THE ENNEAGRAM PERSONALITY TEST IN EXECUTIVE COACHING

The Enneagram is a personality tool which offers profound insights into the way people think, feel, and behave. It lays out distinct personality types, as well as the patterns and habits that characterize them, and as such provides great opportunities for growth and personal development.

This is why business leaders are turning to the Enneagram in order to learn more about themselves and their team members, and to better equip them for long-term success. In fact, co-workers who possess Enneagram knowledge understand each other’s internal motivations, resulting in improved team dynamics and working in a much more collaborative way. It can therefore be a great tool not just for 1:1 coaching but for team coaching sessions as well.

The Nine Enneagram Types

The enneagram describes three centres of human intelligence: the head, heart, and body. There are nine interconnected personality, and 27 subtypes – three versions of each of the nine types. Let’s look at the nine types in more details below:

1. The Reformer (also known as The Perfectionist)

Reformers are motivated by being ethical and right and thrive on rules and structure. They expect of others what they expect of themselves and struggle when rules are broken.

2. The Helper

Helpers are motivated by being needed and gaining approval. They are generous, caring and ‘people pleasing’ and have a tendency to know what’s going on in everyone’s personal lives. Their behaviour however can often hinder efficiency and they struggle with distractions.

3. The Achiever

Achievers are motivated by appearing successful and having a ‘winning’ drive. They provide a great first impression in performance-based positions but struggle with workaholism.

4. The Individualist

Individualists are motivated by expressing their uniqueness and authenticity and focus on interpersonal connections. They seek idealised experiences and struggle when comparing themselves to others.

5. The Investigator (also known as The Thinker)

Investigators are motivated by knowledge and competence as gathering information is their passion. They prefer to absorb information and only speak up once they’ve had chance to do so. They crave independence and thus struggle with group interactions.

6.The Loyalist (also known as The Guardian)

Loyalists are motivated by security and support and embody a trustworthy demeanour. They focus on thinking of what might could go wrong and prepare for that but struggle with self-doubt and indecisiveness.

7. The Enthusiast

Enthusiasts are motivated by happiness, always in the pursuit of fun. They have a great ability to reframe negatives to positives but fear being trapped in discomfort and sometimes struggle to finish what they start.

8. The Challenger (also known as The Boss)

Challengers are motivated by protecting themselves and running things even when they’re not in charge. They have a natural ability to make fast-paced decisions and are immune from worrying about what others think of their choices. They therefore struggle with being controlled and delegating to others.

9. The Peacemaker

Peacemakers are motivated by stability and peace of mind. They have an ability to see all sides of a situation, preventing disconnection amongst others and making them diplomatic mediators. However, they struggle with conflict and truly expressing themselves.

How can Distinctions Coaching help?

We all get trapped in invisible automatic patterns that we don’t see. But by shining a light onto your unconscious habits using the Enneagram, you can become more aware of those habits and expand your capacity to interact with the world in more effective ways.

At Distinctions Coaching, we can identify your Enneagram Type to help you create an understanding of yourself and others and break through any painful illusions of your type. We will help you discover the power of your inner critic and more importantly, how to disable its power, thus inspiring you to discover your true calling and effectively express these capabilities.

Curious about how we can help you further using the Enneagram? Contact Joanna Today.