The Enneagram is a powerful and transformative tool for understanding personality and the motivations behind why we do what we do. Here is a short description of the 9 Enneagram types:

1. ONEs seek a perfect world and work diligently to improve everyone and everything around them, and to avoid making a mistake
2. TWOs seek to be appreciated and feel important in other people’s lives, to support and empower others, and to avoid being seen as needy
3. THREEs seek respect and admiration from others, work hard to successfully achieve specific goals, and to avoid failure
4. FOURs want to be seen as unique or special, to create meaning and authenticity in their work and in connection with others, and to avoid the flatness of ordinary feelings
5. FIVEs seek to be self sufficient, have a thirst for information and knowledge, and want to avoid not having the answer or looking foolish
6. SIXs want to be confident, relaxed and secure and avoid feeling anxious. They prepare thoroughly and have various other coping strategies including warm, and/or questioning, and/or confronting bahaviours
7. SEVENs want to plan fun things, crave the stimulation of new ideas and experiences, and avoid suffering of any kind
8. EIGHTs want to be self reliant, strong, and in charge, to make important things happen, and will hide their vulnerability to avoid being “weak”
9. NINEs seek peace and harmony, and merge with others to avoid tension or conflict

There are many sites that do a great job at describing the Enneagram in depth. Here are a couple:

• Integrative Enneagram
• The Enneagram in Business

Finding your place on the Enneagram is a journey of self reflection. You can read books, listen to podcasts, attend workshops, take an assessment (or two or three), and seek advice from an Enneagram practitioner. All of these will contribute information – pieces to the puzzle – that will help you ultimately uncover your home base type. It is important to note that while your home base remains the same throughout your life, the characteristics may soften or become more pronounced as we grow and develop. Need help putting the puzzle pieces together? Try a 9points typing interview!

The Enneagram is a system for understanding personality from the inside out. Once we understand the drivers of our own behavior and the significantly different motivations of other styles, our awareness increases exponentially. With this new level of awareness, we can catch ourselves in our default behaviors before we act and can be present to other possibilities should the situation so require. We can also stay more resourceful in stressful situations and work more effectively with others. A coach can provide tremendous value to you on this journey. Book a quick chat to see if 9points coaching is for you!

The 9points team development program is designed to energize and inspire the people that make your team successful. Every participant can benefit both professionally and personally. The unique facilitation process will open up the lines of communication within the team and uncover the influence that personalities have in the workplace and beyond. The specific program objectives are to:

• enrich the self-awareness of each team member
• build better relationships both professionally and personally
• enhance communication within the team, throughout the organization and with customers
• understand how to tailor coaching for the individual, and deliver feedback constructively
• improve skills in conflict resolution

• discover insights that improve the team’s overall effectiveness, thereby optimizing its performance

Book a quick chat to explore the possibilities of giving your team a 9points experience that they will benefit them for years to come.