THE ENNEAGRAM

At its most basic, the Enneagram is a personality assessment that has nine personality types. Each type—for example, Type 7 (or the Enthusiastic Visionary), or Type 1 (the Strict Perfectionist) or Type 5 (the Quiet Specialist)—has its own unique strengths and challenges, and each person within that type has their own blend of these group characteristics.

We all have a dominant personality type and exhibit the traits of this type along a continuum, either showing the healthier side of our personality, or spiralling down into the more unhealthy and reactive patterns of our natures.

For example, take the ever-giving Type 2 (the Considerate Helper), who at their best is highly altruistic and unselfish, thriving on giving to others, but in times of stress, can spiral downwards to become intrusive in their help or play the martyr, or feel bitterly resentful because they feel taken advantage of by others.

The power of the Enneagram lies in its subtle complexity, in its flexibility, and in its open-endedness, allowing it to take into account the myriad characteristics of human personality, how these traits blend in each person, and how they change depending on circumstances.

The Enneagram goes much further than this though. Other personality assessments tend to focus on behaviour, looking at what certain personality types are likely to do. While the Enneagram does shed light on each type’s typical behaviours, it goes deeper than this, by showing what drives that behaviour.

The Enneagram is all about the WHY. It delves into our motivations and explains why we do the things we do. It offers profound insights into what makes us tick, such as the unconscious fears buried deep in our psyches that affect our everyday decisions.

Like the success-driven Competitive Achiever—Type 3 on the Enneagram—whose motivation comes in the form of always being the best. If a task will give them an opportunity to stand out from the crowd and shine, they’ll be all over it. Why? Because deep down, their basic fear is being of no worth or value.

Whereas the Active Controller, the Enneagram’s Type 8, is driven by a need to be strong and avoid feeling vulnerable, and so they seek to control everyone and everything around them to avoid feeling helpless, controlled or powerless. It’s understandable therefore, why the Active Controller is assertive, self-confident, and often, domineering as they seek unconsciously to control their worlds.