Personality and the Secret Life of Organizations

Nick Emler, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of Surrey

Social organization creates power. The personalities of those who manage this power are fundamental to understanding what goes on in organizations. Robert Hogan brings his unparalleled mastery of personality psychology together with a deep understanding of the ways that evolution has shaped us to explain why and how. Anyone who inhabits an organization—and, one way or another, that is all of us—and wishes to make sense of this experience should read this book.


David Funder, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of California, Riverside

This book is a witty, wise, succinct, and persuasive account of the importance of personality, leadership, and the central role of organizations in human life. It is full of useful information and advice for managers and for anyone who has ever been managed, which is pretty much everybody. The ratio of wisdom gained to time spent on this little book makes it a great investment.


Adrian Furnham, Author and Professor of Psychology, BI Norwegian Business School

I have read many and written a few, but none even slightly compares with this one. There are five reasons for this. First, the author is both a (distinguished) academic and a practitioner. Second, he is a very well-read, serious polymath who moves effortlessly between classics, economics, philosophy, and psychology. Third, he courageously takes issue, where he sees fit, with vacuous trends, business gobbledygook, and evidence-free assertions. Fourth, he has the rare and most desirable habit of cutting through the Gordian knot of theories. Fifth, he writes (very) well: the book is a page-turner and also a serious reference work. I would love to have had these skills myself.