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Understanding what makes people tick has become a key issue for anyone, who works with others. This e-book written by Eric Garner makes the study of personalities easier. Through his writings, the management trainer enables readers to understand how personalities can be managed effectively to work amicably.
On reading this book, you’ll have the means to totally change the way you manage others. You’ll be able to recognize the personality types of others, accept them, work with them and develop them.
–Harrison
Understanding Personality Types
Contents
| 1 | Personality Typologies |
| 1.1 | Removing the Guesswork |
| 1.2 | The Unique Us |
| 1.3 | Managing People |
| 1.4 | Great Managers |
| 1.5 | Personality Typologies |
| 1.6 | Reds, Greens, and Blues |
| 1.7 | The Enneagram |
| 2 | The Enneagram |
| 2.1 | Enneagram, Old and New |
| 2.2 | The Basic Model |
| 2.3 | The Dinner Party |
| 2.4 | Widths and Depths |
| 2.5 | Applications at Work |
| 2.6 | Limitations |
| 2.7 | Principles |
| 3 | l’s, the Need to be Perfect |
| 3.1 | Ones are Perfectionists |
| 3.2 | A Summary of Ones |
| 3.3 | How to Recognise a One |
| 3.4 | The One at Work |
| 3.5 | The One-type Organisation |
| 3.6 | Noteworthy Ones |
| 3.7 | Strict Rules and High Morale |
| 4 | 2’s, the Need to be Needed |
| 4.1 | Twos are Helpers |
| 4.2 | A Summary of Twos |
| 4.3 | How to Recognise a Two |
| 4.4 | The Two at Work |
| 4.5 | The Two-type Organisation |
| 4.6 | Noteworthy Two’s |
| 4.7 | Sex and love are Permanently Fascinating |
| 5 | 3’s, the Need to Succeed |
| 5.1 | Threes are Achievers |
| 5.2 | A Summary of Threes |
| 5.3 | How to Recognise a Three |
| 5.4 | The Three at Work |
| 5.5 | The Three-type Organisation |
| 5.6 | Noteworthy Threes |
| 5.7 | I Wanted So Much to Win |
| 6 | 4’s, the Need to be Special |
| 6.1 | Fours are Romantics |
| 6.2 | A Summary of Fours |
| 6.3 | How to Recognise a Four |
| 6.4 | The Four at Work |
| 6.5 | The Four-type Organisation |
| 6.6 | Noteworthy Fours |
| 6.7 | Riding the Highs and Lows |
| 7 | 5’s, the Need to Perceive |
| 7.1 | Fives are Watchers |
| 7.2 | A Summary of Fives |
| 7.3 | How to Recognise a Five |
| 7.4 | The Five at Work |
| 7.5 | The Five Organisation |
| 7.6 | Noteworthy Fives |
| 7.7 | Nothing Escapes Me |
| 8 | 6’s, the Need to be Safe |
| 8.1 | Sixes are Doubters |
| 8.2 | A Summary of Sixes |
| 8.3 | How to Recognise a Six |
| 8.4 | The Six at Work |
| 8.5 | The Six Organisation |
| 8.6 | Noteworthy Sixes |
| 8.7 | I’m Not the Most Secure Person |
| 9 | 7’s, the Need to be Happy |
| 9.1 | Sevens are Performers |
| 9.2 | A Summary of Sevens |
| 9.3 | How to Recognise a Seven |
| 9.4 | The Seven at Work |
| 9.5 | The Seven-Type Organisation |
| 9.6 | Noteworthy Sevens |
| 9.7 | A Chameleon on a Patchwork Quilt |
| 10 | 8’s, the Need to be Strong |
| 10.1 | Eights are Rebels |
| 10.2 | A Summary of Eights |
| 10.3 | How to Recognise an Eight |
| 10.4 | The Eight at Work |
| 10.5 | The Eight-type Organisation |
| 10.6 | Noteworthy Eights |
| 10.7 | “I Like to De-stabilise |
| 11 | 9’s, the Need to be at Peace |
| 11.1 | Nines are Peacemakers |
| 11.2 | A Summary of Nines |
| 11.3 | How to Recognise a Nine |
| 11.4 | The Nine at Work |
| 11.5 | The Nine-style Organisation |
| 11.6 | Noteworthy Nines |
| 11.7 | A Bit of Work, then Get Home and See the Family |
| 12 | Managing Personalities |
| 12.1 | What the Enneagram Can Teach Us |
| 12.2 | Predicting Performance |
| 12.3 | Understanding the Roles People Play |
| 12.4 | Paths to Growth or Stagnation |
| 12.5 | Towards Wholeness |
| 12.6 | Towards Alienation |
| 12.7 | The Enneagram Prizes |
| 13 | Web Resources on Understanding Personality Types |
Preface
Introduction to Understanding Personality Types.
Not so long ago, the Gallup organization commissioned a research project to find out what makes a great manager. Over 8000 managers were interviewed worldwide. When the answers were analyses, there was one clear difference between good managers and great ones. The great ones understand and work with their staff. They know what makes them tick. They understand their wiring. They can differentiate their strengths and weaknesses. They understand and accept their personalities.
In this book, we’ll help you join the ranks of these outstanding managers by giving you an understanding of why personalities are important in managing people. We’ll introduce you to one of the oldest and most authentic personality typologies in the world, the Enneagram. We’ll show you why the people in your team at work behave the way they do, why people have “personality clashes” that can seriously disrupt the flow of work, and what you can do about it. When you’ve finished reading this book, you’ll have the means to totally change the way you manage others. You’ll be able to recognize the personality types of others, accept them, work with them and develop them. And then, with practice, you too can hit the heights of greatness.
Profile of Author Eric Garner
Eric Garner is an experienced management trainer with a knack for bringing the best out of individuals and teams. Eric founded Manage Train Learn in 1995 as a corporate training company in the UK specializing in the 20 skills that people need for professional and personal success today. Since 2002, as part of KSA Training Ltd, Manage Train Learn has been a major player in the e-learning market. Eric has a simple mission: to turn Manage Train Learn into the best company in the world for producing and delivering quality online management products.
Profile of Manage Train Learn
Manage Train Learn is one of the top companies on the Internet for management training products, materials, and resources. Products range from training course plans to online courses, manuals to team builder exercises, mobile management apps to one-page skill summaries and a whole lot more. Whether you’re a manager, trainer, or learner, you’ll find just what you need at Manage Train Learn to skyrocket your professional and personal success.
1 Personality Typologies
Understanding what makes people tick has become a key issue for anyone who works with others. This is particularly true where you are trying to get the best out of people, allocate the right jobs to the right people, and develop them. Yet, trying to understand peoples inner motivations is a notoriously uncertain science. Personality typologies offer us one of the few routes into this world.
1.1 Removing the Guesswork
In the past, the study of human personality was very much the preserve of psychologists and trained specialists. Understanding what makes people tick was felt to be too complex a subject for most people. Yet, today, there are more people than ever who are responsible for managing the work of others. These managers may have responsibility for making key decisions about what jobs people do, who they work with and what they are capable of. Without an understanding of people, many of these decisions will be based on hunches. But this doesn’t have to be so. By understanding and using reliable personality typologies, managers can take some of the guesswork out of people management.
1.2 The Unique Us
Personality is one element in the mix that: makes up who a person is. The unique “us” can be regarded as a mixture of any and all of the following:
a) in-born talents and skills
b) taught habits and skills
c) the environment in which we were brought up
d) education
e) drive and ambition
f) circumstances in which we find ourselves
g) the impact of others
h) our personality type.
While most of these factors are variables, we know that a person’s personality type remains the same throughout their life. The way we are managed, or manage ourselves, can however determine the extent to which we make the most of our types and the extent to which we grow as individuals.
1.3 Managing People
There are many reasons why managers should try to understand the personalities of the people who they work with.
a) Personality Type helps managers to know what motivates an individual. Personality often gives clues to things a person loves to do and will do for free.
b) Personality type indicates what things an individual will be naturally inclined to do or not do.
c) Personality type is the clue to predicting how people will behave in certain situations such as when under stress, when coping with change and when making important decisions.
d) Personality type tells a manager how individuals will fulfil a role, for example the role they play in Teams, their unique way of leading others, and their style of learning.
e) Personality type is the key to the mystery of why some people hit it off with others at work and why others have personality clashes.
