Typical Comments
"I've been loyal to this group 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."
Description
Sixes at their best are highly family-oriented in their personal lives
and team-oriented leaders in business who bring out the best in everyone. These are
energetic people who attend to interdependent 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 accusation of others (particularly those in authority), in looking for hidden agendas, and in
self-doubt. They may procrastinate and/or blurt out their feelings with a kind of
reckless courage (driven by their
anxieties), and then worry that 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!
Development options 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,
recognizing their own contribution to situations instead of playing "victim"; in
more common terms, Sixes need the courage of their own convictions.
Case Description of
a Six
Development
Plan for a Six
Essay: "Street-Wise
Strategist"
Poems That Speak
to Sixes
Distinctions
Among Enneagram Styles
All Nine Styles