Page 228 - Using the Enneagram System to Identify and Grow Your Leadership Strengths and Achieve Maximum Success

Lead High-Performing Teams 203

son, some Sixes prefer to watch teams from a distance than to be
highly involved with them. This is not as problematic when Sixes
are employees, but it creates a dilemma for them when they are in
team leadership roles, as it is very difficult to lead a team effectively
from the sidelines.
Finally, Six leaders often understate (even to themselves) their
numerous leadership assets.
In the same new team meeting referred to previously, Karl
demonstrated the somewhat self-deprecating quality of Six team
leaders:

When asked to describe his leadership style so that the new
team members might understand how to work well with
him, Karl answered, “I believe I am steady and don’t panic in
even the most challenging situations. I am also fair, or at
least I try to be.”
It took Matthew, the team member who had previously
worked for him, to explain Karl’s leadership style more fully:
“Karl is available, easy to talk with, and assertive when he
needs to be. He does not like to micromanage people, and
when he sees that you can do your job well, he gives you every
opportunity to do it. If he starts to micromanage you, it is only
because you have failed to deliver on your commitments.”

Development Stretches for Sixes

BECOME INCREASINGLY COMFORTABLE WITH POWER AND AUTHORITY
Examine your relationship to power and authority, with a focus on
understanding that most authority figures are not completely pos-
itive or negative, but are usually a mixture of both.
Take a piece of paper and make three columns: positive author-
ity figures, negative authority figures, and mixed authority figures
(those who are both positive and negative). Make a list of all your
prior bosses and place each name in the appropriate column. Next
to each name, write down that person’s most prominent leader-