Pt. 3: The Enneagram and Leadership

In Part 1 of the Enneagram for Entrepreneurs series, I gave an overview of the nine types. In Part 2, I explained how you can use the Enneagram in your business.

Now, we're going to dive in deeper, identifying each Enneagram type's communication and leadership styles.

It's important to own who you are and not try to be someone you're not, especially when leading employees, collaborating with clients, and representing your business.

It's tempting to try and be a specific "ideal" leader—maybe modeling a larger-than-life character we saw in a movie or even an enneagram type we wish we were instead. However, people will see right through a facade.

Do you and your business a favor by being the leader you're meant to be, not the one that seems appealing. Tapping into your strengths and finding ways to make specific improvements, (not personality changes), is the best way to find balance in yourself and your business.

So, let's talk about how each Enneagram type approaches leadership and how you can use your gifts to become an effective entrepreneur.

The Enneagram leadership styles

Each Enneagram type has a "talk" style that directly reflects their personality. Understanding how you communicate as a leader lets you hone in on your gifts and become a more effective communicator.

Let's dive into each type's communication strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to become stronger leaders.

Type One: Preaching

Leadership strength: Type Ones are excellent at conveying important yet complex information while speaking from a place of honesty and fairness.

Leadership weakness: P.S. No one likes being preached at. Being right or wrong focused, Ones can have a hard time forming an even line of communication. They tend to talk more "at" people, correcting them rather than listening or finding middle ground.

Solution: Make sure to open the floor to others and allow other opinions into the conversation. (Sometimes being right isn't worth burning bridges.)

Type Two: Helpful

Leadership strength: Type Twos are very accomodating in conversation and business.

Leadership weakness: Sometimes Twos can jump to fixing things immediately without fully understanding the problem or hearing out a client. They also tend to bite off more than they can chew.

Solution: Communicate your needs and prioritize your tasks—not what the other person wants to hear.

Type Three: Engaging

Leadership strength: Type Threes are great at reading the room and communicating in ways that are engaging and appropriate. As performers turned chameleons, they have an easy time talking with a variety of people in any setting they're thrown into.

Leadership weakness: However, it can be just as easy to lose your grounding and sense of identity. Changing faces so much can cause a lack of connection and inauthenticity to show.

Solution: Communicate from a place of honesty, and don't be afraid to show the real you. Let people know they can trust you and are safe being honest with you.

Type Four: Lament

Leadership strength: Type Fours are very feeling-oriented. People probably feel very easy approaching you and can get to the deep root of things.

Leadership weakness: Going by feelings can lead to taking things too personally and getting in the way of communication by becoming closed off. Their focus on the negative can harm morale and may cause you to overshare with clients.

Solution: But with healthy awareness, you can lean into the positive attributes of creativity and have engaging, humorous, and unique conversations with clients. Use your gift of empathy and understanding to be a human leader.

Type Five: Presentational

Leadership strength: Fives are fantastic at presenting information, being objective, and remaining on neutral ground. Being very nonemotional keeps things professional and makes them great to confide in.

Leadership weakness: However, Fives' hyper-focused personality can alienate team members when working on projects together. In addition, their need for privacy and hoarding of sources and information can also alienate those under them.

Solution: Empower your team and keep information flowing by answering questions and allowing them to know you (and what you know).

Type Six: Questioning

Leadership strength: Sixes are always asking questions and looking for information that someone else may have overlooked. As a leader, they want to be certain that a decision will not take down the team or business and are always in worst-case-scenario thinking mode.

Leadership weakness: This intense fear and indecisiveness can keep projects from moving forward. They may postpone responding to that proposal email or reschedule that meeting.

Solution: Sixes, sometimes the best decision is simply a made decision. There are always things that can go wrong, but staying in place will only breed you the result you're currently getting. Trust your own judgment and have faith.

Type Seven: Storytelling

Leadership strength: Type Seven leaders are eccentric and outgoing. You can get your people going. Sevens tend to be more collaborative than overbearing leaders (like Threes can be).

Leadership weakness: However, they can have difficulty seeing projects through, which leads their team to follow in the bad habit. Their optimism may lead them to fit too much into their schedule.

Solution: Slow down and focus on the present, the projects and meetings you've committed to, and see through a vision from start to finish. There will be time for other plans.

Type Eight: Commanding

Leadership strength: Type Eight leaders are bold, authoritative, and go-getters. They bring energy and zest to tasks and meetings with their contagious passion.

Leadership weakness: Eights should be careful of aggression and domination in their business. Are you too quick to be confrontational when it's unnecessary? Are you steam-boating over other people's ideas or contributions?

Solution: Make room for your team at the table. Encourage ideas to flow and allow others to speak up. Also, when it comes to clients, make sure roles are understood and communication is even.

Type Nine: Epic saga

Leadership strength: Type Nines are great at creating harmony. Their mellow and easy-going attitude makes them approachable, and being around them stress-free.

Leadership weakness: Avoidance can be an issue in business when it's necessary to stand up for yourself. Sometimes clients will request outside the contract or be upset about things they shouldn't. Or, they need to have a difficult conversation with an employee who has been abusing company hours.

Solution: Find your grounding and get to the point. Don't be afraid of upsetting the peace and understand that if you're upset about something, the peace has already been damaged. Speaking up is how it begins to be repaired.

Identify struggles and own your gifts

The more you learn about yourself, the easier people can connect with you and your business. Each Enneagram type plays an important role in creating balance and variety in the world. Understanding where you fit into the picture will allow you to lean into your gifts and what your business has to offer.

Celebrate who you are by giving yourself the opportunity to be the best version of yourself. In turn, you're giving your business its best chance at success.

Ready to apply what you've learned and identify your business's personality and brand archetype? Contact Selah Creative Co. to schedule a 120-minute brand strategy session today!