Page 65 - Using the Enneagram System to Identify and Grow Your Leadership Strengths and Achieve Maximum Success

44 What Type of Leader Are You?

leaders know how to select the most important targets and then
to organize both their work and that of others in the most efficient
and effective way, and other people often respect them for the ease
with which they appear to accomplish these tasks. In addition,
Threes are usually highly responsive to client feedback and have
the ability to earn long-term client trust.
Because Three leaders avoid work-related failure, they often
have multiple strategies for overcoming obstacles to success; for
the Three, not getting work done well and on time is simply not
an option. Threes can also be excellent team leaders, particularly
when their teams are composed of highly competent people on
whom they can depend.
Here is the positive feedback that Lana, a Three leader, received:

• A great engineer, but also knows the business side well
• Sees the whole organizational picture
• Good at customer relations
• Credible
• Bright
• Excellent financial skills
• Highly skilled in operations
• Well organized
• Wide management experience
• Gives excellent constructive feedback
• Knows when to manage closely and when not to

At the same time, the Three leader’s intense drive for results,
combined with his or her singular, unrelenting focus, can lead to
potential problems. This is a good example of how a strength,
when overused, can become a derailer. For example, Threes can
become so focused on completing tasks and getting the job done
that they forget their generally well-honed interpersonal skills.
As a result, they may come across to coworkers, bosses, and sub-
ordinates (although only rarely to clients) as cold or abrupt. This
same overfocus on goals can cause Threes to do the following: