Page 250 - Using the Enneagram System to Identify and Grow Your Leadership Strengths and Achieve Maximum Success

Make Optimal Decisions 225

CHART 7.2 (Continued) Ones: Development Stretches

Center of Intelligence Activities for Ones That Develop That Center
Compassion
Make certain you don’t become too emotionally involved
when making hard decisions, but don’t be too cerebral
either.
Body (Gut) Center Taking effective action
Turn decision making into an art form; use just enough
action to get the results you want.
Steadfastness
Hold firm in your decisions, but not to the point of rigidity.
Gut knowing
Learn to honor your gut reactions by asking yourself what
it is that you know very deeply to be true; watch out for
reacting too quickly.

Enneagram Style Twos

Because Two leaders have highly developed intu-
itive skills, they can usually anticipate which deci-
sions will be readily accepted and which ones will
meet with resistance. Twos rely primarily on their
Heart Center to understand the desires and inten-
tions of others, and also pay attention to the organization’s norms
and values in both making decisions and executing them.
In addition, Two leaders focus on the organization’s decision-
making authority structure in order to fine-tune their ability to
orchestrate people and events. However, they don’t always abide
by the formal decision-making structure. For example, a Two might
say, “This decision lies in another person’s area, but I’m going to
make the decision myself because it needs to be made, and no
one’s going to get too upset.” On the other hand, when Twos antic-
ipate a strong negative reaction, even if the decision falls within
their area of authority, they will say, “I want to find out what this
other person thinks before I make the final decision.”
When asked about Paul’s decision-making style, one of his sen-
ior employees described him this way: