Page 256 - Using the Enneagram System to Identify and Grow Your Leadership Strengths and Achieve Maximum Success

Make Optimal Decisions 231

Enneagram Style Fours

When Four leaders make decisions, they use their
Head and Body Centers, but, above all, they trust
their Heart Center. Fours have feelings about many
things: the facts of a situation, the alternative
choices they might make, the people involved, the
likely outcome, and even their feelings about their
feelings. Fours usually have strong opinions about
their decisions, and they become particularly passionate when a
decision is related to their most important values.
Because many Fours are highly analytical, they gather informa-
tion (including information about feelings); scrutinize the issues;
talk to others about their thoughts, feelings, and prior experiences;
and then reanalyze the information to determine the best course
of action. Fours also factor the organization’s culture and decision-
making authority structure into the equation, and they stand
behind the decisions they make.
Here’s a story about Jacob, a Four leader faced with an impor-
tant strategic decision:

Jacob was proud of the research center he had created. In
five years, he had led the center from infancy to its current
status as an institution that was well respected for doing
first-rate academic research that could be applied in real-
world settings. In addition to hiring the top talent in the field,
Jacob had decided that the center would do only research
that had practical applications. Because of Jacob’s clarity
about his values—making a difference by conducting
research that could be used to improve people’s lives—the
center has thrived.

Four leaders can err by making decisions that overemphasize
their values and/or are overly focused on personal experiences and
feelings, both their own and those of other people. For example,