The end notes of Understanding People supplement helped me better understand Mindsets and Leadership styles, and changed my view of where I operate from.

I grew up adopting the Blue mindset from my family and church.  Then about junior high school, the Blue mindset began to chafe.  The exclusive truth claims of my denomination didn’t agree with my inner knowing/inner truth.  About the same time, I became a competitive swimmer, started winning, and learned I like it.  A lot.  I shifted to Orange.  It felt like it was my own mindset.  Embodied, not adopted.  I became identified with academic and athletic performance.

Then I went to a military academy, and my achiever mindset had some adverse impact.  My achiever tendency to bend the rules to my advantage was wildly unwelcome by the Traditionalist culture.  The hardcore traditionalist Midshipmen wouldn’t think twice about punishing me, taking away my freedom, or getting me kicked out over minor infractions.  So, my Achiever drive to succeed there (including not being on restriction all the time, or getting kicked out) led me to adopt a Power mindset against the guys I perceived as a threat. And it became a game of threat and intimidation to keep them at bay.  This gave me a sense of power in circumstances where I felt powerless and vulnerable.  But, It felt base and immoral, and inconsistent with my values. I was glad when that ended.  I also re-adopted some of the Traditional mindset.  I genuinely admired the traditions of the service, the code of honor, the brotherhood.  I believed (and believe) that the Traditional mindset and Authoritarian leadership style were consistent with the mission, and effective - which resonated with my core Achiever mindset.

As a naval officer, working at sea, I was very comfortable using Authoritarian leadership style.  Authoritarian/Blue leadership was expected, but I began to see its limitations.  Even then, before the age of millennials, the men did better work when they were engaged, and direct orders were far less effective than collaboration when the situation permitted.  And yet, there were times at sea, on a small boat in a large ocean, when  using Autocratic/Red leadership saved lives.

After the Navy, as an entrepreneur, I was back in Achiever mode, trying to succeed and accumulate wealth.  But I would sometimes use authoritarian style - whether out of habit, or because I thought it would be effective is hard to know.  But, mostly I used Strategic Leadership - goals and rewards.

In my personal life I value intimacy and believe that it is best Achieved with a Pluralistic mindset.  I think I adopt Green thinking in these situations.  But this is about mindset, not leadership.

So this all leaves me feeling a bit like Sybil (multiple personalities).

I wonder if the Integral mindset is really just the Achiever mindset on steroids, adopting whatever mindset is best suited to achieving the goal at hand.

I find myself wanting to explore the Pluralistic mindset and Collaborative leadership style these days, and that feels like evolving vertically, not just a lateral exploration.  I accept that one style is not “better” than another, but I can’t help but feel that these four styles can be viewed as requiring increasingly nuanced and complex thinking.  Endnote 18 of the Understanding People supplement states,

“procedural knowledge comes in two forms: Separate and Connected knowing. Separate knowing corresponds to the Achiever (Orange) mindset, and Connected knowing corresponds to the Pluralistic (Green) mindset.”

This “Connected knowing” is considered a hallmark of more conscious spirituality by writers I revere.  In any event, the Green mindset and leadership style are more consistent with my values.

I am skeptical that Collaborative leadership can deliver the same results as the Achiever style.  My experience has been that with the right people, Collaboration can unleash tremendous energy and superior results, but these “right people” have been few and far between in my professional life.  So is it about recruiting the “right people”, or is it just that some people will always be more fun to lead than others?

I have had some limited experience in Agile methodology and that seems to be solidly Collaborative and highly effective.   My limited Collaborative leadership experiences have been some of my most rewarding leadership experiences.  I would like to be able to use this style more effectively and more frequently.