Summer is almost over… how come?

September is here already. How can this be? I am sure it has only been a week since I put my winter coat away and brought out the sandals. For those of us who enjoy the warm weather summer will always be too short. I like that Labour Day is later this year; it’s almost like missing the first week of school. (it has been a while since I was in school but you know….)

Over the summer we had the opportunity to spend some time at the cottage, take a trip to Edmonton and still manage to keep up with work. We also polished up our Business Profile. What struck me when doing this was the length of some of the relationships we have had over the years with clients. One of our longest standing client relationship is with Valley City Manufacturing. This venerable producer of architectural furniture, headquartered in Dundas, Ontario has been in business for over 126 years. We started out together looking at new ways to market the company and its’ products. Our relationship has evolved into strategic communicator, advisor and coach. Each client experience builds on our collective wisdom and is realized in our continued contribution to all of our current clients.

For all our clients we offer an approach combining our years of experience and expertise with curiosity and gratitude.

A sense of discovery…What we’re doing now….

·         A comprehensive leadership review for a senior team

·         Coaching senior leaders in a new team structure

·         Helping a national heath care company build job profiles using Kolbe A and C

·         Assisting an international organization in increasing productivity and engagement

·         Coaching a new member of a leadership team that has recently gone through significant change

Senior Team Development and Alignment to Business Strategy and Implementation Using the Kolbe Index with Enneagram personality typing  

Many of the readers of this newsletter are already using the Kolbe Index in your organizations and your lives in order to improve decision making and team performance in the workplace. The reasons for this are many and varied. Our clients tell us that Kolbe is easy to understand, it’s about strengths, it is very validating for the individual and for organizations it improves engagement and increases productivity.

When we introduce Kolbe to an individual we speak of the three parts of the mind: IQ or intelligence, personality and instinct. The three areas overlap in an integrated way to work in harmony. We are often asked what if the person has the right instincts for the job and has the skills required. Could it be the wrong personality? We have used True Colours as a simple personality tool in the past but over the last two years we have used the Enneagram Personality typing with many client organizations. Enneagram (ennea being Greek for nine) sets out nine distinct personality types. Developed over many years by leading practitioners Don Risso and Russ Hudson, Enneagram is a rigorous examination of an individual’s personality type.

The nine distinct personalities are Challenger, Loyalist, Peacemaker, Enthusiast, Individualist, Reformer, Achiever, Helper and Investigator.

As organizations are discovering, the Enneagram approach to understanding human beings—their behaviors, motivations, values, thinking styles, ways of problem solving, and so forth—is effective in improving individual and team performance. It takes individual differences into account and maps out the basic motivations of each personality orientation.
The nine personality types of the Enneagram are what we actually see in everyday business and organizational life. This system identifies the dynamics of personality with startling clarity, making applications precise and useful. We have been using the Kolbe Index and the Enneagram together for the past year. Marilyn has, over the last two years participated in 6 intensive Enneagram workshops with Don Riso and Russ Hudson at their bucolic up state New York teaching center.

Coaching and consulting with our clients is the primary focus of what we do. We use tools such as Kolbe and Enneagram to “deepen the learning and forward the action.” While the tools are interesting, validating and surprisingly accurate presenting them without context and not linking them to performance or engagement limits their value to one of interesting entertainment. The knowledge of the processes and the action put on progress, measurement and correction contribute to achieving self awareness, self accountability and team and organizational alignment. 

Our clients who have experienced the combination of Kolbe and Enneagram find it to be highly valuable in analyzing the challenges of teams in the workplace and in improving productivity and engagement. In combination with skills and experience, Kolbe and Enneagram complete the picture of the three parts of the mind – Intelligence, Personality and Instinct.