Someone Needs to Take the Helm If We Aren’t Going to Sink to the Bottom
Erikson uses his Green personality category to discuss avoiding decisions and blaming external circumstances. He argues that a hesitant group may need clear, gentle direction and specific responsibility for action.
THE IDEA
Someone Needs to Take the Helm If We Aren’t Going to Sink to the Bottom
Let’s be honest—isolated from everything else Green behavior is not a distinct leadership quality. Especially because oftentimes leadership is all about change. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean that there are no good Green bosses—there are many of them out there—but they don’t grow on trees. They won’t step forward in the same way as Reds and Yellows do.
It’s convenient not to have to take responsibility. I think all of us have a certain degree of laziness in us. It’s liberating not to have to think, to avoid having to decide and just be a passenger. Of course, it varies depending on the circumstances, but Greens have developed this laziness into an art form. They don’t want any responsibility because a) it can lead to conflict if someone doesn’t agree with a decision or b) there may be lots of extra work and that’s never good. And so they dodge it, for as long as possible.
Responsibility is burdensome, requiring inner strength as well as an external drive to assume it. But at the same time, it’s a measure of maturity, and it begins with taking responsibility for yourself and your own life. Greens (and some other colors on occasion) have a tendency to blame everything and everyone but themselves. I knew a woman who had an entire list of things she could blame if something didn’t go her way. She blamed the government, the opposition, taxation, her employer, the state of the market, her education, her parents, her husband, and her children. Sometimes it was the weather’s fault. She blamed everything and everyone except herself.
What did she gain from this? She didn’t have to take any responsibility herself. Because there was always some other factor that was responsible for this and that, she never had to tackle her own problems and really change anything. I remember that I asked her to explain how it was possible that she was also not on her own list, but I suspect that she didn’t understand the question.
Given the monumental passivity a Green person can demonstrate, we immediately end up with problems. If someone doesn’t row the boat or take the helm, no amount of prayer will ever help. And Greens will remain seated, waiting for help. (Usually, someone comes and helps out; so, despite everything, they survive.)
Conclusion: If you want to make headway with a large group of Greens, you have to take command, get a firm hold on the steering wheel, and, in some cases, simply get into the driver’s seat yourself. Asking a group of Greens to solve a task is as much use as trying to put a brake on a canoe. They won’t get started unless you put them on the track.
A doggone-I-thought-they-were-adults approach will not work. Sure, they’re adults, but they’re children when it comes to such basic things like making decisions. This is because once upon a time they made a decision not to make any decisions. So someone has to put his foot down and just decide.
Do it and do it now. But at the same time, do it gently.
When to use it
Managing a team that is reluctant to take initiative or make decisions.
Personal development for overcoming a tendency to blame external factors and becoming more proactive.
Leadership in a crisis where team members are hesitant and need firm but gentle direction.
Encouraging participation and ownership in group projects with passive members.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
The Blaming Woman
A woman had a long list of external factors to blame for her problems: government, opposition, taxation, employer, market, education, parents, husband, children, and even the weather. She avoided taking any responsibility for her own life by attributing failures to these causes.
Group of Greens Waiting for Direction
In Erikson’s illustration, a hesitant group waits for someone else to lead. He compares them to passengers in a boat that needs rowing and recommends giving clear direction. This describes the behavior in his example, rather than establishing what everyone labeled Green will do.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
In what areas of your life do you avoid taking responsibility?
What external factors do you frequently blame for your setbacks, and how can you reframe them as opportunities for personal action?
How can you recognize if you are passively waiting for others to lead instead of taking initiative?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Surrounded By Idiots (Thomas Erikson)