The Enneagram at Work by Jim McPartlin

Author:Jim McPartlin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

CASE STUDY: NIKI LEONDAKIS, CEO COREPOWER YOGA

If there has ever been someone that I felt connected to, it is Niki Leondakis. We both started at Kimpton on the same day—October 15, 1993. A fellow Type 6 (Loyal Skeptic) with a one-to-one subtype, she is everything you could hope for in a leader and friend. Niki was influential in assisting me with my first vice president title, has cleaned my clock on more than one occasion, and is someone who remains an inspiration in my life.

A year ago, I found myself on the same speaking docket as Niki. It had been a few years since we had seen one another, and I was looking forward to it. Niki had been through a lot that year, having lost her husband, Bob, after a long and wonderful marriage. As it turns out, I wouldn’t see her until the day of the event, when she would speak just before me. Happily, we picked up where we always did and ended up seated next to each other at that night’s black-tie event. It was good to just get caught up, look at each other, and say, “Look at us! Twenty-five-plus years later and we’re in Monaco!” Although I knew about the death of her husband, what I didn’t realize was what else she’d gone through in the past year. The home that she and Bob had built in Northern California had burned to the ground, a casualty of the wildfires that had ravaged the countryside. Shortly thereafter, Bob died. Additionally, she had taken what seemed like a dream CEO job in New York, only to realize that her earlier intuition had been correct: the workplace culture didn’t coincide with her leadership values. As she told me all of this, I just looked at her and asked, “How do you not just fall apart?” Her response was: “You just have to keep hitting life as it comes.”

A higher-expressed Type 6 (Loyal Skeptic) will meet fears and challenges head-on. Niki just moved forward, in a seemingly fearless manner. When I think of her, the word “perseverance” comes to mind. And yet I find a sweet vulnerability in her that belies what a casual acquaintance would experience. She knows who is in her tribe, and I like to think of myself as among its ranks. I would walk over fire for her.

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