Much like the extraverted Azure Blues, the Verdant Greens want to be helpful; however, there is enough Golden Yellow in the veins of the extraverted Verdant Green that they are inclined to ask: “How can I help.” They would like to know how best to deliver the assistance. The extraverted Verdant Green human service practitioners often choose among strategies and practices that are based on evidence (especially if they reside toward the Thoughtful Golden Yellow end of the Analytic Verdant Green spectrum). The introverted Verdant Green often “knows” how they can be most helpful. They don’t “trust” their client to be knowledgeable about their personal needs or the options they have in terms of being helped. It is not unusual for the introverted Verdant Green to have accumulated a large library of human service-related books and to have attended a diverse set of workshops, certificate programs, and even academic degrees. One of us [WB] remembers a conversation with an introverted Verdant Green who was attending one of this author’s seminars. This Verdant Green, with some self-knowledge, quipped that he will finally be “wise” and helpful to other people after attending just one more workshop!!!
Energy is often associated with an abundance of options for both the introverted and extraverted Verdant Green. Their forest of alternative perspectives and practices is indeed verdant. For the extraverted Verdant Green, this means that they can choose among various options when finding out what the person they are helping wants; for the introverted Verdant Green, these multiple options are swirling around in their heart and head, enabling this introvert to savor the diversity and choose the right approach for the person they are assisting.
This preference for a verdant perspective is evident in the focus of attention for those with this orientation: they are aligned with David Kolb’s (1984) divergent view of the world. This divergence is manifest in a desire to look at the world and one’s place in this world from multiple perspectives and in Verdant Green’s enjoyment of a wide variety of relationships. Cross-cultural experiences are a source of great excitement rather than dread. Furthermore, there is often a wide-ranging interest in books, music, theater, and any other venue that offers something new and different regarding the human condition [Enneagram 5]. One of us [WB] had the opportunity to sit on the board of a graduate school to which the noted psychologist and existential psychoanalyst, Rollo May, donated his extensive library:
“Meeting in the room where May’s library was housed, I often browsed through his library during breaks in the board meetings. Rather than hobnobbing with other board members about the financial status or future direction of this graduate school, I picked up a copy of a book in Rollo May’s collection that concerned the ritual performance of a tribe in Mozambique or a book providing pictures and histories of 17th-century Flemish art. It was an extraordinary collection of books.”
The diverse perspectives and practices of Rollo May were represented in his collection. While he was apparently quite charismatic, I suspect that he was actually an introvert who would prefer reading a book to lecturing a group of fellow professionals. He might have assigned his psychic aide to offer the lecture.
This interest in diversity leads to the major strength offered by those with a Verdant Green preference. They enjoy (and are often skillful) in building a rich, compelling model of the culture in which they are operating (inside their organization) and in which their organization is operating. Those with the extraverted Verdant Green preference want to keep the options open [MBTI: perceiving]. That’s why they often thrive as career counsellors and advocates for us finding our “bliss” (especially if they reside at the Azure Blue end of the Verdant Green spectrum). For the introverted Verdant Green, the diversity is often found only in their own psyche. They are likely to offer specific advice to the person they are helping: “I have spent a fair amount of time considering the issue you presented, and here is what I think you should do.” The wise old man or woman (exemplifying one of the Jungian archetypes of wisdom) is perfectly suited for the introverted Verdant Green preference. Carl Jung himself might often have played this archetypal role when providing advice to the many rich folks who traveled to Switzerland so that they might receive his wisdom (Bair, 2003).
