Leadership
and the Enneagram
The Enneagram is the single most powerful tool
I've
encountered to help leaders face and work through their blind spots and achieve
their full potential. Robert Kaplan (Beyond Ambition)
suggests we're all somewhat ambivalent about knowing ourselves
better, invested through long habit – however unfortunate its
outcomes – in the self-image we find familiar. But coming to
know your Enneagram style can be a powerful catalyst for
personal change that will also enhance your effectiveness as a
leader.
Because this is a
motivational model and
not a behavioral model, it's best to determine your
leadership style through a
process of discovery, focusing on the compulsion or
driving force of
each style (vs. relying on any of the available tests). If you focus only
on the typical behaviors of each, you'll see yourself in a number
of them, which would be unnecessarily confusing. Friends and co-workers may offer
useful feedback about behaviors that seem to identify your style. But only
you can make the final judgment – one of the nine will characterize these key aspects
more fully than the others:
– What is your
compulsion or driving force?
– What behavior set or
fixation arises from your driving force?
– What
talk style is typical of you?
– How do you react
under stress?
– What is your key
development need?
Once you make
those
distinctions you'll understand why Goldberg (The Nine Ways of Working) suggests the
nine styles might as well come from different planets: each views the world differently
and wants something different from life. At work, each has a characteristic agenda
and operates within a particular decision-making frame.
All the styles, when driven by compulsive forces, protect their self-image at great
cost to their full potential as organizational leaders. With awareness of their
underlying character and a commitment to self-development, all nine are also
capable of great contributions and gifts to the organization and to the people they
manage.
STYLE
ONE
Typical client
comments:
– "I know I'm right. Why should I have to
compromise?"
– "I'm my own worst critic."
– "My whole career, I've been brought in to fix things."
– "My message as a kid was always, 'You can do better.'"
Self-observing
Ones can be wonderful leaders:
wise, tolerant, balanced, and focused on standards of excellence in ways that provide an
exemplary vision for followers. They are often the purveyors of quality in an
organization.
When less
well-developed, they show their
fixation
on perfectionism. They carry an
internal judging voice, with which they chastise self and
others for falling short of perfection (preaching) or, in
a very healthy individual, invoke higher attainment (teaching). Their
driving
force is anger, which is typically over-controlled until it erupts
as resentment when someone has failed to live up to their expectations.
Ones are prone to moral tirades, yet they also show a "running amok" side that
allows them to escape their own high standards.
Developmental
areas
include reducing the power of their internal critic,
channeling anger more effectively, learning to respond to criticism non-defensively, and
moving away from black-and-white thinking with positive reframing and creative
problem-solving. The key development need for this leadership style is
patience, the willingness to accept conditions
that do not conform to one's ideal.
STYLE
TWO
Typical client
comments:
– "I think it's
important to always focus on what we need to be doing to serve others."
– "Was that helpful?"
– "Of all the people in the organization the CEO could have called, he called me."
– "Both of my parents were alcoholics, and I took care of them from a very early
age."
The most interpersonally oriented style, healthy Twos
are unconditionally caring leaders who
derive deep satisfaction from seeing and encouraging the development of others; they are
typically great supporters of customer service. Well-developed Twos will also be aware of
their own needs, which provides balance in their lives and allows them to give freely,
without expectation of return.
Their
driving force is pride, which
is attached to a self-image as helper; they tend to be in the middle of
things, giving help and advice whether others want it or not. When less developed
Twos have a fixation on entitlement and can use manipulation to
influence people. If they feel betrayed they may even become
vindictive
("after all I've done for you!").
Developmental
areas
include acknowledging their own needs, seeing how they contribute to their own workload
and saying no, setting clearer boundaries, and
asserting their interpersonal power more directly. Their
key development need is
humility, which accompanies true compassion without expectation.
STYLE
THREE
Typical client
comments:
– "I like
seeing success breed upon success."
– "I've always been successful."
– "My parents made it clear I'd be approved for doing well in school."
– "I have a shelf full of empty trophies."