1.4 Great Managers
We now know that the difference between successful and unsuccessful managers lies in how well they understand people’s personalities. A Gallup study found that…
a) great managers don’t try to force people to become something they are not
b) great managers recognise the individual differences and talents of people and work on drawing them out
c) great managers define the results and then let each person work out his or her own way to get there
d) great managers help people grow into roles in which they can do more of what they are naturally “wired” to do
e) great managers help people discover their own strengths and weaknesses and work out a way to develop themselves.
1.5 Personality Typologies
A typology is the study of human personality types. The use of typologies has been a consistent feature of the age-old attempt to understand “what makes people tick”. Some of the most enduring typologies are:
a) the Ancient Greek theory of Humours
b) the Medieval system of Elements
c) the models of extraversion and introversion advocated by Carl Jung, Hans Eysenck and Myers-Briggs
d) the stress personality types of Rosenman and Friedman
e) the team role types of Meredith Belbin and Margerison-McCann
f) astrological star signs.
While no one typology works for everyone all the time for every purpose, some of these typologies can be reliable predictors of how people will behave in given situations at work.
1.6 Reds, Greens, and Blues
Elias H.Porter was an American psychologist who, while working with disadvantaged youngsters in New York, developed a personality typology consisting of 3 main types: Reds, the go-getters; Greens, the analytical thinkers; and Blues, the people. Porter’s point was to show the youngsters that people were different but of equal value. Understanding the way others are when different to us is not a reason for conflict. By being aware of the way others see the world and then accepting them for their differences means they can complement our strengths and make us all stronger.
1.7 The Enneagram
The Enneagram is a typology of human types that has a long and varied history. It can be traced back for more than 4000 years and has recently been re-discovered as a means of understanding human types.
The Enneagram identifies nine basic human types, (hence the word “enneagram” which is Greek for “nine-pointed figure”). These types are not identified as names but as numbers, ie Ones through to Nines. Each number corresponds to a personality type with its own characteristics. These characteristics are similar to the groups of human traits identified by psychologists and writers such as Carl Jung.
The Enneagram provides a way to study human personality that: is, on the one hand, instantly accessible, allowing us, for example, to immediately recognise what number a person is. At the same time, the Enneagram has depths and layers of meaning that may take a lifetime to learn.
Whichever personality typology you use, make sure it is one that is reliable and chimes with your own experience of how people behave. A typology such as the Enneagram will give you an immediate understanding of why people behave as they do and at the same time show you how they can develop in beneficial and psychologically healthy ways.
2 The Enneagram
When you study the Enneagram, you’ll discover one of the simplest and one of the most profound models of human personality. You will recognise yourself, friends, and colleagues, figures from the past, celebrities of the present, people who live nearby and people who live far away. The Enneagram is a universal yet intimately accessible model of what makes human beings tick.
2.1 Enneagram, Old and New
The Enneagram is a typology of human personality that has existed in one form or another for thousands of years. The current interest in the contribution which people make in the workplace has renewed interest in it. The Enneagram has many facets. At one level, it can be viewed as a simple description of nine personality types, allowing us to identify and understand the characteristics of those who work for us. At another level, it gives clues about how people will behave in certain situations, thus enabling us to make better decisions about selection, delegation and teamwork and about the personal development of those who work for us.
2.2 The Basic Model
The Enneagram (pronounced “Any-a-gram”) offers an accessible system of understanding individual personality based around nine types, or points, hence Enneagram, a Greek word for a nine-starred diagram. These are the nine types:
Ones: the need to be perfect
Twos: the need to be needed
Threes: the need to be successful
Fours: the need to be special
Fives: the need to perceive
Sixes: the need to be secure Sevens: the need to be happy Eights: the need to be strong Nines: the need to be free
2.3 The Dinner Party
In “The Enneagram Made Easy”, Renee Baron and Elizabeth Wagele offer a simple way to understand the differences in the 9 personality types. They imagine that each personality type has been invited to a dinner party and then suggest some thoughts that each type would “typically” have before, during and after the party. Here they are:
2.3.1 Before the Party
Ones: “I hope I’m bringing the appropriate wine”
Twos: “I hope my friends will all like one another”
Threes: “I hope to do a lot of networking tonight”
Fours: “I’m not in the mood for a party”
Fives: “I wish I could stay at home with my book”
Sixes: “I must remember to feed the cat and lock up”
Sevens: “If it isn’t a fun group, I’m off to do something else”
Eights: “I’m OUTTA THERE if there isn’t good wine, men, and song”
Nines: “I’ll feel so good if I can make a nice connection tonight”
2.3.2 During the Party
Ones: “Not enough food groups represented in this menu”
Twos: “It’s so great to feel needed”
Threes: “I need to eat and run. I’m swamped.”
Fours: “Cheap caviar – shocking”
Fives: It’s a talkative group. Good, that gets me off the hook”
Sixes: “She’s leaving early. Doesn’t she like us?”
Sevens: “First, I’ll eat, then take some pictures, then go to my class”
Eights: “Pass it down. Pass it all down here.”
Nines: “I feel so close to everyone”
2.3.3 After the Party
Ones: “I hope I didn’t offend George with that remark”
Twos: “I’m so exhausted but I’m glad everyone had a good time”
Threes: “I didn’t make any contacts at the party but I made up for it at the fund-raiser afterwards”
Fours: “The conversation was so mundane”
Fives: “I’m glad I left early so I could read my book”
Sixes: “Feels great to be safe at home”
Sevens: (Harry is still out having fun)
Eights: “I sure wiped the floor with them in that debate”
Nines: “I’m glad they liked my story”
2.4 Widths and Depths
At one level, the Enneagram offers a simple way to find out which type we and others are. At a deeper level, it offers in-depth study into why people fall into one of the nine types, the effects of up-bringing, and how to further categorise the types. You can study these yourself in much more depth once you have completed this programme. Here is a quick overview of these deeper levels:
a) the 3 groups of 3: the relating, thinking and feeling groups
b) how each type in each group moves towards others, moves against others, or withdraws from others
c) how each type relates to mother, father, or both when young
d) how the view of the world when young creates life-long self-protective strategies
e) how each type looks towards its clockwise point on the Enneagram model for what it secretly longs for
f) how each type sees its anti-clockwise point on the Enneagram model and secretly says, “thank God that’s not me”.
2.5 Applications at Work
In this programme, we are focusing on the Enneagram in the workplace. Here are 7 ways that the model can help people managers:
a) to have an insight into what people themselves see as “normal” in their own attitudes and behaviour
b) To give people jobs that suit their personality types (eg a Two is likely to be a better person to look after a new trainee than, say, a Six)
c) to get a better understanding of a person’s good points and bad
d) to manage so-called “difficult” types and “difficult” situations
e) to separate the personality traits that you may dislike, such as a Nine’s apparent laziness, from the person
f) to realise that, whether you like someone’s personality or not, this is the way they are, and to various degrees, always will be
g) to manage the chemistry of a team.
2.6 Limitations
The Enneagram repays continuous study but it has important limitations:
a) it is not a scientifically-based model of psychology (nor is it meant to be)
b) it is not always easy to apply. While some people’s types are easy to identify, others are annoyingly elusive. This does not detract from the value of the system, but rather enhances it.
c) it can shock in its revelations. The awareness of one’s type and the force that drives and limits our whole lives can sometimes come as an unpleasant shock. Some people will choose to reject what they learn; others will ignore it.
2.7 Principles
Here are some important pointers which are worth bearing in mind when using the Enneagram:
a) no one type is better or worse than any other type
b) we cannot change our Enneagram type. There is no exchange, no bargaining, no compromise.
c) we can all show features of each Enneagram type, (We all sometimes need to be strong, relaxed, perfect, helpful, successful, special, perceptive, secure and happy).
d) there is no discrimination in the application of the Enneagram. It can be applied to young children, old people, men and women, and people of different backgrounds and cultures.
e) there is no single way to apply the Enneagram. Sometimes insight may be instant, at other times it will creep up on you.
f) personality is still only one aspect of what makes us who we are. A king can be a 3 and so can a factory worker.
