Page 230 - Using the Enneagram System to Identify and Grow Your Leadership Strengths and Achieve Maximum Success

Lead High-Performing Teams 205

who also want to think outside the box. Sevens are more inclined
to ask “Why not?” than to ask “Why?”
Seven leaders foster fast-paced, energetic, and stimulating team
cultures focused on delivering exceptional products and services
to customers. Most often, Sevens create team cultures that are egal-
itarian; the Seven leader regards all team members as equals, with
each individual being entitled to voice an opinion. Sevens also
expect each member to contribute ideas, to say what is on his or
her mind, and to deliver high-quality work products.
Here is an example of a Seven team leader in action:

Francesca was engaging, bright, and full of new ideas. She
had been hired to work with a 75-person team that had been
performing adequately but that was entirely lacking in inno-
vation. Francesca had also been asked to reduce staff by 30
percent because a number of team members were not
carrying their weight or had a negative or “can’t-do” atti-
tude. Within three years, Francesca had completely trans-
formed the team into one that was highly productive and
innovative. In the process, she had gained the admiration
and loyalty of the remaining team members, who described
her as pure energy in motion.

While Seven leaders emphasize vision and team culture, they
just as often underemphasize team architecture and processes. It
is not that they purposely ignore these areas, but simply that they
themselves prefer to work in underorganized teams. To Sevens,
too much structure or process restricts their freedom of thinking
and movement. While this relaxed organizational style may work
well for some team members, others may require more structural
and process guidance.
In addition, while the Seven’s emphasis on vision can be highly
stimulating to a team, the Seven leader may continuously add new
ideas to the original vision. From the Seven’s perspective, these
new ideas are embellishments, augmentations, or just simply dif-