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The Introduction

Jane K has attended all the expensive seminars by all the top motivational gurus that came to town. All in, she must have spent a bomb paying for all those seminars. While she found that these seminars created in her an immediate feeling of euphoria which drove her to change her mindset and behavior, she discovered that these changes don’t last long at all. She was hooked on more and more of such high energy trainings with short term results.

The Enneagram is a modern powerful psychological tool derived from ancient wisdom describing nine basic personality types or styles. It gives us answers to our perpetual questions such as “Who am I?” “Why don’t I feel fulfilled?” “Why do I make the same mistakes again and again?” “How can I become my best self?” “How can I improve my effectiveness in my work and in my relationships?”

The Enneagram detail the inner motivations, thought patterns and basic beliefs of each of the nine personality types. It recognizes how human beings have sincerely different versions of reality. No version is presented as better than another, just different. Each style has its own strengths and talents as well as limits, pitfalls, and blind spots. Each style spells out how you are unique, and shows you your own personal roadmap to your better SELF.

The Enneagram does not put us in “boxes”, but rather show us which “box” we unconsciously and blindly put ourselves in. More importantly, it teaches us how we can move out of our “box” if we wish to. It points out to our higher capabilities – what we are good at, what creative resources are at our disposal when we are happiest and most awake. It is a major tool in living more fully in our day to day and future world.

The Enneagram is a system of psychology which is neither inherently esoteric nor spiritual. Many people, however, find that it has spiritual depth that helps them diagnose how they relate to their inner self and to the expression of that inner being. For this reason, the Enneagram finds itself a relevant place in the corporate world as it is in self awareness and spiritual programs.

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Know Your Enneagram Personality Styles

How do you ascertain your Enneagram style? Self-observation is the key to determining our Enneagram type. Each of the nine personality types fixates our attention in a habitual way. Throughout each day, it would be useful to “catch ourselves” on the feelings and thoughts passing though our bodies and minds.

Go through this list of questions and pick up the box which most reflects (i.e. with most Yeses) what's mainly going on in your head and body.

 

Are you focused on high standards and ideals and driven to fix things? Does your attention naturally go to noticing what’s right or wrong and a desire for continual improvement? Do you have a voice in your head like a tape recorder that continually criticizes you for what you do wrong? Are you terribly angry when someone you hold responsible for doing a job or a task doesn’t come up to your expectation?	You may be Type One
Are you focused on service, relationships and helping others? When interacting with others, do you most times intuitively know what someone else needs but is slow in voicing out your own needs, even to yourself? Do you think of yourself as a warmhearted, friendly and generous person? Do you believe relationships are very important and you work hard to develop them?	You may be Type Two
Do you have a stronger urge to succeed than most people that you know of? Are you competitive, focused on efficiency and achieving goals? Do you aspire to be the best in your field? Do you believe that a person’s value is based on what he or she has done or accomplished? Do you like to portray yourself as a successful person?	You may be Type Three
Are you focused on what's missing in your life and what would be better if something is different? Are you moody and often have trouble getting past your melancholy? Do you consider yourself to be a sensitive person who finds deep meaning in an authentic relationship? Do you frequently feel that people generally don’t understand you?	You may be Type Four
Are you rather reserved and somewhat concerned about what people expect from you? Do you consider yourself to be a deep analytical thinker and focused on learning different aspects of an issue? Do you enjoy observing situations and events rather than being in the middle of them? Do you tend to withdraw from others' emotions?	You may be Type Five
Are you a good planner of events who is able to pick on what could possibly go wrong (worse case scenarios) and work to counter them? When interacting with people are you concerned about their hidden motives? Are you suspicious of authority yet are committed and loyal to organizations to which you belong?	You may be Type Six
Are you primarily enthusiastic, focused on the future and the possibilities that are open to you? Do you continuously seek new and stimulating people, ideas or events to keep your life exciting and moving? Do you have an active mind that move back and forth between ideas? Do you rather avoid the nitty-gritty of details or repetitive task?	You may be Type Seven
Do you place a high value on being strong, honest and reliable? Do you tend to protect innocent people, especially when you feel an injustice has been done? Do you find it hard not to display your feelings when you are angry? Are you usually the one who will want to take charge when you notice no one is taking that responsibility?	You may be Type Eight
Do you seek consensus and cooperation? Do you tend to seek and listen to all viewpoints before you make a decision or take action? Are you good at helping people resolve their differences because of your ability to see different viewpoints? Do you dislike conflict and takes a lot out of you to show your anger? Do you prefer not to be in the spotlight?	You may be Type Nine

