THE MORE INFORMATION I HAVE
the better I can understand others

PREVIOUS: Levels of Development outline

SITE: Rob Fitzel, Canadian engineer

OUTLINE
● Our Enneagram personality Type is guided by a basic desire, the driving motivation behind most of our behavior, staying largely the same (though sometimes distorted) throughout the levels.
The qualities of each LEVEL apply to every TYPE – within it’s unique style, no matter how different the types are from each other.
SEE: “Freudian Enneagram”, connecting his id/ ego / superego to the EnneaTypes. (scroll down)

NOTE: The right hand column of the 3-part chart below identifies the different categories of THE JOURNEY, in relation to how much Presence or Essence we are in contact with at the various levels. Presence is: “Living in direct connection with what is fundamental and most genuine in us, freed of the social and childhood conditioning which originally caused us to abandon or hide our truest nature.”

USING the Enneagram LEVELS
PERSONALLY:  Understanding the characteristics of each Level shows us how we can move up thru them to become more balanced, open, present, relaxed & to take healthy responsibility – by being self-aware & self-honest. Most importantly we can learn about acting in line with our deepest inner truth.

● If we apply our higher qualities to dealing with stressful people & situations – using respect, compassion, gentle honesty, kindness,…. problems tend to be resolved more easily & effectively, which helps us to grow & improve, by accessing more of our natural potential.

● If we only focus on the negative, staying in the middle levels (6-9) we’re more likely to be dishonest with ourselves, beat ourselves up, blame others, complain, be easily agitated, play victim, & generally act against our inner wisdom.

● If we deal with life’s problems mainly using the lower qualities of our type – such as avoidance, being irresponsible, blaming others, being harshly critical of ourselves & others – then things are likely to stay bad or get worse.

At WORK : It’s very useful to figure out what level bosses or employees are functioning on, since it make all the difference to performance & morale.

● Negatively – those factors will indicate the amount of competition, distrust, excessive conflict, individual rewards, job insecurity, lack of clear working agreements and stress/tension.

● Positively – those factors include appreciation, clarity of roles and goals, collective accountability, direct communication, having the tools to do the job right, trust & an overall sense of being able to make a difference.

EXAMPLE of the levels expressed
RESPONDING to a problem: from most mature to least (1—–>9): Level 1: Be a Leader –> be a Doer –> be a Coper –> be an Opposer –> be a Manipulator (most dangerous, a con artist pretending to be a doer) –> Level 9: be a Victim

DEALING with a problem: from most mature to least (1—>9):
Type 1: See the issue as an opportunity –>
Merely cope with it –> Be antagonistic towards it –> Be angry at it –> Be Passive-aggressive –> Fear it (of the potential loss) –> Be anxious about it –> Grieve –> Level 9: Sink into apathy, or Die  (Edward E. Morler, M.B.A., Ph.D)

NEXT: Levels outlined (Part 3a)