efficiency.
Interestingly, those who strictly adhere to rules and processes are less likely to be perceived as influential or effective. However, this creates a confusing dynamic, particularly for middle management, who see top leaders disregarding rules while being expected to enforce them at lower levels. The result is an organizational tension between formal compliance and informal behaviors that actually drive success.
Diligent
Now, at the other end of the spectrum, French executives score lowest on Diligent, coming in 10 percentile points below the global average. Leaders low on this scale tend to be relaxed, approachable, and less concerned with perfection or rigid standards. They likely delegate easily, focus on the big picture, and remain composed even under pressure. This can be a strength in high-change environments, but when paired with low Prudence, it may also lead to a lack of structure, inconsistency, or missed details.
Touati explains an interesting dynamic in French organizations. Most local companies’ cultures reward autonomy, rule resistance, and boundary-pushing behavior—traits that often conflict with diligence and micromanagement. Success, especially at senior levels, is tied to strategic thinking, political savvy, and the ability to navigate around rules rather than enforce them. While early-career roles may demand high diligence and perfect execution, those traits become liabilities as individuals rise.
In fact, leaders who micromanage or focus too heavily on implementation are less likely to be promoted. This creates a paradox. High-potential individuals are selected for their precision and reliability but may be excluded from executive roles if they don’t adapt to a more flexible, hands-off leadership style. Coaching often focuses on helping these individuals let go of control and shift toward strategic influence, highlighting the disconnect between what earns recognition early on and what drives success at the top.
In short, French executives’ risk-taking and relaxation with details can be a double-edged sword. While they are often innovative and charismatic, their tendency to take risks or bypass formalities may promote overwork within their teams or may not provide the necessary clarity for how to execute important goals. Similarly, their relaxed approach to rules and detailed management may be empowering to some teams, but confusing or frustrating to others. Managing these derailers will be key to ensuring that creativity and agility translate into long-term influence and impact.
What Can We Learn About French Executives?
French executives lead with creativity, flexibility, and a strong sense of connection. Motivated by originality (Aesthetics) and relationships (Affiliation), they are less concerned with rules, structure, or financial rewards. With a curious mindset (Learning Approach), goal orientation (Ambition), and a high tolerance for ambiguity (Low Prudence), they tend to embrace change and explore new ideas with ease. However, their limit-testing elevates their risk. High Mischievous suggests a tendency to push boundaries, especially under stress, while low Prudence and Diligent scores may lead to overlooked details or resistance to structure. At their best, French executives are imaginative, people-centric, and unafraid to challenge convention—ideally suited for dynamic, fast-evolving environments.
Based on Toutai’s consulting work, she shares an emerging trend in the French market. As the workplace evolves, companies are rethinking leadership expectations to meet future demands. One emerging model emphasizes promoting leaders who both dare—take risks, innovate, and challenge norms—and care—foster affiliation, connection, and wellbeing. While boldness and initiative have long been rewarded, there’s a growing shift toward valuing empathy and care, driven by workforce expectations and increasing social activism. Successful leaders of the future will need to balance innovation with genuine concern for people to navigate this changing landscape.
Many thanks to Chloë Touati for sharing her expert insights on French executives. And, we’d be delighted to hear your insights on leadership in your country, as well. It just takes ten minutes!
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