Ennegram’s accommodate for the fact that a person behaves one way when they are in their “comfort” zone and another way when they are in “uncomfortable” situations.

You can read about ennegram at: http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/

You can take a free test at: http://similarminds.com/personality_tests.html

Specifically: http://similarminds.com/advtest.html

(and once you know your type go back to the ennegram institute website to read the in depth data for your profile)

Going back to leadership, you are absolutely right that great leaders complement their weaknesses as they make hiring decisions. But what you point out about self-awareness is even more important.

Great leaders are extremely self aware of their strengths and weaknesses and their “profiles”. Be it from taking tests or from simply asking for feedback from others. Self awareness is a journey and a very critical one.

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

Leadership - where do I start? Without the leaders - there’s no insight. Hard Work? I figure if your going to work hard, it might as well be for the right idea.

When I think of Empathy, I think of someone like Alexander the Great, who would fight battles along with his soldiers.

In Web Analytics, I would think, Empathy goes two ways - Empathy towards the Stakeholders(the people who need your data - you need to understand and feel their pain) and Empathy towards your employees (when you lead a group - like you do).

And, let’s not forget: ‘Conspire’…

Viva la Analysez!!

-bruce

Acknowledge that his or her profile is not the ultimate profile. Dare to employ your complete opposite. Get a diverse mix of ages, gender, cultural background, interests and personality traits. Look up MBTI, Keirsey and Belbin to make certain that you’re thinking outside of your own box when staffing. Dare to run the risk of hiring someone who won’t just bring you sunshine but dares to rain on your parade from time to time.

The next step is to understand the driving forces behind each individual in your team. What makes John and Jane tick and thrive? Not everyone wants or needs the same leadership style. Individualize your leadership. No size fits all. Allow differences to build a dynamic team. You will be challenged way more often and be more creative and more successful than if you’re hiring ten carbon copies of yourself.

Just my two cents. Or my two öre if you will.