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SITE: Emotional Habits of the Nine Personality Types 

◆ Communication Tips for each Type

 

To ENHANCE Communication

Type 1
• Avoid using too many details
• Be more aware of your body language & the message you express through non-verbal behavior
• Don’t become your own worst critic or call attention to mistakes
• Show warmth & have some fun.

Type  2 
• Don’t obsess about people’s feedback
• Don’t overextend yourself to ‘be understood’
• Express your ideas more directly
• Keep a clearer boundary between you & the other person
• Realize that others might not respond the way you’d like.

Type  3 
• Consider your audience, not the acclaim you might receive.
• Don’t oversell yourself or let your drive to be the best make you unapproachable It can come off as cocky
• Express yourself in a truly genuine (honest) way
• Listen to others longer so that they feel heard

Type  4
• Balance emotion with logic
• De-intensify your need for deep connections with everyone
• Don’t get lost in the big picture – provide details so your creative ideas make sense
• Reduce self-referencing words & stories.

TYPE  5
• Ask more questions
• Don’t be afraid to tell stories
• Don’t present lots of heavy facts in a row
• Put some lightness in your communications
• Share more personal information & worry less about intruding on others.

TYPE  6
• Breathe before your react too quickly
• Don’t always ‘hear’ feedback as negative
• Focus on who you’re talking to rather than your own anxiety  • Question others’ motives less
• Trust your own insights more

TYPE  7
• Don’t sugarcoat difficult or uncomfortable topics
• Listen until others have completely finished talking
• Make sure you include solid info along with being amusing
• Tell fewer stories, ask more questions.

TYPE  8
•Be flexible and adaptable
• Consider other points of view
• Explain your thinking & instinctual reactions more fully
• Listen – even to people you don’t respect
• Soften your language & delivery when talking about difficult / painful topics.

TYPE  9
• Don’t get stuck on too many details – edit yourself
• Recognize that saying uh huh indicates agreement, even if that’s not what you intended
• Remember that your opinion & presence matters, so stick to your own ideas
• Share your own thoughts & feelings – sooner

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Ennea-WORDS to NOT use in Business
Compliant, Withdrawn, Dutiful are terms thrown around in business settings by inexperienced Enneagram users to explain certain Types or groups of Types.
Although these categories may be somewhat useful to people learning the Enneagram for their own personal development, they’re inaccurate & can be damaging when used in organizations.

In business these terms have a different spin than in ‘ennea-speak’. Companies trying to evaluate potential leaders would unfairly reject certain Types that seem to fit these terms. So, no matter how well an H-R person explained the Ennea-based meanings, most people would still make a negative mental translation.

In ‘organization-speak’:
• Compliant means being passive, easily pliable, accommodating
• Withdrawn means remote, contracted, not engaged
• Dutiful means docile, meek, submissive, subservient.
Who would want employees like this, much less as a leader? (More…)

Healthy–Unhealthy / Evolved–Unevolved / Developed–Undeveloped
This is another set of Enneagram terms that can cause problems in organizations. Too many leaders focus on judgmental words for Types
rather than the psychological & spiritual growth the Enneagram is actually about

◆ Enneagram professionals in the workplace need to made it clear that people of the same EnneaType can be very different from each other, based on their Wing, how they use their Arrows, & their level of personal development or self-mastery. The focus should be on helping workers develop their hopes & goals, not just using Type as a label.

◆ When people become more psychologically & spiritually mature they’re much more accepting & discerning, less critical & judgmental.
√ Judgment is forming an opinion or an evaluation in which two things are compared & one of those two is considered better

√ Discernment is sensitivity to nuance, insight, perceptiveness – which can lead to wisdom. Looking at a person’s Level of Development & self-mastery is being discerning. Harsh & judgmental terms are not.
Naturally this applies to individuals (us) as well as businesses.

NEXT : Enneagram flaws in ALL – Intro