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Eneagrama by Hermano Reis

Talk and teamwork

The Enneagram at work

Compare how each type is described under pressure, in conversation, and in collaboration. Use the notes to watch your own part on the team. The descriptions do not decide someone's job or role.

1 · Reformer

A leader’s job is to set clear goals and help people reach the highest quality they can.

Strengths

  • · Leading by example
  • · Focus on quality
  • · Search for excellence
  • · Organization
  • · Coherence and honesty
  • · Practical sense

To develop

  • · Reactivity and excess criticism
  • · Defensiveness when criticized
  • · Little awareness of deeper anger
  • · Control and stubbornness
  • · Impatience with other people’s details
2 · Helper

A leader’s job is to see the team’s strengths and gaps, motivate people, and make it easier to reach the goal.

Strengths

  • · Strong relationships
  • · Empathy
  • · Generosity and helpfulness
  • · Optimism
  • · Sees other people’s needs
  • · Can motivate others

To develop

  • · Hard time saying no
  • · Anger when unrecognized
  • · Doesn’t know own needs
  • · Overemphasis on relationships
  • · Does too much and waits for a return without admitting it
3 · Achiever

A leader’s job is to create a room where results can happen, with clear goals and structure.

Strengths

  • · Orientation to success
  • · High energy
  • · Reads what people want
  • · Gets through problems
  • · Enterprise and confidence
  • · Gets results

To develop

  • · Extreme competitiveness
  • · Little access to feeling
  • · Impatience with other people’s emotion
  • · Believing the image is the self
  • · Little time for personal relationships
4 · Individualist

A leader’s job is to build organizations that give meaning and purpose, so people want to do excellent work.

Strengths

  • · Inspiration and creativity
  • · Introspection
  • · Expressiveness and intuition
  • · Compassion
  • · Search for excellence
  • · Meaning through relationships

To develop

  • · Intensity and drama
  • · Temper
  • · Boredom comes easily
  • · Guilt and a hard time with criticism
  • · Reserve and extreme criticism of others
5 · Investigator

A leader’s job is to develop the organization through research, deliberation, and planning, so the parts fit a shared mission.

Strengths

  • · Analysis and objectivity
  • · Systematizing
  • · Detailed planning
  • · Excellence in a crisis
  • · Persistence
  • · Specialization

To develop

  • · Distance
  • · Excess independence
  • · Not saying what they think
  • · Underestimating relationships
  • · Not exchanging information
  • · Stubbornness and criticism
6 · Loyalist

A leader’s job is to solve problems by creating a room where each person feels part of the solution.

Strengths

  • · Responsibility and cooperation
  • · Strategic thinking
  • · A sharp mind
  • · Perseverance
  • · Anticipating problems
  • · Loyalty to the team

To develop

  • · Chronic worry
  • · Aversion to ambiguity
  • · Analysis paralysis
  • · Too much caution or too much risk
  • · Submission or extreme distrust
7 · Enthusiast

A leader’s job is to get people excited and creating so the organization can take real opportunities.

Strengths

  • · Imagination and creativity
  • · Enthusiasm and curiosity
  • · A captivating presence
  • · Multitasking and a quick mind
  • · Handling disconnected data

To develop

  • · Impulsiveness and scatter
  • · Avoiding painful situations
  • · Uneven empathy
  • · Reactivity to criticism
  • · Contempt for routine
  • · Rationalizing the negative
8 · Challenger

A leader’s job is to move the organization with decision, put capable people in the right roles, and give autonomy to those who are competent.

Strengths

  • · Directness and strategy
  • · Getting through obstacles
  • · Drive and protection
  • · Pushing projects forward
  • · Supporting other people’s success
  • · Self-confidence

To develop

  • · Control and demand
  • · Impatience with slower people
  • · Contempt for weakness
  • · Expecting too much of self and others
  • · Feeling used when the other doesn’t deliver
9 · Peacemaker

A leader’s job is to help fulfill a shared mission by creating a structured, harmonious place to work.

Strengths

  • · Diplomacy and warmth
  • · Inclusion and cooperation
  • · Lasting relationships
  • · Patience
  • · Support for others
  • · A wide view from the operational

To develop

  • · Avoiding conflict
  • · Not saying what they think
  • · Forgetting priorities
  • · Procrastination and indecision
  • · Little apparent energy
  • · Passive-aggressive under pressure