(Note: In the next 9 chapters, we’ll give you a fuller understanding of each Enneagram personality type. In each study, we’ll give you an overview of the type, some examples of how they behave at work, and some famous examples of each type. We’ll also show you that, as well as being applicable to individuals, the personality types can also be applied to social organisations such as different management styles, different organisations, and even different country cultures.)
Now that you have a basic model of the Enneagram, discover how to recognise the types in more detail. When you know the nine types, you will be able to apply them to yourself, to others, to teams, to organisations, and even whole societies such as countries and historic ages. This is “personality typing”‘ in the fullest sense.
3 1 ‘s, the Need to be Perfect
If you look at the Enneagram model, the first point at number 1 is the type that needs to be perfect. This type is in the Instinctive group, those who relate to the world through their gut or instincts. From this type come some of the wisest and most moral people and also some of the most fundamentalist do-gooders. This type shows us discipline, the virtue of hard work, and the need to make sense of our world.
3.1 Ones are Perfectionists
Ones, the Perfectionists, are at position one on the Enneagram typology. Ones want things to be right. In any group, they are the standard-bearers for how things should be, knowledge which they bring from a deep understanding and respect for rules and laws. As such, Ones often have a hard time of it, feeling guilty if they themselves ever slip from the high standards they set themselves and expect from others. By the same token, Ones bring order, discipline and structure into any organisation, features which are vital in helping an organisation to grow and develop.
3.2 A Summary of Ones
Group: instinctive or “relating” group Label: perfectionist, reformer, developer Roles: the paragon, the puritan, the fundamentalist, the umpire, the rule-maker, the idealist, the critic, miss goody-two- shoes
Drive: the need to be perfect, or right
Orientation: moving instinctively towards others
Childhood orientation: a negative view of never being up to their father’s expectations
Problem: underdeveloped relating
Preoccupation: right and wrong; morality
Sin: anger
Symbols: ants, beavers, the colour silver
Countries: Switzerland, Japan
Routes to growth: cheerful innocence
Characteristics: independent; strong views; difficult to manage; conscientious; stick to the job; set own high standards;
forward planners and routine sticklers; set own targets; neat and precise; painstaking; detail-conscious.
Strategy: the industrious, over-focused character.
3.3 How to Recognise a One
Ones give off an impression of tension: they are unable to relax for fear that they should be working. Ones are more tuned in to duty than to pleasure. The words “ought” and “must” figure prominently in their speech and thought.
Because they can see how things ought to be, as well as how they are, Ones’ automatic response to unsatisfactory situations is to feel anger with themselves and others. This critical nature makes them natural judges and disciplinarians. Ones want to be fair. They weigh up the rights and wrongs of every situation carefully before making a decision and, once made, agonise over whether they are right. Ones hate the thought of failure, of not being right.
Ones believe they must have great integrity. They believe they must set an example to others, to be as near perfect as they can. The thought of lying or cheating is anathema to them.
3.4 The One at Work
Ones embody and embrace the Protestant work ethic which is the cornerstone of Western industrial organisations. Ones believe that work is good not just for its economic benefits but for its moral benefits too. The working style of a One is to be perfect: there is a correct way to carry out every task and it should be done according to the book. A One’s day is organised by routines: an exact time to get up, to travel to work, to arrive home, to go to bed. Ones make superlative time organisers. They are never late and any spare time is always put to good use. Life and work are the same thing for a One: both are serious business. Ones don’t exactly enjoy work, but they don’t enjoy it when they are not working either.
3.5 The One-type Organisation
A One organisation has the following characteristics:
a) efficient, ie doing things right
b) managing by the book
c) security through negotiated agreements, ie sticking to the letter of contracts and promises
d) ethics, morality and integrity in business dealings
e) detailed planning to get things right
f) authoritarian traits when things go wrong
g) systems, routines, procedures
h) rule-following
i) no time-wasting
j) a belief in the work ethic
k) a love of tidiness and order
1) a minimum amount of socialising
m) success has to be earned
3.6 Noteworthy Ones
Some noteworthy Ones include:
a) Martin Luther, leader of Protestantism in medieval Germany
b) St Paul the Apostle
c) George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright
d) Oliver Cromwell, leader of the Puritan movement in 17th century England
e) Charles Dickens, 19th century novellist
f) Abraham Lincoln, 19th century President of the United States
g) Thomas More, who was beheaded by Henry VIII for his principles.
3.7 “Strict Rules and High Morale”
Philip Toosey was the British Army officer whose leadership of the prisoner-of-war camp at Tamarkan in Thailand during the Second World War was immortalised in the film, “Bridge Over the River Kwai”. Toosey, a One personality type, was played in the film with a stiff upper lip by Alec Guinness. Here is how a survivor of the camp described Toosey. “He was a strict disciplinarian, and talked about the importance of obeying strict rules and keeping morale high. He insisted that we keep ourselves in order. Although he was not the sort of man I would have as a friend, – very dogmatic and acted too much like an officer all the time, – he was a real hero.”
To discover the Ones on your team, ask yourself: “Who always likes to follow the rules?”; “Who likes to create and follow routines?” and “Who tends to be most critical when things don’t go right?”
4 2’s, the Need to be Needed
“If you look at the Enneagram model, at number 2 is the type that needs to be needed. This type is in the Feeling group, those who relate to the world through their feelings for others. From this type come some of the most caring and also some of the most manipulative people. This type shows us the world of love in all its many forms.”
4.1 Twos are Helpers
Twos, known as Helpers, are the “people” people of the Enneagram. At point two, they are the first of the trio who experience life through their feelings. Helpers remind us that organisations do not exist without the people in them and the connections and communications that take place all the time between people. Twos probably know and are known by more people than any other type. They move effortlessly across the normal boundaries of organisations as well as up and down the organisation’s structures. They put no limits on what they will do to help others, even if sometimes such offers of help are accompanied by emotional strings of dependency.
4.2 A Summary of Twos
Group: heart or “feeling” group
Label: helpers, givers
Roles: the Jewish Momma, the queen bee, the guardian angel, the gatekeeper, the agony aunt, the well-meaning gossip, the matchmaker
Drive: the need to be needed
Orientation: moving towards others through their emotions
Childhood orientation: an uncertain view of whether their father loved them or not
Problem: over-developed feeling towards others
Preoccupation: the personal lives and doings of others, family and friends
Sin: pride
Symbols: kittens, puppies, romantic novels, religion
Countries: Italy
Routes to growth: looking inside themselves
Characteristics: outgoing; friendly; affiliative; caring; sympathetic; optimistic; sweet; seductive; helpful; concerned; quick to form friendships; likeable; others-oriented; gossipy; nosey.
Strategy: the expressive-clinging character.
4.3 How to Recognise a Two
Twos are people who have the ability to make instant contact with others, whether family, friends or strangers. They are skilled and natural communicators. The language used by Twos is the language of contact. They seem to know instinctively what to say to others. Words are easy because their emotions lead. They are often rapid talkers because their emotions flow quicker than their thoughts. Theirs is not intellectual, sophisticated or contrived language but direct, plain-speaking, everyday language. The wisdom of Twos is folksy and homespun. Twos can adjust themselves according to who they’re talking to. They can easily slip into the current idiom, parlance or way of speaking. Their motives are, or appear to be, heartfelt and genuine and they therefore make good listeners, sentence-finishers, gossips and advisors.
4.4 The Two at Work
It can be exhausting being a Two boss. A Two boss sees their role as being Helper of the team. They will make sure they check up on how everyone is at least once a day. If anyone has a problem, Twos throw themselves into seeing that it is sorted out at once. Two bosses remember all the personal details about their team. They never forget anyone’s birthday, a date for a meeting, a team celebration or the welcome for a new member of the team. They love nothing better than for others to pour their heart out to them. When they exhaust themselves from so much giving, Twos expect others to show their thanks and gratitude in compliant ways – by leading their lives in the ways Twos want. When this fails to happen, Two bosses feel like giving up on their ungrateful staff – until the next time someone needs them.
