Having identified myself as a Seven, I'm curious to see what you mean by the statement
"Taking Charge To Align With Vision."
This reader refers to a phrase from the Seven
subtype descriptions ("taking charge to align
with vision"). First, let's take a look at three overall categories:
"Aggressive" Enneagram Styles
(Moving Against People)
Three
- Taking charge to meet goals
Seven
- Taking charge
to align with vision
Eight
- Taking charge
to ensure action
"Compliant" Enneagram Styles
(Moving Toward People)
One
- Influencing to do it "right"
Two - Influencing to
develop others, provide service
Six - Influencing to
satisfy common needs
"Withdrawing"
Enneagram Styles (Moving Away From People)
Four - Stepping back to look for new possibilities
Five
- Stepping
back to analyze alternatives
Nine - Stepping back
to define direction
The "aggressive," "compliant," and
"withdrawing" dimensions are drawn from the work of
Dr.
Karen Horney (Our Inner Conflicts).
I don't know who originally adapted Horney's scheme to the Enneagram, but it's a
distinction made among many Enneagram teachers.
The themes above (taking charge, influencing, stepping back) are
based on my own observations of how these three categories play out in business settings,
particularly in their most positive form:
-
About the aggressive
styles, Horney suggests
"life
is a struggle of all against all (hence the notion of 'moving against' people)...often...covered
over with a veneer of suave politeness, fair-mindedness and good fellowship...a certain
amount of actual benevolence as long as there is no question (who) is in command."
Threes
take charge differently (to reap the benefits of
accomplishing goals)
than
Sevens
(to carry others along into the exciting future)
or Eights (to ensure that things get done
the way the Eight wants them done). When
I was first learning these distinctions it was easy to see Threes and Eights as aggressive
but I didn't really "get" the Seven's aggressiveness until I talked to Clarence Thomson. Sevens,
when operating from their fixation, are aggressively upbeat, talkative, and
future-oriented; they tend to dominate a relationship in a charming way. In organizations their peers may wish they could get a word in edgewise but their team
members typically love working for
Sevens and are highly motivated to achieve their
vision.
-
Horney describes the
compliant styles as manifesting "a
need for affection and approval...a desire for 'belonging'...(who) tries automatically to
live up to the expectations of others...often to the extent of losing sight of (one's) own
feelings." So behind my notion of "influencing" (or attempting
to influence) is the sense of trying to do things in such a way that one will belong, be
loved and/or approved of. This is expressed for
Ones
in its most positive aspect as inspiring others in the organization to
fulfill high standards of performance (doing it
"right"). The Two's influence
(while indirect in less-developed Twos) focuses on
providing service through developing internal talent and ensuring customer
satisfaction. The influence of well-developed and self-aware
Sixes
shows up in a commendable team orientation
with both peers and subordinates ("satisfying common needs").
-
Finally, Horney refers to the
withdrawing styles as needing
"detachment ... not the mere fact of wanting occasional solitude. Everyone
who takes ... life seriously wants to be alone at times" but where "solitude
becomes primarily a means of avoiding (associating with people)." In
healthy Fours,
Fives,
and Nines this
manifests as a capacity to step back
and observe things objectively. In often
innovative
Fours this allows a view of new possibilities. Fives can be
great synthesizers of alternative approaches to
solving problems. And healthy Nines, while not usually one to take strong
positions, can often figure out how to help a group define their direction through
consensus.
More responses to readers' questions