Enneagram
The Enneagram is a powerful and dynamic personality system that describes nine distinct and fundamentally different patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving.
The word “ennea” is Greek for nine and “gram” means model or figure. Hence, the Enneagram (pronounced Any-a-gram) is a diagram or star with nine points representing the nine personality patterns.
One of the most important distinctions of the Enneagram system compared to other personality typologies is that the Enneagram helps us identify the underlying motivation that fuels the way we react and respond to everyday interactions. These motivations are often unconscious to us. Becoming aware of this driving energy in ourselves and in others can be extremely helpful in creating a harmonious and productive environment in our personal and business lives.
Why the Enneagram?
We have found the Enneagram to be a powerful tool for self-awareness and insight that leads to growth. This interesting framework offers in-depth understanding to individuals and relationships and uncovers the patterns of behaviour that sub-consciously drive and motivate us to act in certain ways. When we make these patterns and motivations conscious, we can move beyond them and be more in control of ourselves and our development. As you discover your personality type and the underlying basic proposition, you also will discover what motivates you, your coping strategy and keys to personal development.
Benefits of the Enneagram:
Improves your self-confidence through improved self-awareness
Helps you to understand and unblock your own emotional issues
Improves compassion for yourself and others
Builds understanding and tolerance of others while reducing judgement and criticism
Provides a pathway to grow and develop
Helps you to develop your leadership potential and impact on others
Brings understanding and aids in conflict resolution
The 9 Enneagram personality types
These describe nine types of focus that we all have available to us. We just don’t use them equally. One of these types influences our personality more than the others. It’s not that we are a single type and limited to just that, but that we have a dominant type of motivation that very often overrides the other types. This dominant type greatly influences how we approach life and it’s seen expressed through our personality (much more so than the other types). There are a lot of concepts in addition to the types themselves (e.g., wings, centres of intelligence, triads, subtypes, levels of mastery, etc.). These additional concepts can be useful in understanding or elaborating upon the types and become key when we are looking to grow and develop ourselves or improve our interactions with others.
Although too broad to be very helpful, the 9 types can be summarised as follows:
- Type One is principled, purposeful, self-controlled, and perfectionistic.
- Type Two is generous, demonstrative, people-pleasing, and possessive.
- Type Three is adaptable, excelling, driven, and image-conscious.
- Type Four is expressive, dramatic, self-absorbed, and temperamental.
- Type Five is perceptive, innovative, secretive, and isolated.
- Type Six is engaging, responsible, anxious, and suspicious.
- Type Seven is spontaneous, versatile, acquisitive, and scattered.
- Type Eight is self-confident, decisive, willful, and confrontational.
- Type Nine is receptive, reassuring, complacent, and resigned
Riso-Hudson
For further information on the Enneagram:
https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/