Page 226 - Using the Enneagram System to Identify and Grow Your Leadership Strengths and Achieve Maximum Success

Lead High-Performing Teams 201

BE EXPLICIT ABOUT NEEDING TIME TO CONSIDER YOUR TRUE REAC-
TIONS It is perfectly fine for you to tell individuals or groups that
you want time to think about a situation. Both you and they
deserve your most heartfelt and well-considered responses. In fact,
being clear about your need to take time to consider your reac-
tions is preferable to acting as if you have no response at all. Dur-
ing your time of reflection, go beyond an initial identification of
feelings by asking yourself: Yes, but why do I feel that way? The
deeper you go, the more deeply you will connect with your truest
feelings. You may or may not choose to share these with others,
but at least you will know what they are.

LEARN TO READ BODY LANGUAGE CLEARLY Pay as much attention
to others’ body language as to their words so that you can become
expert at reading nonverbal cues. An excellent way to learn this
skill is to watch 15 minutes of a DVD you have not seen before,
with the sound on mute. As you watch, write down what you think
is occurring, what you imagine the characters are feeling, and the
film’s general feeling or atmosphere. Then review the same 15-
minute segment with the sound on. Assess your accuracy in read-
ing the nonverbal behavior. If you were not very accurate, watch
the segment again to determine what you missed. Repeat this activ-
ity with the same and/or other DVDs until you feel more knowl-
edgeable in the art of reading body language.

Enneagram Style Sixes

Most Six leaders value teamwork almost as much
as they value group loyalty. They believe that any-
thing is possible with a like-minded, capable, and
committed team that has purposeful goals. Once
Six leaders have aligned team members around a
common vision and developed the team’s architecture and