THE EMPOWERING LEADERSHIP

Of a good leader, who talks little, When his work is done, his aim fulfilled They will all say We did this ourselves. Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching Empowering leadership refers to the process of building commitment to objectives and enabling followers to accomplish these objectives. Leaders who aim for empowerment do so because they believe there are definable goals that cannot be met without involving people. Empowerment requires a high level of honesty, openness and integrity, from leaders. The value system is more than a set of aspirationsit develops into a culture and a way of life. The two greatest enemies of empowerment are fear of losing control and lack of trust. These are emotional responses. A leader learns to manage emotions and has the courage to make changes that are truly empowering. Its the emotional blockages, rather than the intellectual ones, that one has to deal with. The idea of making others feel more powerful contradicts the stereotype of the all-powerful leader. The practice of empowering or instilling a sense of power is at the root of effectiveness, especially during times of transition and transformation. Empowerment is the act of strengthening an individuals beliefs in his or her sense of effectiveness. It is not simply a set of external actions; it is a process of changing the internal beliefs of people. Individuals believe themselves powerful when they feel they can adequately cope with environmental demands, i.e. situations, events, and people they confront.

Methods of empowerment used by Leaders Leaders rely on empowerment to stoke the fires of motivational energy, through which they are able to heighten followers belief in the ability to achieve the leaders vision. Empowerment heightens a persons willingness to attempt difficult tasks and to make sustained efforts without a concern for positive outcomes. Tasks that would have been judged as too difficult are now perceived feasible. The empowering leader relies on four sources for developing efficacy expectations. Power through accomplishments: As people accomplish difficult or complex tasks, they have an opportunity to test their own efficacy. Initial success builds confidence and in turn greater commitment to the mission. Power through verbal persuasion: When people are persuaded verbally that they have the capacity to master a difficult task, they are likely to mobilize a greater sustained effort. Self-doubts or focus on personal deficiencies when the going gets tough are a hindrance. Power through emotional arousal: The element of play or drama is another practice used for empowering. Its purpose is to stir up positive emotions. An element of play appears to be especially liberating in situations of great stress. It allows for the venting of frustration, and helps people regain a sense of control. Power through example: People come to believe that the leader knows what it takes to succeed so they may watch his or her

actions closely. By demonstrating confidence in their own abilities and by undertaking some of the same tasks people are expected to accomplish, leaders can model the outcomes of personal empowerment. With effective leaders, empowerment is most evident in four themes. People feel significanteveryone feels that he or she makes a difference Learning and competence matterleaders value learning and mastery, and eventually so do followers People are part of a communitywhere there is leadership, there is a team, a family, a unity Work is excitingWhere there are leaders, work is stimulating, challenging, fascinating, and fun Empowering leaders share a strong underlying belief in their subordinates abilities. If you believe in peoples abilities, they will also turn believers. An assessment of staff skills is imperative before embarking on a programme of empowerment. This basic belief in employees abilities underlies the examples of management practices designed to empower.

Providing a positive emotional atmosphere One type of empowering involves providing positive emotional support, through various community activities like outings; dramatics, celebrations etc. can be conducted. 1. Rewarding and encouraging in visible and personal ways Leaders should reward the achievements of their staff by expressing personal praise and in a highly visible and confidence-building manner. People appreciate recognition of their hard work and success. Valuable rewards and incentives are particularly important such as personal recognition from the leader. 2. Expressing confidence Leaders should express their confidence frequentlyin speeches, meetings, and casually in office hallways. It is an important tactic one that made the employees feel special and important. 3. Fostering initiative and responsibility By simply fostering greater initiative and responsibility in subordinates tasks, a leader can empower community members. Goals, compensation, and responsibilities, should foster this attitude

Characteristics of participative decision-makers The essence of participative style is the participation of many persons in decision-making. One expression of the participative style is democracy, in which representatives of the people, rather than a dictator, make decisions. The most common form of this style is group decisionmaking in which the head acts not as a boss but coordinates and facilitates decision-making by the group as a whole. This sort of decision-making is based on free and frank discussion, sharing of information and views, generation of many alternatives, and the gradual emergence of a consensus to which all feel at least some commitment because it has emerged collectively. Participative decision-making is not easy to practice because sharing power with colleagues and subordinates is very difficult. Taking decisions on the basis of the majority vote is not very difficult. But bringing about a consensus after facilitating the expression of many different points of view is. The employer does not always manipulate and take advantage of employees to achieve his own goals. Sometimes employees put undue pressure on the employer to achieve their own ends. So as to reach wholeness, a strong bond between the parties must be nurtured. When people are involved in matters of their well-being, their desire for involvement increases and this brings in commitment. The advantages of participative approach are: Better solution and results Better representation of the situation Fosters good interpersonal relations, team spirit and group effort Increase in productivity More effective management of people

