Page 267 - Using the Enneagram System to Identify and Grow Your Leadership Strengths and Achieve Maximum Success

242 What Type of Leader Are You?

• Others may need more time than the Seven to process the
information related to the decision.
• Sevens may omit important information when they explain a
decision, assuming that this information is obvious to
everyone.
• Sevens may express ideas that are not intended to be deci-
sions, but that may be misunderstood as such by others, who
start implementing them.

Since theirs is a Head Center style, Sevens can become so stim-
ulated by their own thoughts or by an interchange of ideas that
they have difficulty calibrating the reactions and feelings of others.
It is as though the Head Center is turned on at these times, but the
Heart Center is switched off and thus is unavailable as a source of
data. Decisions based on what the Seven thinks others are feeling
(a cerebral speculation) rather than on feeling what someone else
is feeling (empathy) can lead to less than optimal decisions.
Finally, Sevens may not pay enough attention to the organiza-
tional politics surrounding the decision. Most Sevens consider pol-
itics to be an annoyance that impedes their ability to make
decisions and take action. Unfortunately, many excellent ideas have
been lost precisely because decision makers did not get the right
people in the organization involved in the right way and at the
right time.
Steven had learned this lesson the hard way earlier in his career:

Steven perceived himself as a model manager and began
implementing new projects in his department immediately.
He constantly made recommendations to his immediate
boss about ways to improve the division, and he offered
the company president unsolicited opinions about the orga-
nization’s strategic direction. After six months, Steven’s
boss sat him down and said, “You’ve been implementing
projects that require prior authorization, indirectly criticizing