Threes are often expansive,
risk-taking go-getters who ensure high productivity for their organizations. Formidable
models for others, they are efficient and supremely goal-oriented; consequently, they tend
to rise to top organizational levels, or to run their own companies.
What under-developed Threes personify for
all of
us is our image-making. They're good at
self-promotion
and can be perceived as
showcasing themselves at
the expense of the team. Threes tend to look outward for their reflection in the eyes of
others – and their inner life can be lacking. Their
driving force is vanity,
which shows up in the fixation of self-deception (e.g., convincing oneself
a failure to involve the team in a major business coup was not important because of
the results achieved).
Developmental
areas
include learning to collaborate instead of compete, clarifying their own values
and developing
internal criteria (vs. external validation), learning from failure, and accessing their
feelings. Their key development need is
truthfulness,
speaking from the essential self and not through personality needs.
STYLE
FOUR
Typical client
comments:
– "People call me because they know I'll come at
things from a totally different angle."
– "I buy into the 'vale of tears' theory of life."
– "I seem to feel things more deeply than others."
– "I always felt like an outsider as a child."
Fours are vital to the health of an
organization because they tend to view things from a new slant that's not bound by
tradition; they can keep an organization from slowly dying out of untested and outdated
assumptions.
More in touch with their feelings than other
styles, they're in danger of sinking into
moodiness
if
their ideas are met with resistance. The same talent that allows Fours to "look
outside the box" can lead them to wonder why they never see things the way others do,
and subsequently to question if they are flawed. Their conversation is ripe with sad
stories. The driving force of Fours is envy, which shows up in the
fixation
of dissatisfaction, a perception that the grass is always greener somewhere
else.
Developmental
areas include focusing more on strengths and resources and less on the tragedy
of life, learning to develop the possibilities of their current jobs, shifting their moods
through physical exercise or creative outlets, reframing self-criticism in more positive
ways, and championing a program or process they believe in. Their key
development need is
equanimity, the ability to
live in the moment.
STYLE
FIVE
Typical client
comments:
– "I have a really deep knowledge of this
industry."
– "I hate having group meetings because they're generally a waste of time."
– "I have a good mind and I'm pretty perceptive."
– "I was a loner as a kid -- I read a lot."
Because of
their ability to take in the whole picture and integrate its
components in creative ways, well-developed Fives can
be consummate strategists and visionaries. Often intelligent, they are extremely capable
of influencing others through their knowledge.
Sometimes Fives speak as if they're giving a dissertation.
Although they can be profound and passionate leaders, they tend to disdain the role of
emotions in human interaction. They are
the most
independent of the nine styles and prefer to be surrounded by other highly capable
people who need no direction or external reinforcement. Their
driving force is hoarding,
which shows up particularly in their fixation to detach from emotions:
a "stinginess" of feelings.
Developmental
areas
include debating less and listening more with the goal to reach mutually satisfying
solutions, taking their role as coach more seriously, giving attention to group
process (meetings, teamwork, etc.), and affirming others' positive efforts. Their key
development need is nonattachment,
engaging with others without fear of being emotionally
overwhelmed.
STYLE
SIX
Typical client
comments:
– "I've been loyal
to this organization for 25 years."
– " I don't think we have very competent senior management."
– "I wish we could
work better as a team."
– "All my life, I've questioned my own ability."
Sixes at their best are highly
team-oriented leaders and excellent managers who bring out the best in everyone. These are
energetic executives who attend to interdependent organizational needs, which shows up in
their language as thoughts about the group.
Their
driving force is
fear,
which is manifested in less well-developed Sixes as a
fixation on
accusing others (particularly those in authority). Sixes also look for hidden agendas, and
experience
self-doubt. They may procrastinate
and/or blurt out their feelings with a kind of reckless courage (driven by their
anxieties), then worry they've shot themselves in the foot – and they may have.
The good news is that they challenge others in ways that hold them accountable; the bad
news is that they're always looking for the bad news!
Developmental areas
include getting a reality check on their fears, empowering themselves vs. blaming others,
focusing more on possibilities vs. worries, and centering their verbal presentations on a
central theme and several key points. Their key development need is
courage, consistent with a
certain kind of "morality": recognizing
their own contribution to situations instead of playing victim.