The limitations of participative approach are: Differences in personality types may impede participation Participation may be imposed from above and then becomes counter-productive Some may not take participation too seriously Too much emphasis on friendly atmosphere may reduce efficiency

Decision-making Style: Participatory The essence of participative style is the participation of many persons in decision-making. One expression of the participative style is democracy, in which representatives of the people, rather than a dictator, make decisions. The most common form of this style is group decisionmaking in which the head acts not as a boss but coordinates and facilitates decision-making by the group as a whole. This sort of decision-making is based on free and frank discussion, sharing of information and views, generation of many alternatives, and the gradual emergence of a consensus to which all feel at least some commitment because it has emerged collectively. Participative decision-making is not easy to practice because sharing power with colleagues and subordinates is very difficult. Taking decisions on the basis of the majority vote is not very difficult. But bringing about a consensus after facilitating the expression of many different points of view is. The employer does not always manipulate and take advantage of employees to achieve his own goals. Sometimes employees put undue pressure on the employer to achieve their own ends. So as to reach wholeness, a strong bond between the parties must be nurtured. When people are involved in matters of their well-being, their desire for involvement increases and this brings in commitment. The view that participation is more than a show or a ruse is shared by Keith Davis.i The key ideas of participation are: It is a metal and emotional involvement rather than muscular activity It motivates contribution It encourages people to accept responsibility

 In developing participation, we should strike a balance between pseudo participation and excessive participation Robert Tannenbaum cites the following conditions for participation in organizations. The capability of subordinates to be psychologically involved in the activities chosen for participation The extent to which the subordinate favorably views participative activities The relevance of such participation in the furtherance of ones own interests Availability of time for meaningful participation Costs of participation should not exceed the benefits derived from participation The advantages of participative approach are: Better solution and results Better representation of the situation Fosters good interpersonal relations, team spirit and group effort Increase in productivity More effective management of people The limitations of participative approach are Differences in personality types may impede participation Participation may be imposed from above and then becomes counter-productive Some may not take participation too seriously Too much emphasis on friendly atmosphere may reduce efficiency

Communication Style: The Universal Pleaser Empowering leaders can see the value in most positions and find it difficult to take a stand. They prefer not to take a stand and in this way avoid all conflicts. Their desire to preserve relationships in the workplace often makes them indecisive. But once they establish a position, empowering leaders are remarkably stubborn. They wont budge once they've made up their minds. Empowering leaders have great difficulty in saying no to others. This personality style also affects the way empowering leaders make presentations. They are often uncomfortable reaching for the new or unfamiliar, so lectures can be circuitous, as equal time is given to key and minor issues alike. It is as if they are wandering in a clutter of undifferentiated facts, with no real path forward. It's hard for them to come directly to the point, and the audience loses its own sense of direction. Once a decision is made, empowering leaders adopt an even, obscure tone that communicates neutrality, rather than an emotional pitch that could polarize opinion. In their efforts not to hurt anyone, they can be extremely ambiguous. Physical and emotional comfort is an important value for them. Empowering leaders willingly accommodate themselves because their sense of self depends on it. The more the other is idealized, the stronger the emotional bonds. Empowering leaders are people of enormous goodwill. They are terrific team builders because they are able to see so many different perspectives simultaneously

