Training Industry Magazine - March/April 2020 - 35

Then silence.
You notice something change inside
your gut and wonder, "Hmmm, why
wasn't I invited?" A vague feeling of
insecurity begins to creep into your
thoughts. Your unconscious survival
instincts kick in and trigger emotions
that originate from unspoken fears.
You can't identify it, but a physiological
change has begun inside you. Your
reptilian brain is adeptly conditioned to
notice threats to your self-esteem and
triggers an outpouring of questions.
You are aware this is an old familiar
feeling - this feeling of being left out.
Your colleague is missing the internal
character-strength to manage his own
self-esteem fears, and he's about to
draw you into the same distraction. The
question is whether you will join him.
The next moment is where you will
choose one of two things. You might
succumb to the threats that surface
from your unconscious and act without
considering the consequences. Or you
will ignore the trigger, reassure your
colleague and dive into the productive
day you had planned.
Can you name the one thing that makes
you different from your colleague?
What we are illustrating here is the
single most crucial ingredient to a
culture of agility - character intelligence
and strength. Without it, we are destined
to fall to our lowest level in moments of
temptation. Character-driven leaders
and people can demonstrate the
character required to manage selfesteem and stop threats in their tracks
before they spread into culture. This
requires self-knowledge, self-awareness
and self-responsibility.
Here's the challenge: If the pervasive
norms in culture are unconscious,
habitual behaviors will operate from
hidden fears that spread. Observable
results can be seen in the form of four
distorted extremes of personality. In the

absence of strong character, human
fear patterns spread like a contagion
into team climates and culture alike.
Unresolved insecurities in leaders
become the extremes of their leadership.
Four primary ego-insecurities contribute
to and shape cultures that cannot
possibly be agile. Instead, they become
driven by underlying fears and are
reinforced by those who gather around
those collective fears. Worse, a culture
like this will continue to attract those
fears, continuously reinforcing it. What is
needed is a way to identify it, and fast.

vulnerable. This fear results in an
over-focus on being powerful to hide
a fragile underbelly. What's often
missing are the balancing character
strengths of humanity, which include
trust, likability and empathy.

The elite-bureaucratic culture: This
3 | human
pattern is shaped by people

who gather around an over-tilted
need for status above others. The
underlying ego-fear is inferiority.
You will notice an excessive need
for hierarchy designed to help them
overcome feelings of inadequacy
that arises as a distorted need for
pride. What's often missing are the
balancing character strengths of
resilience, which include openness,
creativity and inspiration.

Teach learners
how to operate from
inner strength and give
The chaotic-narcissistic culture:
them a culture where 4 | This
human pattern is shaped by
people who gather around a need
they can thrive.
for freedom and attention that arises
Here's how you'll know when balanced
character strength is missing in your
team or culture:

The conflict-avoidant culture: This
1 | human
pattern is shaped by people

who gather around an over-tilted
need for approval. The underlying
fear is rejection. What you will notice
is an excessive need to be nice and
take care of everyone, even if they
don't perform. An excessive need
to make sure everyone's feelings
are considered is present but arises
from a misplaced envy of those
who might use their power to take
advantage. What's often missing are
the balancing character strengths
of courage, which include integrity,
confidence and boldness.

autocratic-dominant culture:
2 | The
This human pattern is shaped by

people who gather around a need
for power. The underlying egofear is vulnerability. You will notice
an excessive need to be forceful
under the guise of protecting the

from rebellion to authority figures.
The underlying fear thwarts feeling
trapped in sadness or boredom
that comes from previously feeling
neglected. What you will notice is
an excessive need for the freedom
to pursue lofty ideas and delusions.
The outlandish rebellion from reality
is designed to help overcome
feelings of being too much for
others to handle or tolerate, so it
is based in shame. What's often
missing are the balancing character
strengths of wisdom, which includes
perspective, diligence and focus.

Unfortunately, most existing go-to
solutions and personality assessments do
not measure or address the root cause.
They beat around the bush and are close -
but no cigar. With personality assessments
that put you in a box and tell you what
you do but not why, you are left without
the development path that could help
you identify and overcome hidden fears.
Most assessments offer acronyms that are
difficult to recall, so they are never applied
in action. Most feedback processes
contain either subjective projections of

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Training Industry Magazine - March/April 2020

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