4.5 The Two-type Organisation
A Two organisation has the following features:
a) human resource policies are centre-stage
b) customers’ needs are researched and met
c) the organisation is seen as one big happy family
d) people are organised into teams
e) the management style is one of nannying, consulting, counselling and supporting
f) decisions are taken by consensus, soundings and harmony
g) g. soft female traits are prized above hard male traits (the territory of the Eight organisation)
h) Emotional Quotient (EQ) is a prized management virtue
i) thought is given to innovative employee benefits such as childcare
j) there is always a collection box going round for someone who is leaving, pregnant, getting married, retiring…
4.6 Noteworthy Two’s
Some noteworthy Twos include:
a) Mother Teresa of Calcutta, missionary nun
b) Diana, Princess of Wales
c) Eva Peron, wife of Argentina’s dictator in the 1950’s
d) Abraham of the Bible
e) Mary Magdalene
f) John Keats, poet
g) Luciano Pavarotti, opera singer.
4.7 “Sex and love are Permanently Fascinating”
Esther Rantzen is a British TV broadcaster whose exposes of child abuse led to her setting up the child protection charity Childline. She is a Two personality type. Here, she recalls her early years as a student. “Sex and love are permanently fascinating. In my late teens, I fell in love with somebody who was related to the Archbishop of York. Of course, I was Jewish so his family disapproved. I was kissed for the first time when I was 16 and it was a truly dreadful experience. I kept my virginity right through university. There were so many young men at Oxford that 1 couldn’t see how, once you started, you’d ever stop. I had a serious love affair with someone. He was a producer, who, sadly, is now dead…”
To discover the Twos on your team, ask yourself: “Who always has a kind word?” “Who likes to match-make others?” and “Who can communicate easily with others?””
5 3’s, the Need to Succeed
If you look at the Enneagram model, you’ll find at point 3 the type that needs to succeed. This type is in the Feeling group, those who relate to the world through their feelings for others. From this type come some of the most high-profile and also some of the most deceitful people. This type shows us how to use appearance to get on in the world.
5.1 Threes are Achievers
Threes, known as Achievers, are the sales people of The Enneagram. Their need to be liked and admired means that they have a deft ability to promote themselves and anything that they are selling: product, service, team, project, the organisation, themselves. They feel at home with promotional language and the current fashionable idiom. They work hard to look good and attractive to others. Threes can often be the stars of the organisation, their own desire to win being reflected in the rewards they bring to the organisation. Unfortunately, this desire can sometimes be at the expense of other values that matter and that Threes may overlook in the race for success.
5.2 A Summary of Threes
Group: heart or “feeling” group
Label: achievers, winners, producers
Roles: the golden boy or girl, the star, the hero or heroine, the status-seeker, the con-artist, the trickster, the image builder, the marketer, the networker, the spin-doctor
Drive: the need to be successful
Orientation: moving against others competitively
Childhood orientation: a positive view of having been loved unconditionally by their mother or mother figure
Problem: out of touch with their feelings
Preoccupation: being better than others; winning prizes that prove their success
Sin: deceit; lies
Symbols: the colours yellow and gold; animals like the chameleon and peacock
Countries: the United States of America
Routes to growth: honesty
Characteristics: competitive; active; goal-oriented; ambitious; self-confident; glamorous; popular; sexy; enjoy physical exercise; emotionally controlled; keep feelings back; tuned in to what’s “in” Strategy: the charming-manipulative character.
5.3 How to Recognise a Three
Threes are easy to recognise because they look so good. Threes have a highly developed instinct for creating an appearance that others will admire. They are physically attractive, having turned themselves into the embodiment of what passes for the current desired male or female image. They dress to please. Their speech is full of positive, self-confident, “can-do” words. They smile a lot. They glow with self-assurance. Threes divert so much energy into creating an appealing image that it is hard for them to see that there’s little left for anything else. For the image can indeed hide a lack of real feeling, an absence of depth to their understanding and little concern about anybody but themselves.
5.4 The Three at Work
Threes are a highly motivated group. They try hard and work hard to achieve public recognition. They expect their efforts to win them prizes especially favoured status, high profile jobs, promotion. They are simple, sleek and direct. Because Threes are so motivated they seem like a godsend to any organisation. There is no need to push them, they will push themselves. When any job needs done and nobody else is willing to do it, Threes will volunteer just to look good at saving the day. The outward success of Threes covers up a lack of much depth. They are highly superficial, have few opinions of their own and tend to believe in their own success so much that they lack the willingness to test themselves and grow.
5.5 The Three-type Organisation
A Three organisation has the following characteristics:
a) work is a source of power and money
b) work defines social status and life success
c) work is part of an upward life progress
d) a win-lose life view in which they are winners
e) constant benchmarking of themselves and their teams (“How do we rate compared to…?”)
f) networkers
g) a belief in the value of branding (themselves, their products and their service)
h) prepared to do anything to come out on top
i) like to set and be set targets that prove how well they are doing
j) adapt what seems to work elsewhere
k) motivated by tangible results.
5.6 Noteworthy Threes
Some noteworthy Threes include:
a) Icarus who flew too near to the sun and fell to earth
b) Roman emperor, Julius Caesar
c) Midas, the king who turned everything he touched to gold
d) Walt Disney, film maker
e) Paul McCartney, Beatle
f) Tony Blair, UK Prime Minister
g) Bill Clinton, president of the USA
5.7 “I Wanted So Much to Win”
Ian Wright is a footballer who enjoyed huge success at London clubs, Crystal Palace and Arsenal, and played 33 times for England. He is a Three personality type. He says of his overpowering desire to win, “I’ve always wanted to be the best at whatever I do. When I was a builder, I wanted to be the best builder. Now that I’m a footballer, I want to be the best footballer. I’ve always pushed myself to go that one step further. When I used to play football as a kid, I would cry if I didn’t play well because I wanted so much to win. I’m the only one in my family like that. My brother Maurice was a better footballer than me and that drove me to be better than him.”
To discover the Threes on your team, ask yourself: “Who always appears confident with new people?”‘; “Who likes to be in fashion?” and “Who tends to volunteer when nobody else does?”
6 4’s, the Need to be Special
If you look at the Enneagram model, you’ll find at point 4 the type that needs to be different. This Type is in the Feeling group, those who relate to the world through their feelings for others. From this type come some of the most original and also some of the most negative people. This type shows us how to plumb the depths of feelings both to wallow and to create something unique.
6.1 Fours are Romantics
Fours are the Romantics of the Enneagram system. They often fit awkwardly into organisational settings. Their role as the most intensely emotional type in the Enneagram means that they can feel out of touch with materialistic and profit-driven values. Equally, they can feel out of place in disciplined structures where conforming and toeing the line are required norms of behaviour. But when the organisation needs to produce work of quality or needs to distinguish itself by being different from its competitors, Fours can bring a unique touch of originality and creativity to the work of the business that can make all the difference to success.
6.2 A Summary of Fours
Group: heart or “feeling” group
Label: romantics, dreamers, artists
Roles: the connoisseur, the poet in the garret, the spurned lover, the maverick, the misfit, the Bohemian, the outsider, the self-destructive genius
Drive: the need to be special or different
Orientation: moving away from others, withdrawn from expressing feelings directly Childhood orientation: a negative view of both parents who seemed to abandon them
Problem: underdeveloped feeling
Preoccupation: extremes of feeling; empathy with others’s suffering; the negative side of life
Sin: envy
Symbols: mourning; the colour mauve; a broken heart; a missing puzzle piece; the lost chord
Countries: France
Routes to growth: harmony and balance
Characteristics: artistic; cultured; creative; innovative; stylish; trendy; not afraid to stand out; trend-setters; problem-solvers; critical; see the disadvantages in things; loners; charmers; pessimistic.
Strategy: the dependent-endearing character.