Leadership Profile of an Empowering Leader in her Own Wordsii Leadership competency Description Team player: I tend to be accommodative to the needs of others in my team, instead of saying no in a way that others recognize as legitimate and commanding. Solving problems in the team through consensus, without being defensive or apologetic or hostile, speaking authoritatively and confidently, is how I guide my team to effective and efficient work. I recognize strengths and hire people who are the very bestthose who dont take themselves too seriously, and who can tolerate ambiguity. Harmony-centered strategy: I am a process-oriented rather than problem-oriented person. Most people try to solve problems by isolating them and working them out, perhaps assessing blame for failure, and moving toward a logical solution. I am not interested in assessing blame because blaming excludes people. I prefer coming up with systemic solutions that allow even problematic community members, to continue contributing and participating. Consensus- oriented decision-makers: I include other people in decisionmaking and have a fair trust radius. I do not especially want to control the group but neither do I want others to take control of me. I let others take control of the work and not me. I would rather wait for things to work themselves out. I sometimes avoid decisions by asking for more information, by counseling prudence or restraint, or

Team work

Strategy

Decisionmaking

by pointing to the decisions likely impact on other peoples feelings. I wait for a decision where everyone will agree. Collaborative change managers: I am resilient, consider the present, and look toward the options. I Managing may delay in making a decision in order to please change everyone by listening to all divergent alternatives. In the process, managing change is rather difficult for me if there is no consensus. The naive delegator: I do believe in equal effort and work in any teamwork. Hence, I do not take up responsibility entirely on myself. I delegate well. I sense the interconnectedness and interdependencies in all organizations which are not so obvious to other people. I value everyone and prefer Delegating collaborative decisions. On the other hand, once the task is delegated, I find it difficult to supervise and take people to task if they are not meeting my expectations. Due to this, at times, the task is not completed. The problem is that there is neither enough direction nor guidance. The universal pleaser: I find it easy to communicate with people who are close to me. However, people tell me that I am very ambiguous. As I do not want to displease anyone, I often do not come to the Communication point. Very often, I speak too long and people get bored. I hate being the bearer of bad news and also avoid conflict and anger at all costs. Once I take a stand, then I am stubborn. In presentations, I rarely

go for the unfamiliar and new. The win-win negotiators: Following are my typical characteristics: I am comfortable about bringing personal feelings into the negotiation Process information slowly Can be unemotional and it is hard for others to know where I stand Am highly principled Speak slowly and directly I come to the negotiation table with an ability to see the different sides of an argument, with the obvious liability of potentially sacrificing my own. Group power: I do not like controlling people, I think each individual has the right to think his/her own way and nobody should impose his/her view on others. Group power is the problem-solving power of a group taken as a whole. When the group process is managed well, the result is often superior to the combined inputs of single individuals. But the process must be managed well for group power to emerge. I am considered as an expert in bringing out group-think. Non-directive mentor: I find it very hard to tell my mentee what to do. I expect them to find their own way. I enjoy discussing with them and listening to them. I give full freedom to the mentee to choose what he/she wishes to do. Some of them are not

Negotiation

Power

Mentoring and Coaching

happy to do this and my bosses tell me often that I should direct them properly but I do not see much point in that. Free for all culture: In my organization, every individual is respected and full freedom is given. There are many people who misuse their freedom Culture Builder and therefore there are problems. However, I find that there are many people who thrive on freedom and get things done. THE PERSONALITY PROFILE OF THE MEDIATOR

Map under high performance and stress The Mediators are the most easygoing of all the types. Able to compromise easily, they are so in tune with the intentions of their fellows that they lose sight of their own intentions, desires, purposes, and needs. Their selflessness and their sensitivity to other people's often irreconcilable views makes them naturals for mediating, counselling, consensus building, and calming things down. Deliberate and slow moving, they resist succumbing to pressure, especially pressure to complete. They take the time to listen to your story, to discuss your project's pros and cons, and to allow the proper direction to emerge naturally. At the same time, this laid-back attitude sometimes means they lack a sense of purposefulness. Coworkers may see their negligence and complacency in their slowtalking and slow-walking nature and they are easily overwhelmed and dont do what they say they are going to do. They can see your gifts, your real needs, and your calling, and they naturally have the empathic skills to bring these forth, often without you realizing it. What they sometimes give up for the ability to bring out the best in others is the ability to do the same for themselves. They lose their own way when they. Get swept up in other people's agendas and projects. They may wake up hours, days or years later and feel betrayed, frustrated, and furiously angry for having lost themselves. They hold onto memories with a tenacity that give them a charged existence. By holding on so firmly to the past, they make less of a commitment to their own present. Memories do not drop away easily, and they can be turned to and relived with the vigor of having happened just last week. Their accumulation can be literal, like the hobbyist whose extra space is full of materials collected and stored in case of need. Accumulation also extends to making collections of anything from

