Rapid Leadership Shifts with the Enneagram
Leadership insights alone are not enough to thrust emerging or plateaued leaders into making the necessary personal shifts required to thrive at new levels of responsibility, sophistication and complexity. All leaders who are on the move need to have a deep understanding of the different sides of themselves that they have at their disposal. This is applicable to both the first time leader who is making the jump from individual contributor to people leader, or the technical leader who needs to add emotional intelligence to their leadership toolkit.
This is why I have found the Enneagram to be an incredibly valuable addition to our leadership suite of assessments. Where many other tools provide insights into patterns, tendencies and preferences, the Enneagram exposes strategies but also weakness in relying solely on one method of success. For leaders to be relevant to all those who follow them, they need to become more flexible in their approach and be more willing to let the other sides of them show up.
The first step is recognizing what each Enneagram type is looking for out of their leader:
How The 9 Enneagram Types Perceive Leadership from Rob Luke, BHSc, MA
This doesn’t mean that leaders have to be everything to everyone, especially when creating cultures that focus on more than one behaviour over another (for example innovation over perfection). However, it does mean that we need to be aware of our blind spots and take the necessary behaviour shifts to help limit the edginess of our primary personality.
Specifically, Enneagram leaders need to:
One Leaders → Don’t be so hard on yourself and your team. Have some fun this week!
Two Leaders → You don’t have to fix everything. Somethings just aren’t fixable. Be aware of your tendency to take on too much. Practice this week saying no.
Three Leaders → Connect with your team personally this week and schedule one day where you aren’t working. Practice being a human being, not a human doer.
Four Leaders → There are a lot of things piling up on your desk. Make this the week to accomplish them. Start by creating a list and stay focused on your top five.
Five Leaders → It is the assumption of the five that all decisions should be logic. They aren’t. Try this week asking yourself, “how do I feel about this situation” or “what do I want out of this?”
Six Leaders → Calm down. No I’m serious, it is going to be okay. Take some time this week to have fun and explore your seven side.
Seven Leaders → Have the tough conversation this week that you have been putting off.
Eight Leaders → Slow down and bring others along with you. Slow does not = weak. Practice this week not being the first to talk in a meeting.
Nine Leaders → Collaboration isn’t always the best decision-making process. This week practice making one assertive decision.
Every week is a challenge to grow and make new shifts in our leadership path. Use the Enneagram this week to make yours!