6.3 How to Recognise a Four
Fours are quite easy to recognise because they stand out from the crowd. They can do this is in a number of ways. They may speak differently from others, perhaps with a strong accent or dialect or unique style. They are likely to dress a bit differently from others; if the rest are casual, they will be smart; if the rest are smart, they will add a distinguishing touch such as a bow tie or black lipstick. In any group. Fours are the vegetarians, the outsiders, the ones with different beliefs and habits. Fours are self-contained. While they long for the love and attention of others, they are more attracted to the feeling of longing than to actually obtaining anything. Fours don’t feel as if they belong to the here-and-now: they prefer the thought of a more romantic, exciting and deeply-felt life somewhere else.
6.4 The Four at Work
Fours don’t fit in to teams and don’t particularly want to. Fitting in means compromising their individuality which makes them who they are. This can spell trouble to a work-based team. When others want to move on, Fours will find a sticking point; when others want to make a decision, Fours want to talk some more. It is tempting to play the Four’s own game and suggest the opposite of what you really want! Fours come into their own when the team needs a measure of creative thinking or individual work. Fours have insights into depths of emotions others can only guess at and they are quite prepared to take risks in the knowledge that even the risk of failure can heighten their emotional temperature.
6.5 The Four-type Organisation
A Four organisation has the following characteristics:
a) a constant pursuit for those things that make them unique
b) originality and creativity
c) . a distinct style of working
d) . a distinctive brand
e) work is seen as self-expression
f) people are individuals first and foremost
g) everyone has a personal sense of mission and vocation
h) there is genuine respect for what each person is able to bring to the team
i) piercing insight into what is true, good, and beautiful
j) the customer receives quality
k) everything is stylish: letterheads, paper, decor, furniture, brochures, dress
1) people have a vision of what is possible beyond the humdrum and day-to-day work.
6.6 Noteworthy Fours
Some noteworthy Fours include:
a) Shakespeare’s melancholy hero Hamlet
b) the musicians Tchaikovsky, Gustav Mahler and Frederick Chopin
c) Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer
d) film star Marlon Brando
e) Joseph of the Bible
f) Oscar Wilde
g) Shakespeare’s lovelorn hero Romeo
6.7 “Riding the Highs and Lows”
Stephen Fry is one of the most versatile and gifted entertainers of our day and a Four personality type. He has experienced huge highs and huge lows including 3 months in prison in his teens and a nervous breakdown. This is how he explains them. “If one could press a button and all the misery and despair and poverty and heartache and need in the world disappeared, but so also did the joy, thrill and pleasure, then I don’t think many people would press the button. Riding the highs and lows for me is what life is all about. The risk of the lows is worth putting up with because the highs are so good. Oscar Wilde said we must taste every fruit of every tree of every garden in the world. Nobody lies on their deathbed and says, “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.” We only regret the things we’ve not done.”
To discover the Fours on your team, ask yourself: “Who always swims against the tide?”; “Who likes to be different?” and “Who tends to do their own thing regardless of what others think?”
7 5’s, the Need to Perceive
lf you look at the Enneagram model, you’ll find at point 5 the type that needs to perceive. This type is in the Thinking group, those who relate to the world through their thoughts. From this type come some of the most intelligent and also some of the most absent-minded people. This type shows us how to use the power of their minds to be both creative and mind obsessive.
7.1 Fives are Watchers
Fives are the Watchers of the Enneagram and the first group in the thinking triad. They are defined by the facility with which they use their minds, whether as experts and specialists, as decision-takers and problem-solvers, or simply as people who can see both the big picture of what is going on and the detail behind it. Fives prefer to watch rather than act, preferring positions on the edge of teams, so that they often appear not to be part of what is going on.
7.2 A Summary of Fives
Group: head or thinking group
Label: thinkers, observers, watchers
Roles: the spy, the pundit, the analyst, the expert, the scientist, the computer geek, the backroom boy, the boffin
Drive: the need to perceive
Orientation: moving away from action into introspection
Childhood orientation: an uncertain view of whether their parents loved them or not
Problem: underdeveloped doing and overdeveloped thinking
Preoccupation: working out what’s going on around them; getting the big picture; curiosity about others; knowledge
Sin: greed
Symbols: the squirrel, the colour blue, eyeglasses, monocles, cameras
Countries: Finland, Great Britain
Routes to growth: objectivity
Characteristics: conceptual; intellectually curious; introspective; analyses self and others; data-rational; modest; expert; shy; good with facts; never enough information; collectors; pensive; fearful of commitment. Strategy: the sensitive-withdrawn character.
7.3 How to Recognise a Five
Fives are an easy personality type to spot because they live in their minds and through their perceptions. Fives like to see. At home, the chair is close to the window; at work, the desk oversees everyone else. If Fives can see without being seen so much the better. Fives’ preoccupation with their minds means that they can neglect the habits that are second- nature to everyone else: they can forget to change their clothes, they can put on non-matching socks or ear-rings; they can forget to eat, they can talk well into the night and forget to go to bed. Fives need to put distance between themselves and the objects of their thoughts. They usually have a place where others can’t intrude. These places are like ivory towers or monastic cells. Although they are bare and frugal, Fives like to fill them with things they don’t have. Like their minds, they need to keep them empty so that they can till them up.
7.4 The Five at Work
Fives like to work at a distance in which they are neither pressurised by time or space. They have a fascination for work and its processes particularly the nature of power and its effects on human behaviour. A Five in the workplace is always aware of the comings and goings of important others and what this means for the rest of the team. An ability to observe, analyse and draw conclusions is a huge advantage in workplaces where information is important such as research centres, politics and academia. But it brings with it two dangers. The first is that Fives can become absorbed with thinking at the expense of doing. They know what needs to be done, they simply aren’t interested in doing it. The second danger lies in over-intellectualising. When Fives produce a view of things, they also intellectualise emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, and pain.
7.5 The Five Organisation
A Five organisation will have the following characteristics:
a) a reliance on technology for its existence (eg Microsoft)
b) the organisation as a source of endless study, fascination and interest
c) a belief in management theory to explain what goes on
d) need for research, focus groups and study sessions
e) management go away for in-depth thinking sessions several times a year
f) information and knowledge are power
g) problem-solving through analysis, argument and consultancy
h) a high value is placed on those who are articulate, clever, lucid, observant
i) all kind of thinking skills are prized: logic, creativity, brainstorming, discussion, listening; problem-solving.
7.6 Noteworthy Fives
Some noteworthy Fives include:
a) Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft
b) Greta Garbo, film star of the 1930’s who retreated from the world saying: “I want to be alone”
c) astronomer Stephen Hawking
d) philosopher Rene Descartes
e) Scrooge from Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”
f) Fagin from Dickens’ “Oliver Twist”
g) Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon
7.7 “Nothing Escapes Me”
Artist Beryl Cook (1926 – 2008), a Five type, was one of the most original of modern British painters. Painfully shy, yet sharply observant, her most famous works portray fat ladies in public settings. She described her inspiration by saying, “I like pubs and pub entertainment: a song, a Tarzanogram. I don’t even mind a punch-up. What motivates me is watching ordinary people, just like me, enjoying themselves. I sit on the fringes. I like being near the door so I don’t feel trapped. And then I watch. Nothing escapes me.”
To discover the Fives on your team, ask yourself: “Who always knows what’s going on?”; “Who likes to be alone with their thoughts?” and “Who tends to do a lot with very little?”
8 6’s, the Need to be Safe
If you look at the Enneagram model, you’ll find at point 6 the type that needs to be safe. This type is in the Thinking group, those who relate to the world through their thoughts. From this type come some of the most loyal and also some of the most fearful people. This type shows us how to use a sixth sense to sniff out danger, both real and imagined.
8.1 Sixes are Doubters
Sixes are the Doubters and mystery people of the Enneagram. Because they have the most developed sense of danger, Sixes hate to be too easily categorised or pinned down. When they feel they are giving too much away by one kind of behaviour or attitude, they will switch to a different kind of behaviour or attitude so as to throw others off their scent. They can be both loyal and treacherous, endearing and cruel, friendly and back-stabbing. Curiously, these chameleon-like tendencies make them ideal organisational creatures. They find no problem in both leading a team and avoiding responsibility for what happens in the team. With all its complexities and contradictions, the traditional organisation is their natural home.