teacups to vintage comic books. Specially collecting lends a pleasurable structure to accumulation and allows a Mediator to fill up free time in a useful way. One highly constructive version of accumulation is a Mediators ability to absorb volumes of information about a favorite subject from every conceivable point of view and to reconcile the differences among them all. Theres an appetite to collecting, which is very much like getting the munchies late at night, and wanting to drive all over town to get whatever youre hungry for. The feeling takes over that youve got to have that particular kind of cookie or that exact brand of peanut butter, and youre willing to go twenty miles to get it. Whenever Im most confused in my life, I know exactly what I want to eat, and exactly which book I want for my collection. Theres also a kind of shopping appetite, where everything you see seems really useful at the time. Anger serves the function of clarifying a personal position. We know exactly what we dont want when we are angry, which brings us a little closer to becoming aware of what we do want. Likewise, if we have a lot of physical energy, its harder to block out the awareness of what we want to do with that energy. If they become energetic enough to become angry, then a clear position would have to emerge, at least by a process of elimination. Not that they have to eventually eliminate everything but a first choice. In fact, they are more able to make a decision if offered a series of choices. The one that isnt rejected is the preferred option. They often manage to siphon off their energy before it gets to the critical point of getting angry or having to make a choice. They commonly report these reactions to feel surplus physical energy. They can spread it to secondary interests. They can absorb the extra energy by overeating or overindulging in some other way. They can paradoxically feel exhausted and want to sleep while not

being physically tired. Or they can use the energy to face the task of knowing what they want. The containment of energy guarantees a state of equilibrium, where there is always just enough energy to maintain the inessentials and leave the essential task for the end of the day. In this way there is no time for depression, which might creep in if there was nothing to do, and certainly no time for raised expectations or the setting of real priorities. By sticking with familiar, known activities, they maintain inertia o that they dont have to set priorities for a new phase of action. Inertia is one of the laws of physics. It states that a body at rest tends to stay at rest and that a body in motion tends to stay in motion. The body-at-rest phase of the law applies to a Mediators quality of armchair depression, in which nothing much is expressed in words, but life comes to a dead halt in the slouched, unhappy contours of a comfortable living room chair. When a Mediator is in the inertia phase, she or he usually needs help from the outside. A new relationship, or a new opportunity, or a clearly defined schedule can help the Mediator get going again. They express their anger indirectly. The hope is that leaking anger off through indirect actions will forestall that open confrontation that seems to lead either to abandonment or to having to defend a position against other people. Having to make a choice can be so traumatic that decisions are often made by letting the situation deteriorate to the point that it falls apart. Because the Mediators know what they dont want, rather than what they do want, there is also a tendency to store up complaints internally until a critical level is reached and a volcanic outburst occurs. A choice is often made because the current situation has become impossible. Holding onto unexpressed resentment is a way of internally

not complying with others, while appearing to agree, and that resentment provides the fuel for passive aggressive tactics. They report that they express their anger in several indirect ways. The first is by going stubborn, which means planting oneself down in the middle of a discussion and controlling the action by refusing to make a move. Another way is to simply tune other people out and head for other things to do or by acting in such a way that others will have to show their anger first. They always know what other people want, and so they can make others angry by simply not doing what is expected. They could, for example, perform poorly on the details of an important job, or begin to slow down when others are in a rush, or play dumb while knowing that others are highly invested in a certain course of action. One way or another, an angry Mediator will see to it that the other person does not get what she or he is expecting. The direct expression of anger is a great relief to them. An argument is the culmination of a great deal of holding back and internalizing of the positions of all the parties involved, and it is simply a relief to have the argument over and done with. Anger takes a long time to surface, because at first other peoples opinions seem correct to a Mediator. Next comes a long period of delay, while the matter gets examined from all sides involved. Finally the conviction emerges that its all right to be angry, and last of all anger is expressed, and often with such volcanic force that it can be shocking to those who have become used to a Mediators ag reeable side. There is often a long period of sullen slowdown before an outburst. They take on more without letting anything go. Extra space gets filled with clutter, extra times gets filled with errands. The mind gets filled with unfinished business, and for a Mediator many circulating trains of thought effectively block out what is central and important. As