STYLE
SEVEN
Typical client
comments:
– "I always see the bright side of things."
– "I've found if you understand a few basic principles, you can run just
about anything."
– "I'm always the
one to figure out
what we'll do for fun."
Charming and easy to talk to, highly evolved
Sevens are the organization's cheerleaders because of their natural optimism. They focus on
long-term perspective and possibilities. Equality is important to them, so
they
sometimes have to work around organizational constraints.
Less developed leaders of this
style can seem egotistical
because they love to tell anecdotes and may forget to invite others to talk.
They're sometimes perceived as lacking analytical ability because of oversimplifying or
skating over the surface. The Seven's driving force is
gluttony,
seeking of pleasure to avoid pain; consequently they're over-focused on
enthusiasm (fixation) and
uneasy activity. The "bad" news is that they only want to hear
the good news.
Developmental areas
include contingency planning for problems, eliciting and accepting feedback, using
negative reframing to counter their optimism, and – particularly – disciplining
themselves to follow through on their own development (vs. "It's too
difficult!"). Their key development need is
temperance:
seeking moderation and letting go of materialism.
STYLE
EIGHT
Typical client
comments:
– "I've always been very responsible."
– "I have a hard
time asking for
help -- I'll just charge ahead and do it myself."
– "I can't think of a time
when I was afraid."
– "I had to grow up
fast."
Eights who've paid attention to their
own development are able to shoulder huge responsibility without having to control
everything. Right beneath the surface they are
soft-hearted;
when this is tempered with their typical self-confidence, they have loyal followers and
can truly move mountains.
Unfortunately, Eights have the reputation of power mongers
and tyrants because it's difficult for them to trust others enough to acknowledge any
vulnerability. Their driving force is lust/excess. Often, they feel
it's their responsibility to intervene in and
direct
situations, and they pursue power and control (their
fixation)
aggressively. They hold a value for justice – as self-defined!
Eights
can have a "bull-in-the-china-shop" approach because they speak in imperatives.
Developmental
areas include enhancing their ability to put
themselves in others' shoes, collaborative negotiation and active listening skills, and
respecting and mentoring others. Their key development need is
innocence – regaining the child they never were
–
accompanied by a shift to more altruistic and benign modes of operating, a focus on
service to the world.
STYLE
NINE
Typical client
comments:
– "I'm pretty easy-going."
– "My career just kind
of fell together."
– "I have CRS disease; 'Can't Remember Shit!'"
– "I try to pick the
right moment to
speak up in a
meeting."
– "I didn't cause much trouble for my parents."
Serene and centered, well-developed
Nines bring
cooperation to any organization; they're highly capable of dealing with others' problems
and building consensus. They have a natural tendency to honor diversity, and can get along
with almost anyone.
Unexamined Nines tend to merge with others' preferences,
however, and to forget their own. Taking a strong position is particularly difficult, because they see all sides of an issue and because they are essentially
non-aggressive. Their driving force is indolence
– not laziness (they're very hard workers)
– rather, Nines are out of touch with their own wishes, a
fixation
on self-forgetting. Though quiet, once they get started Nines tend toward
epic
tales (they hold so many alternative views it's
hard to focus).
Developmental
areas
include initiating change, learning to confront, letting go of
passive-aggressive behavior, setting priorities and sticking to them. Their key development need is
active engagement, the willingness to stay focused on their own
agenda,
without distraction.
* *
*
ADDITIONAL POINTS TO CONSIDER:
First,
no style reflects better leadership or personal capability than any
other. If any description above appears
to be more desirable than another, that's the fault
of my writing and not a reality.
Second, you won't be exactly like others of
your style,
nor will everything in the descriptions you read fit for
you. There's tremendous variation within styles depending on life experience, degree of emotional
health, MBTI profile,
subtype focus, and many other factors.
Third,
your basic style will remain the same throughout your life. The goal of
transformation is a character shift – not that you'll change your
general character. Rather, you'll become more aware of what
drives you and free yourself of compulsive behavior stemming from that
motivational force.