8.2 A Summary of Sixes
Group: head or thinking group
Label: doubters, loyalists, fence-sitters
Roles: the detective, the interrogator, the loyalist, the questioner, the security officer, the courageous hero, the faithful
doubter, the devil’s advocate
Drive: the need to be sure, secure, safe
Orientation: moving towards authority figures for protection
Childhood orientation: a positive view of their father or father figure who was both authority and protector
Problem: underdeveloped doing
Preoccupation: excessive checking and double-checking to ensure their environment is safe
Sin: fear
Symbols: keys and door locks; the word, “but…”
Countries: Germany
Routes to growth: courage and self-assertion
Characteristics: traditional, conventional, worrying, anxious, democratic, consultative, listening, questioning, checking,
loyal, obedient, pleasing, cautious, careful, suspicious, wary.
Strategy: the burdened-enduring character.
8.3 How to Recognise a Six
It is hard to recognize a Six until you know what you’re looking for. On the Enneagram, they are likely to be the types who are hardest to place. Sixes are the anxious types. They can be pessimistic, scouring the landscape for signs of things going wrong and seeking sources of security to protect themselves. Their insecurity is revealed in their speech which is peppered with doubts, questions and warnings. But there is another manifestation of the anxious type: in aggression, blame, sarcasm and attack. Often it is impossible to know which of the two characteristics will surface. For the Six works from the head: if a Six feels anxiety, he or she is as likely to decide to be anxious as they are to be aggressive.
8.4 The Six at Work
Sixes represent the working style of “follow orders”. For a Six, work provides meaning to life, the organisation provides security and the boss provides authority. It is natural for a Six to fit in and do as they’re told.
Fear drives the Six and is the reason why they are so obedient to the organisation. But fear can also paralyse a Six into inaction especially when they are unsure about what they are doing. Then they will resort to questions to delay doing anything and to satisfy their need to check things out. Questions to check what they should be doing, questions to put the onus on others, questions so that they can blame others if things go wrong.
The most commonly-met Six types in the workplace are: risk assessors, quality control checkers, accountants, managers and safety officers.
8.5 The Six Organisation
A Six organisation will have the following characteristics:
a) traditional organisational management
b) time is spent on developing structures and systems both for the good of those in the organisation as well as the good of customers
c) bureaucratic systems are used to protect individuals
d) decisions need the stamp of authority
e) .everyone knows the extent of their own authority and who to go to for the next level of authority
f) the managerial process is one of checking, counting, verifying and double-checking
g) work is a source of security often for lite
h) a highly formalised system of status, job role and delegation
i) success is measured by how long people stay in post.
8.6 Noteworthy Sixes
Some noteworthy Sixes include:
a) Piglet in A.A.Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh”
b) St Peter
c) Queen Elizabeth I, who was notorious for keeping her suitors guessing and ambivalent to others as a way of not letting them know her mind
d) Richard Nixon
e) George Bush
f) organisational man or woman
g) Mr Burns, boss in the cartoon series “The Simpsons”
h) Adolf Hitler
8.7 “I’m Not the Most Secure Person”
Elaine Paige is a West End musical star and a Six personality type. When asked to give an interview about a forthcoming play, she declined, saying, “I don’t trust other women in these situations. They establish a sisterhood with you and then betray you every time. I was talking to Diana Rigg and she won’t give interviews to women either. I am wary of the people that you find surrounding you after you have been perceived to be a success. 1 am not the most secure person in real life. What the profession has allowed me to do is to create my own characters and disappear into them for two hours a day. I can feel totally in control of these characters and get fulfilment from that.”
To discover the Sixes on your team, ask yourself: “Who always needs to check things out before acting?”; “Who has the best sense of danger?” and “Who tends to sway between being defensive and being aggressive?”
9 7’s, the Need to be Happy
If you look at the Enneagram model, you’ll find at point 7 the type that needs to be happy. This type is in the Thinking group, those who relate to the world through their thoughts. From this type come some of the most enthusiastic and also some of the most hyperactive people. This type shows us how to enjoy all aspects of life, even if it is to escape the dreary side.
9.1 Sevens are Performers
Sevens are the Performers in the Enneagram and can be great assets in any organisation. They love to be busy and to move from one job to another. Their days are filled with activity, regardless of the size or importance of the task. They carry out their work without any kind of complaint and often accomplish a huge amount in a short space of time. They can infect others with their enthusiasm and love of what they do. The only problem is that they are difficult to control. Activity is often pursued for its own sake. New jobs are taken up without serious thought for what is genuinely important or necessary. They often seem to be busy for busy’s sake or as an excuse to be doing something new and exciting.
9.2 A Summary of Sevens
Group: head or thinking group
Label: doers, experimenters, activists, entertainers, explorers, go-fers
Roles: the cavalier, the Jack-of-all trades, the buccaneer, the swashbuckler, the troubadour, the dream merchant, the showman
Drive: the need to be happy
Orientation: moving against others in competition for possessions
Childhood orientation: a negative view of not getting enough love and happiness from their mothers
Problem: over-developed doing
Preoccupation: always having enough new experiences and activities to occupy themselves with
Sin: gluttony
Symbols: monkeys, butterflies, kaleidoscopes, parties, anecdotes, escapist fiction, flight
Countries: Brazil
Routes to growth: sober joy (like type Five)
At their best: happy, enthusiastic, and talented
At their worst: erratic, escapist, and manic
Strategy: the hyperactive-anesthetic character.
9.3 How to Recognise a Seven
Sevens are recognisable by their high level of activity. At work they are always busy; outside work, they are multi-talented generalises. They know a lot and can do a lot. Sevens are bright and cheerful, frequently humming or whistling to themselves. They appear youthful even in later lief. They always look good and like to wear colourful clothing that makes them feel happy. They rush about with some job always to be done. They are garrulous story tellers with the gift of language and memory. They are always on the look-out to meet new or familiar faces and are talented at greeting people and making them feel welcome. In short, Sevens are easy to recognise because of their whirlwind, happy and stimulating lifestyle.
9.4 The Seven at Work
Sevens love work: the more of it, the better. If it doesn’t come at them in a steady and varied stream, they will make up plenty of plans of their own. They don’t like to stop. Sevens are accomplished at everything they do, to the extent that they can do several things at once: today’s letters, while lighting a cigarette while over-hearing a conversation in the corner. Jobs become uninteresting if they go on too long, involve deep thought or become unpleasant. Every job is completed at break-neck speed. Sevens work quickly, speak quickly, eat quickly, tell their stories quickly. The result of all this activity is that Sevens often don’t move forward: they go round and round as if they were on a fairground carousel.
9.5 The Seven-type Organisation
A Seven organisation has the following characteristics:
a) work is fun, the chance to do many different and interesting things and ultimately to make others happy
b) the organisation is loosely structured so that as many people as possible can do their own thing
c) minimal interference from above
d) adhocratic, ie anything goes
e) doing is much more important than talking or analysing
f) hands-on
g) everyone is expected to be committed, passionate and enthusiastic
h) high level of risk-taking coupled with change if it doesn’t work out
i) one measure of success is how much fun everyone has
j) materialistic: everyone has the latest gadget and fun toy.
A quintessential Seven organization is Virgin, one of whose stated values is “having fun”.
9.6 Noteworthy Sevens
Some noteworthy Sevens include:
a) entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson
b) businesswoman, Anita Roddick
c) business guru, Tom Peters
d) positive thinking expert, Anthony Robbins
e) actor, Robin Williams
f) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
g) William Shakespeare.
9.7 “A Chameleon on a Patchwork Quilt”
British impressionist, Rory Bremner, is a Seven personality type. This is how he describes (part of) one whirlwind week of activity:
“I got back from Africa on Wednesday after a week on safari. Went to the opera in the evening. Thursday I was at a charity golf day in Buckinghamshire and then did a cabaret at the Dorchester. Then I went up to Scotland for three days with friends and took in some writing. Monday I did “Call My Bluff” recorded in Birmingham on the way down… If I was ever pompous enough to write an autobiography, I’d say I was a “chameleon on a patchwork quilt.””