long as any question remains alive, no final decision is made. As long as the closet hasnt been totally cleared out, nothing has to be thrown away. They hold onto memories with a tenacity that gives them a charged existence. They are caught in a conflict between wanting approval from others and wanting to obey. They sit down in the middle of a choice rather than fighting. They seem to agree because they havent said No directly. The anxiety that they experience over personal choice is softened by setting up routines. Once they set a schedule, they can wake up in the morning and know exactly what they have to do without being faced with a choice. The deadly sin of sloth is attributed to the Mediators. Their habits are so designed to drain energy and attention away from what is essential to them in like. The easiest way for a Mediator to forget herself by surrendering attention to an addictive habit like watching T.V, gossip and the small comforts of life. Once a habit is set, a Mediator can look energetic and mentally present. With a well thought out structure, a Mediator can keep going because choices are directed from the outside. They willingly accommodate themselves to others because their sense of self depends on it. The more the other is idealized, the stronger the emotional bonds and the more at one with themselves they feel. The essential problem is that they go too far in identifying with the other, losing too much of themselves in the process. Because they are conservative, they also tend to be pastoriented and old-fashioned. The past is always more comfortable than the present or the future, since the past is a known quantity. It is less threatening because it has already been lived through. Moreover, they can be nostalgic about the past, getting sentimental or idealizing it because doing so creates a source of good feelings for themselves and others.

Because their emotional stability depends on maintaining their inner world of beliefs and idealizations, they fear change. They want to do nothing which would upset them, and therefore want to maintain the status quo as much as possible. Rather than exert themselves in any deep, essential way, they would rather believe that everything simply work out on its own, without their intervention or response. There is a distinctive vagueness about them because they maintain an uninvolved distance between themselves and their activities, an impassiveness, which does not allow anything to get to them or upset them. They are extremely easygoing, but they do not make real contact with the environment - or with those in it - becoming inappropriately matter-of-fact, even about things which would rightly call for a more personal response. They slip into an indifferent "I can take it or leave it" attitude, which prevents them from getting too excited about or involved in anything. They move from one thing to another, equally content and equally neutral about it. In short, the Mediators are mellow and "laidback" to a fault, the classic phlegmatic temperament personified. Because they do not allow themselves to feel anything very deeply, their highs are not high and their lows are not low, as Jung noted. Everything is kept on an even keel. The Mediators are not even aware that their feelings are diminished because they have disconnected themselves from their feelings. Nothing seems particularly important or urgent to them, and they put no particular mental energy into anything unless they absolutely have to. Details do not interest them, they forget things, and they do not concentrate on their work for more than a few minutes before mentally floating off. Their conversation rambles or they change the subject abruptly, revealing their lack of attention to what is being said. They are

life's dreamers, enjoying the contemplation of their inner vision of whomever or whatever they have idealized. But, unfortunately, because their attention is inward on their contemplation, they become inattentive to the real world. If they are intelligent and well-educated, they may enjoy talking about philosophy, theology, the arts or sciences, although even so much of their thinking is frankly little more than vague woolgathering, the purpose of which is to pass the time rather than actively engage themselves with anything requiring intense involvement or effort. Their healthy simplicity has deteriorated into obliviousness, a permanent absent-mindedness, as if they were constantly daydreaming about nothing in particular, perceiving the world like someone who looks at a clock without seeing the time. Indeed, the way most people have trained themselves to ignore television commercials is how They experience a lot of reality, disconnecting themselves from whatever they do not want to see or bear until inadvertence becomes habitual. They are like sleepwalkers, physically present but not aware of what is going on around them. Their energy is spent maintaining their peace, ignoring anything which would excite or trouble them. Physical and emotional comfort is an important value, and the Mediators do not push themselves too hard intellectually or physically lest they get either too stimulated or too exhausted. They pass the time in undemanding ways, buttering around the house, going on errands, collecting knickknacks, or mindlessly watching television. At this stage, they become accustomed to living in a state of semi-awareness, like people who have been on tranquilizers so long that they forget what it is like to be off them. It is important to understand, however, that psychological passivity is not the same thing as complete inactivity, although it is a