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The Enneagram in Organizations

Organizations are run by humans. Every organization, large or small, faces four main challenges with regard to managing their human resources:
 

1.	Recognizing mindsets and behaviors that drive and prevent top performance
2.	Uncovering and capitalizing on individual and collective strengths of the workforce
3.	Helping leaders and managers understand how to break employees out of ineffective and nonproductive behaviors
4.	Developing and implementing effective actions plans in line with the mission of the organization

What can the Enneagram do for your organization?
The Enneagram plays a central role in change management. Before change can take place, there has to be an awareness first of the current situation that needed to be changed. Awareness comes before change. It makes explicit the fact that people are different, and different personality types need to be handled or managed differently. The Enneagram helps leaders understand that there are nine different perspectives, nine distinct sets of values, nine different communication styles, nine ways of solving problems, nine different ways of being that are all equally useful and valid. All of the types have something necessary and positive to contribute to building a balanced, joyous and productive work environment.

Bringing Long Lasting Powerful Improvements to the Organization

The following are several specific ways that understanding and applying the principles of the Enneagram can help improve your organization:

Making the workplace more productive and joyous
Give employees the freedom, self-knowledge and trust to reach organizational goals on their own.

Maximizing individual and group skills and talents
Discover which of the nine personality types are at their best in different situations and manage them accordingly.

Keeping the best employees
Find the right people for the right positions and ensure their long-term career development and fulfillment.

Streamlining organizational communication
Identify and eliminate barriers to good communication.

Enhancing teamwork to reach goals with greater efficacy
Identify ways to build a more effective, balanced team.

Boosting positive thinking and reducing workplace negativity
React constructively to conflicts and confrontation.

Increasing tolerance and improving communication
Benefit from the diversity and different points of view inherent in the employees.

Improving employee morale
Understand which work scenarios motivate or frustrate the different nine personality types.

Building a dynamic, learning organization
Develop habits for continued long term individual and group growth.

Influencing customers better
Determine the appropriate approach for meeting customers’ needs and retaining their loyalty.

Some of the large organizations that have used the Enneagram include Adobe, Amoco, AT&T, Avon Products, Boeing Corporation, The DuPont Company, e-Bay, Prudential Insurance (Japan), General Mills Corporation, General Motors, Alitalia Airlines, KLM Airlines, The Coalition of 100 Black Women, General Mills, Kodak, Hewlett Packard, Toyota, Procter & Gamble, International Weight Watchers, Reebok Health Clubs, Motorola, Prudential Insurance, Sony, American Press Institute, Coca Cola (Mexico), Young & Rubicam, Aventis, and Conoco-Philips. Interestingly according to a reliable source, the CIA learns the Enneagram to predict the future behaviors of foreign political leaders.

We can customize corporate training programs to help organizations obtain the above benefits under the following headings:

• Improving Corporate Communication
• Performance Management
• Creating High Performing Teams
• Leadership Development
• Conflict Management and Resolution
• Changing Mindset
• Enhancing Emotional Intelligence
• Improving Sales
• Enneagram for Coaching and Counseling
• Organizational Development (Appreciative Inquiry with the enneagram)

These are usually 2 day training programs which may be followed by individual or group coaching.

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What They Say About the Enneagram

"You've never heard of Enneagrams? This system of personality analysis, once faddish pop psychology, is becoming a personnel tool for corporate America." -Business Week
"What sets the Enneagram apart is that it contains such detailed, useful information about what drives us to behave as we do. It's valuable not just for those seeking to understand themselves but also as a source of insights into one's friends, colleagues, and even enemies." ¬Esquire

"Now after lurking on the fringes of mysticism and pop psychology for more than 20 years, the Enneagram is turning mainstream and respectable. Last year the Stanford University School of Business course called "Personality, Self-Awareness and Leadership" focused on the Enneagram for the first time; the class proved so popular that it will be expanded from 40 to 50 students next winter. The CIA now uses the Enneagram to help agents understand the behavior of individual world leaders. The U.S. Postal Service recently turned to the Enneagram to help employees resolve conflicts. Clergy from the Vatican signed up for an Enneagram seminar last year. And the First international Enneagram Conference, with 1,400 participants who came to Palo Alto, Calif., from as far away as Japan, was cosponsored by Stanford Medical School's department of psychiatry." - Newsweek

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