To discover the Sevens on your team, ask yourself: “Who always has the latest gadget?”; “Who has the best storyline in jokes?” and “Who tends to do their own thing without regard to others?”
10 8’s, the Need to be Strong
If you look at the Enneagram model, you’ll find at point 8 the type that needs to be strong. This type is in the Instinctive group, those who relate to the world through their gut and instinct. From this type come some of the most dynamic and also some of the most selfish people. This type shows us how to master their environment even if it is to get what they want while depriving others.
10.1 Eights are Rebels
Eights are the Rebels and natural fighters of the Enneagram. They are the first type of the reactive group and see the world not through thoughts and feelings but through their instincts. Their world is one of basic black-and-white responses: friend or foe, for you or against you. Conflict, testing and fighting make up their world. In fighting they come to life, in domination they feel strong. In many organisations, these types will be natural leaders, devoted to protecting those on their side, while seeing off anyone regarded as an enemy. They are loud, fearless and confident, a boon for those they lead, but a problem for anyone against them.
10.2 A Summary of Eights
Group: instinctive or “relating” group
Label: rebels, fighters
Roles: the top dog, the tyrant, despot, dictator; the gladiator, the protector, the wheeler-dealer, the spoilt princess, the enfant terrible, the bad boy or girl, the tomboy, the black sheep of the family, the vigilante, the tribal leader
Drive: the need to be strong
Orientation: moving instinctively against others
Childhood orientation: an uncertain view whether their mother loved them or not
Problem: over-developed relating
Preoccupation: power; vengeance; seeking out enemies and destroying them
Sin: lust and shamelessness
Symbols: tough guy movie stars
Countries: Serbia; Spain
Routes to growth: compassion (by integrating characteristics of the Two)
Characteristics: controlling; dominant; in charge; persuasive; argumentative; convincing; put people at ease; socially
confident; shocking; cut to the chase; loud; flamboyant; wilful; gregarious; fearless; leaders
Strategy: the tough-generous character.
10.3 How to Recognise an Eight
Eights are one of the easiest of the personality types to identify and one of the hardest to deal with. Eights like to be top dog: they challenge others, stand up to others and unmask anything they see as unjust, unfair or hypocritical. In short, they burst into life when they can fight. Eights are devoted to those on their side, relentlessly hostile to those against them. Moods can shift dramatically though and anyone can be one minute an enemy, the next minute a protected friend. Eights love to test themselves and others. The edge of danger is their natural home. Many of their styles of dress are intended to shock. Eights have an unfailing instinct for knowing when others are behaving tyrannically, even though they do not see it in themselves.
10.4 The Eight at Work
In any team situation. Eights will be the official or unofficial leaders. If official, and accepted by the rest of the team, the team will become energised by the Eight’s leadership. If the Eight is not in a position of official or unofficial leadership, there is the potential for serious conflict. This might arise if one of the team is unfairly treated. The Eight will immediately leap to their defense. In an argument, Eights deny any point of view that doesn’t fit in with their own. Arguing is a power struggle which they are determined to win. An Eight tends to react loudly and excessively when little things go wrong in the team such as a faulty photocopier or a colleague who has missed an appointment. Big errors are however much more appealing as they offer the chance for an out-and-out confrontation.
10.5 The Eight-type Organisation
An Eight organisation has the following characteristics:
a) strong dynamic leadership
b) the style is loud, brash, up-front
c) a lot of bullying, shouting, table-thumping
d) management by decree
e) react to situations rather than proactively set goals
f) work is great when there is a buzz of activity, tension, arguing, fighting; not so great when it runs smoothly
g) “we work to overcome, not to acquire”
h) huge amounts of self confidence
) entrepreneurial: push problems and people aside to get what they want j) at all levels the style is direct and clear
k) control is absolute
1) little self-introspection or self-doubt; everything is black and white; decisions are easily and quickly made with no going back.
10.6 Noteworthy Eights
Some noteworthy Eights include:
a) Joan of Arc
b) Ernest Hemingway
c) Winston Churchill
d) actor, Jack Nicholson
e) Don Vito Corleone (of the film “The Godfather”)
f) John Lennon, Beatle
g) tennis player, John McEnroe.
10.7 “I Like to De-stabilise
Film star, Jack Nicholson, is an Eight and has sometimes been described as a man who inspires danger. This is how he talks about his relationships: “I suppose that my devilish persona on and off screen has been some kind of strategy. It was developed to manipulate. The way I am is about getting your own way. But I think things are better when they go my way. I’m not trying to control others, but I like taking them out of the control of others. I like to de-stabilise.”
To discover the Eights on your team, ask yourself: “Who always likes to get their own way?”; “Who is fearless?” and “Who tends to fly by the seat of their pants?”
11 9’s, the Need to be at Peace
If you look at the Enneagram model, you’ll find at point 9 the type that needs to be at peace. This Type is in the Instinctive group, those who relate to the world through their gut and instinct. From this type come some of the most easy-to-like and also some of the laziest people. This type shows us how to come to terms with their environment even if they are accused of lacking ambition.
11.1 Nines are Peacemakers
Nines are the Peacemakers of the Enneagram and stand at the apex of the Enneagram model. They come nearer than any other type to being free of the limitations of type and self. Nines put the needs of others before themselves, even to the extent of suppressing completely their own personal desires and ambitions. Their world is not distorted by conflicts, confrontation and hostility. They are easy-going, seek the least complicated route through human affairs and, in their own person, bring people together. They are natural mediators, facilitators and problem-solvers, the type that needs to do little in order to get a lot done.
11.2 A Summary of Nines
Group: instinctive or “relating” group
Label: peacemakers, reconciliators
Roles: the self-effacer, the plodder, the muddler, the diplomat, the co-ordinator, the healer
Drive: the need to be at peace, left alone
Orientation: moving away from relating to others
Childhood orientation: a positive view of both parents who met all their needs
Problem: out of touch with living with others
Preoccupation: avoiding conflict, avoiding too much hassle, being left alone in peace
Sin: sloth, laziness
Symbols: the dolphin, the gentle lamb; the siesta
Countries: Mexico; countries of the Caribbean
Routes to growth: action and commitment, (by integrating the characteristics of type Threes)
Characteristics: relaxed; cool under pressure; phlegmatic; difficult to annoy or upset; practical; down-to-earth; accepting;
unruffled; at ease with themselves; take time; at one with the pace of things; unhurried; likeable; difficult to change.
Strategy: the self-relying character.
11.3 How to Recognise a Nine
At first, it is difficult to notice a Nine because a Nine’s natural inclination is towards sell-effacement. Nines arc happy to just be and if that means making no effort to promote themselves, that’s fine by them. Nines go missing a lot. They like to wander off by themselves, feeling quite at home in natural surroundings. A Nine will dress unremarkably, merging with the way others dress. They don’t like to change what they wear too often. The lack of direction displayed by Nines is reflected in their speech patterns: they are mumblers and monotonous ramblers or say nothing. When they do speak, though, Nines reveal their true selves: simple, candid, unadorned, childlike, with plenty of common sense and no ulterior hidden motives.
11.4 The Nine at Work
Nines are torn between leading a life that is fully receptive to others and one in which they’re unsure about whether to bother to live at all. Somewhere in the middle of this dilemma is Work. Work – in the sense that Western industrialized
organisations understand it – is something that Nines would rather not have to think about too much. They already experience the joy and contentment of life. Why work for it as well? This can set Nines at odds with other people in the team. When others deliver on time, Nines are usually late; when others produce a six-page report, Nines make do with one, if any; and when others put their nose to the grindstone, Nines will find a reason to be off on an errand somewhere.
11.5 The Nine-style Organisation
A Nine organisation has the following characteristics:
a) a gentle management style
b) a culture of allowing, letting, facilitating and supporting
c) managers have time and make time
d) effortless effort
e) the KISS principle (Keep It Short and Simple)
f) “the art of management is to make complicated things simple, not simple things complicated”
g) common sense is prized above management theory
h) jobs are completed without taking longer than they need to
i) the tribal organization: all contributions are equal
j) a comfortable feel about the place
k) sticking it out is valued over quality or personal ownership
1) management go along with what others want
m) a steady rock in times of difficulty.