precursor to it. The Mediators may be the heads of multimillion dollar corporations, leading vast enterprises while still maintaining an inner disconnectedness from their activities. The Mediators are able to be uninvolved because one of their defense mechanisms is compartmentalization (isolation), which allows their subjective experiences to be broken into unrelated segments so that they can move from one thing to another without engaging themselves. As a result, reality has little impact on them. They can be relatively busy while remaining emotionally and intellectually detached from their activities. Because they disconnect from their experiences, the Mediators do not make the cause-and-effect connections one would normally expect: cause and effect simply do not seem to go together for them. They do not think of the consequences of their actions or of the fact that their omissions will also have consequences. They do not think through anything, unquestioningly feeling that everything will work out for the best. They also disconnect from interpersonal conflicts by compartmentalizing their relationships, splitting people into two major groups: those with whom they have identified and everyone else. The second group of people has little meaning to the Mediators because they are essentially unreal, little more than an abstraction. The Mediators can be surprisingly callous and indifferent about this group of people. They may as well not exist.

THE NEGATIVE TRAIT OF THE MEDIATOR: LAZINESS The emotional focus of laziness keeps the Mediators disconnected from their own emotions, particularly the physical impulse of anger. They replace them with a gut-level awareness of others moods and feelings which is so immediate that it is as though they become the other person while they are in their presence. Caught between things that have to be done and unable to decide which of their many personal priorities to pursue, they cannot motivate themselves to choose and act on their choice. They also space out, burdened not only by the many things they could do, but by their way of paying attention. Wishing to include everything, they can think about many different things at once. If doing nothing does not succeed and they must face a problem, the Mediators at this stage attempt to minimize its importance. They underestimate the seriousness of the consequences of their passivity and underestimate how difficult it will be for someone else to correct the problems they refuse to deal with. In fact, they underestimate the necessity of doing anything at all. In a time of crisis, everyone else can see that something must be done, but the Mediators take pride in their ability to endure whatever happens: they know that they can get through problems by tuning them out. Thus, rather than exert themselves, they become fatalistic, feeling that nothing can he done to change things, and that in any event, whatever the problem is, it is not so much a problem after all. They say, "Well, it doesn't really matter anyway." The problem is that the Mediators refuse to see the problem. As far as they are concerned, no matter what happens, they are resigned to their fate. They show no interest or understanding about what is at stake either for themselves or for anyone else. If others get angry at them

because of their refusal to act, the Mediators quickly try to appease them. They want peace at any price, and will make whatever concessions which are necessary to "get their problems behind them," a typical phrase. Once they have appeased others, they feel the crisis has passed, and they can continue as before. But because the Mediators do not want to deal with anything upsetting, it is hard to resolve difficulties with them. They forget how problems were settled. The following week the problems still exist: nothing that was supposedly worked out has actually sunk into their heads or made a real, permanent difference. Furthermore, others realize that they will have to suffer the consequences of the fatalism and unwillingness of the Mediators to exert themselves. Even so, it is frustrating for others to confront fatalistic Mediators. They are still so nice that few people are willing to press them or to get them upset. People tend to leave the Mediators alone because they want to be left in peace. RELATIONSHIP PATTERNS Mediators take on their partners interests and priorities as their own. The partner becomes the reference point for decisions, with the Mediator either animated by the others wishes or stoically holding out against the partners will. The Mediator describes this centering of attention on the partner as merging with the other. They say that merger is implicit in relationships where there is love and that with merger the sense of separation between people disappears. The Mediator are often more able to describe the others feelings than they are able to recognize their own. They also report an uncomfortable feeling of possessiveness and the need to blame if decisions do not turn out well, precisely because they have made the other the active agent in determining a personal point of view.

