Page 179 - Using the Enneagram System to Identify and Grow Your Leadership Strengths and Achieve Maximum Success

154 What Type of Leader Are You?

Using E-mail as a Developmental Stretch
Alex sent the following e-mail to his coworkers regarding a proj-
ect plan that the team—of which he is a member, but not the
leader—has been struggling with for several months.

Dear friends,
I am writing this e-mail from a small town near Portland,
Maine, where I am participating in a conference on risk
management. I will be making a presentation on the strategic
implications. I have given several presentations like this
before that have been well received, so I am optimistic that
this one will also go well.
After reading the useful contributions of other project
team members, I wanted to put in my two cents for the
discussion. I think we should consider . . . [The e-mail
continues with Alex’s doing an outstanding job of outlining
the project plan—one that the team had been struggling with
for months.]
Peace to everyone, from the East Coast—Alex

ANALYSIS In this friendly e-mail, Alex boasts about his past
accomplishments and talks about what he is currently doing—
where he is, why he’s there, and the fact that what he is doing is
a high-status activity (i.e., presenting on a sophisticated topic at a
conference).
The last part of Alex’s e-mail reflects the value that Threes place
on competence and capability, as well as their ability to read an
audience well. In the part of this e-mail, which is not included here
because of its length, Alex does an excellent job of laying out a log-
ically sequenced action plan. However, he is also sensitive to the
fact that several of his colleagues have already tried to do this and
failed. In an effort not to offend others in the group, he compli-
ments their efforts (“useful contributions”) and refers to his own
work as adding “two cents,” thereby downplaying his own contri-
bution. Some recipients of this e-mail, however, might find Alex’s