11.6 Noteworthy Nines
Some noteworthy Nines include:
a) Nelson Mandela
b) Winnie the Pooh from A.A.Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh”
c) Ronald Reagan, US President
d) crooner and film star, Bing Crosby
e) John Major, UK Prime Minister
f) Forrest Gump of the film “Forrest Gump”
g) Beatle, Ringo Starr.
11.7 “A Bit of Work, then Get Home and See the Family”
Cricketer David Gower played for England in 117 Tests. He was captain in 18 of the Tests, and presided over 8 successive defeats. This is how Gower, a Nine type, describes his laid-back style. “The common allegation was that I made everything look too easy. Which was great when we were winning because then everyone would say how graceful I was, but awful when it all went horribly wrong because then everyone would look at me. I fear playing cricket now because it seems too much like hard work. Nowadays, I like a game of tennis and if I do get involved in cricket, it’s only for the odd charity game. I’m not over-ambitious. I do a bit of work, bits and pieces, and then try to get home and see the family.”
To discover the Nines on your team, ask yourself: “Who always goes along with the majority?”; “Who finds the shortest route?” and “Who tends to be the most relaxed member of the team?”
12 Managing Personalities
A few years ago, the idea of managing people’s personalities would have been unheard of. As a result, in both personal relationships and relationships at work, people have suffered tor years from unresolved personality conflicts and misunderstandings. By working with a system such as the Enneagram, it is now possible to not only understand what makes others tick, but to help them “tick” better.
12.1 What the Enneagram Can Teach Us
A study of human personality types such as the Enneagram has three benefits for managers of people. Firstly, it enables them to identify the key characteristics that will affect how people do a job. We know, for example, that a One will do a piece of work conscientiously, while a Three will make it look good and a Seven will commit fully to it as long as it is new and interesting. This knowledge leads to the second benefit: helping us predict how people will behave in certain roles at work, for example, as team leaders, as team players, as selection interviewers, as learners. The third benefit of an understanding of a typology such as the Enneagram is that it can give us clues as to how people can best be developed and thus enable us to make better decisions about personal change and growth.
12.2 Predicting Performance
A knowledge of the Enneagram personality types gives us an insight into just how someone will “typically” behave in their jobs. Here is a basic overview of how each type values work.
A One values work that is purposeful, organised, well thought-out, practical and the result of effort.
A Two values work which involves collaboration with others.
A Three values work which helps them to achieve the admiration of others.
A Four values work which uses their talents.
A Five values work which collects information and leads to more knowledge.
A Six values work which is authorised by someone in power.
A Seven values work which gives them chance to explore new ideas, new possibilities, new openings.
An Eight values work which results in overcoming a problem.
A Nine values work when it requires little effort and flows naturally, easily and as part of the way things should be.
12.3 Understanding the Roles People Play
Once we know a person’s personality type, we can predict with varying levels of accuracy how well they will perform in different job roles. This is of huge value if you are selecting people for roles in a team or as team leaders, and will give you insight into how people will carry out generic roles such as time managers. Here, for example, are the 9 types of team role:
One: the person who reminds the team of its rules (the moral role)
Two: the person who most looks after team spirit (the relationship role)
Three: the person who wants to hit the goal (the winner role)
Four: the person who stirs things up and questions the way things are done (the creative role)
Five: the team’s eyes and ears (the observer role)
Six: the person who ensures that the team is working to plan (the checker role)
Seven: the person who makes sure all the little jobs get done (the go-fer role)
Eight: the person who inspires everyone else (the leader role)
Nine: the person who identifies with everyone else and keeps it all together (the co-coordinator role).
12.4 Paths to Growth or Stagnation
As well as offering insights into the way people will “typically” behave, the Enneagram also offers us pointers to how people can develop or stagnate depending on their psychological states. When our psychological state is positive, ie when we accept ourselves and are willing to take risks by moving beyond our type, then we are said to be “integrating” ie becoming more whole. When our psychological state is negative, ie when we lack self-awareness and are unwilling to take risks through fear, we are said to be “disintegrating”, ie becoming more fragmented and stuck. Notice how the Enneagram model helps us know the opportunities for growth in our Integrating points and the dangers of stagnation in our Disintegrating points.
12.5 Towards Wholeness
For each of us on the Enneagram, there is an Integrating point. When we move consciously to our Integrating point, we overflow with creativity. We become more attractive to others because in going against our natural type, we become more human. It is at these points that we start to fulfil our own potential. Here are our Integrating points:
When 1’s move to 7, they open up possibilities (“I’d like to” not “I must”).
When 2’s move to 4, they look inside themselves not just out to others.
When 3’s move to 6, they think about others not just about themselves.
When 4’s move to 1, they connect with solid facts not just emotions.
When 5’s move to 8, they are willing to act not just watch.
When 6’s move to 9, they trust others not just weigh them up.
When 7’s move to 5, they stop and think not just rush on.
When 8’s move to 2, they become compassionate not just power-seeking.
When 9’s move to 3, they act on what they want not just on what others want.
12.6 Towards Alienation
Just as we move one way round the Enneagram to fulfil our potential, we can also move in opposite directions when we are stuck. This can often happen when we are alone and not connecting with others, when we are tired from doing too much of one kind of activity, when we are fearful, and when we let our emotions get the better of us. For healthy individuals, the awareness of moving to these alienating points should be enough to act as a wake-up call to bring us back to normal behaviour. Here are these Disintegrating points:
When l’s move to 4, they get melancholic instead of practical.
When 2’s move to 8, they become bossy instead of helpful.
When 3’s move to 9, become indecisive instead of dynamic.
When 4’s move to 2, they become dependent instead of self-possessed.
When 5’s move to 7, they spew out ideas instead of thinking them through.
When 6’s move to 3, they charge ahead instead of weighing things up.
When 7’s move to 1, they stick to a rigid way instead of playing with many ways.
When 8’s move to 5, they become withdrawn instead of bold.
When 9’s move to 6, they become suspicious instead of trusting.
12.7 The Enneagram Prizes
For those who manage and work with others, (which is the vast majority of us), the Enneagram oilers 3 precious prizes:
a) the chance to see into other people’s hearts and minds and understand the way they think, feel, and relate. This awareness immediately makes us more understanding of the way people are. Instead of rejecting people for their attitudes and behaviour, this understanding allows us to accept them for who they are.
b) the chance to fully accept them. In the past, accepting people was not always easy. People were required to conform to standards, rules, and targets. That was all. Personalities were irrelevant and confusing. In the new age, people have become the key resource. Their individual contributions are the new added value. We need to understand and accept them.
c) the chance to help them grow and develop. When we fully understand and accept the way people are, we have the basis on which to make those decisions that will help them grow and develop, through the jobs we give them, the advice and counselling that we offer, and the person-to-person interactions that make up organisational life.
Working on people’s personalities as a route to getting the best out of them has enormous benefits. It works with what comes naturally. It focuses on their strengths. It develops their unique gifts for others. And it is wholly life -affirming.
13 Web Resources on Understanding Personality Types
The following instantly-accessible website resources provide more in depth information on some of the tips, techniques, and features in this book.
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Understanding Personality Types: Managing people through their personality traits
© 2012 Eric Garner & Ventus Publishing ApS
ISBN 978-87-403-0000-0
About Harrison Barnes
Harrison Barnes is the Founder of BCG Attorney Search and a successful legal recruiter himself. Harrison is extremely committed to and passionate about the profession of legal placement. His firm BCG Attorney Search has placed thousands of attorneys. BCG Attorney Search works with attorneys to dramatically improve their careers by leaving no stone unturned in a search and bringing out the very best in them. Harrison has placed the leaders of the nation’s top law firms, and countless associates who have gone on to lead the nation’s top law firms. There are very few firms Harrison has not made placements with. Harrison’s writings about attorney careers and placements attract millions of reads each year. He coaches and consults with law firms about how to dramatically improve their recruiting and retention efforts. His company LawCrossing has been ranked on the Inc. 500 twice. For more information, please visit Harrison Barnes’ bio.
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