Why Enneagram?

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Leadership is an elusive skill that organizations are looking for to help them eke out competitive advantages, foster positive cultures and cultivate innovation. A key element to quality leadership is self-awareness. The Enneagram is an extremely valuable tool for those leaders who seek to better understand themselves and their relationships with others. Leaders who understand themselves and others can inspire those around them to be empowered, motivated and compelled to rise to their full potential.

Understanding the Enneagram Personality System allows leaders to raise their emotional IQ. This translates into the ability to clearly see themselves, their own fears and motivations as well as gaining insights into those of their team members. Leaders with this kind of awareness can create cohesiveness and optimization in their teams. They understand what it takes to portray authentic, empathetic and effective styles of leading their teams.

For businesses and professional organizations that rely on the effective collaboration and synchronization of their teams to succeed, the Enneagram can be an invaluable tool for bonding, relating and productivity. High-functioning teams are often the foundation of success, while poorly functioning teams can be damaging to productivity, company culture and recruitment efforts. Teams thrive when team members understand each other's strengths and weaknesses and approach challenges armed with that knowledge and perspective. 

Through an understanding of personality (both our own and others), the Enneagram, when understood, can become invaluable for management dealing with their teams as well as co-workers dealing with their peers. The Enneagram Personality System is an especially powerful tool for teams that work closely together in high-pressure environments, such as law firms, medical organizations and fast-paced businesses. 

The Enneagram is a tool that allows us to see ourselves and others through the core motivations that drive us. An understanding of these core motivational patterns reveals how different personality types fall into and approach conflict. Recognizing these conflict styles and addressing the appropriate motivations and patterns driving the conflict make it an effective tool in facilitating amicable resolutions. 

As the saying goes, “Employees quit their managers, not companies.” Retaining and attracting top talent often hinges directly on the ability of the management team. Learning about personality through the Enneagram enables managers to gain deeper insight into the fears and motivations of the team as well as builds awareness of their own management strengths and weaknesses. Armed with this powerful information, managers can foster a happier workplace, a stronger culture and increased productivity and/or innovation. 

Managers who understand the power of this tool can apply it to understand how their employees prefer to work and what they might need to feel more engaged and satisfied in their roles. Knowledge of the Enneagram can also help managers tailor their communication to be more effective and supportive when conflicts arise.

Self-awareness is a powerful step toward growth and actualization of one’s goals. Our personality is one of the key filters, along with culture, language and experiences, with which we interpret reality. Much of our understanding of the world is a projection of this personality filter. Learning the patterns that arise out of your unconscious or barely-conscious fears and desires allows you to act more freely and effectively; it enables you to adjust when you catch yourself in self-defeating and unproductive patterns. The striking clarity that the Enneagram offers allows you to see and step back from reflexive behaviors that cause many avoidable misunderstandings, miscommunications and the problems that resultantly arise. 

The Enneagram can help sales and client-facing professionals be more effective in their interactions. Armed with self-awareness and a heightened ability to relate to the concerns and motivations of others can improve relationships with sales prospects and clients. Sales professionals can gain insights and a deeper understanding of diverse client personalities. Salespeople can learn to tailor their communications to address the specific motivations, apprehensions and preferences accordingly. 

The Enneagram can be instrumental in personal development for sales professionals themselves. By understanding their own Enneagram type, salespeople can become aware of their inherent strengths and weaknesses in selling situations. With this insight, they can focus on developing skills that balance their approach. This self-awareness fosters a more adaptable and skilled salesperson who can navigate various sales scenarios with greater ease and confidence.

The Enneagram is an amazing tool to help you deal with your current relationships with loved ones, those closest to you and those you are dating. Knowing and understanding your Enneagram personality type allows you to navigate communications and recognize potential compatibilities and potential incompatibilities. Having this insight can contribute to resolving issues in current relationships and also help you make more informed decisions about new potential long-term relationships.