When the Mediators love, it is often with the wish to totally merge with a partner, to take on the others life as their own, rather than with the desire to manipulate, to profit, or to dominate the partnership. Mediators typically have greater capacity to generate energy for a partners needs than for themselves, so that relationship is a key way for the Mediators to get going. They identify so strongly with the desires of others that, on the positive side, there is a real ability to know another person in depth and, on the negative side, there is the possibility of losing a personal point of view. The Mediators are good leaders if the situation presents a clear course of action, but they are not comfortable if leaderships demand a continuing set of decisions. Decisions are difficult because the pros and cons can appear to have equal merit, which, when coupled with the Mediators tendency to polarize against new or risky procedures, can lead to a holding action in leadership. The Mediators prefer known procedures and predictable outcomes, rather than the uncertainty of raised hopes, which could lead to disappointment. As employees, the Mediators relate to authority through organizational structure. Relationships are best when there are clear procedures for advancement and reward. The Mediators may or may not actively compete for the rewards, but want to know that the opportunity is there. The Mediators habit of merging into the lives of others manifest as taking on the coloration and opinions of coworkers. The Mediators will blend with the situation, not with the authority. They may be ambivalent toward those who are in power, both wanting to be directed and sullen about being told what to do. Anger toward authority is likely to be expressed indirectly through slipshod job performance or passive aggressive behavior. On the high side of authority relationships, the Mediators are excellent mediators because they can identify with all opinions involved.

They are especially effective if they are brought in before the stage of open hostilities. They want friendly and cooperative feelings and are interested in hearing out other peoples points of view. They work well if given public credit and positive regard, but they will not actively seek out recognition. They flourish in a situation that offers a fair and regular return for efforts. On the low side, the Mediators can internalize the tensions of a group without being able to articulate constructive change. The sense of a personal position is weak and objections are often unvoiced even if they are recognized: They wouldnt listen anyway. The Mediators tune out the problem rather than taking action, hoping it will go away. The Mediators can indirectly control by shifting responsibility or spacing out on duties. Unexpressed anger can lead to a stubborn resistance to being supervised. There is a pattern of inertia in job performance: hard to begin, mobilizing near the deadline, and a high-speed completion crisis. Once in gear, it is hard to stop, and the surplus energy may spread to trivial activities. ASSETS The Mediators are people of enormous goodwill. Slow and steady, they can labour away in the pack, supporting and encouraging the needs, ideas, and agendas of others. Unlike 'Threes or Eights, they don't seek the limelight; but if it should come toward them, that's fine. a. Natural mediators The Mediators intuitively sense what the ancient Eastern sages knew: that what appear to be opposites are really just differences in perspective. 'I'hey have an uncanny ability to create balance. More than anyone else on the Enneagram, they know how to tolerate paradoxes and contradictions. They can see the truth in contrary

opinions simultaneously and move from position to position with integrity. Rarely drawn to extremes, the Mediators expertly work the middle. A Three who hears complaints in the customer service department of a large store is likely to see himself as someone representing the store to the public. An anti-authoritarian Six might see herself as a consumer advocate in opposition to management. A Mediator is likely to see herself as occupying some kind of middle ground, a mediator between the company and the customer. The Mediators are terrific team builders precisely because they are able to see so many different perspectives simultaneously: Im always very conscious of what contribution people are making to the group, even if they're unaware of it,' says Steve, a Mediator product manager. No one who works with an evolved Mediator feels left out. A similar process is at work in mediation. Because they have the special talent of identifying with whoever is speaking at the moment, the Mediators give all of the parties in conflict a sense of being heard and under- stood. This is precisely what makes mediation work. The best mediation involves a reciprocal disclosure that leads to mutual understanding. The parties come to an agreement because they understand and empathize with each other's positions. Many of the other Enneagram points think they are good at this, but the Mediators are the real naturals. b. Expert at Empowering Others The Mediators at their best know how to get the best out of, tile people who work with them. While uninvolved Mediators who don't know how to say no take on other people's problems and get stuck in them, evolved Mediators know that each individual has his or her own best answers.

The great Mediator psychologist, Carl Rogers, based a whole psychotherapy on this principle. Declining to suggest or impose solutions on his clients, he offered them instead what he called 'unconditional positive regard', acknowledging their worth and significance without evaluating or judging them. According to Rogers, such emotional acceptance speed up answers the client already knew but were hidden from view. This is something that the Mediators tend to do for others quite naturally. It is also the best way to help a Mediator thrive at work, since the Mediators prefer not to push themselves or their ideas forward, and they tend to wilt under criticism or in overtly competitive situations. FIXATIONS They replace essential needs with inessential substitutes. The most important things are left to the end of the day. They have trouble with decisions. It is very difficult for them to decide whether they agree or disagree with another person They have the habit of falling into a rut solutions. Ritualism is part of them. They have difficulty in saying No. They hold anger internally. They try to control others through stubbornness and passive aggression. by repeating familiar