The Nine Personality Types and Typical Performance Derailers
The model we use for identifying the personality types and their related strategies is called the
Enneagram (pronounced “ANY-a-gram”). The Enneagram diagram consists of a triangle and a
hexagon enclosed within a circle. These elements combine to create nine points along the circle
(see below). Though no one is sure when the first enneagram was drawn, it is thought to have its
roots in ancient Greece—thus its name (ennea is Greek for nine; gram means drawing). In the
early 1970s, the application of this diagram to understanding personality began to grow in
popularity, namely through the work of Claudio Naranjo, M.D., a noted Gestalt psychologist. Over
time, numerous schools of thought sprang from Naranjo’s work, and there are currently many
books available on the Enneagram of personality (as it came to be known).
Type One: The Administrator. Ones interact with the world by Striving to be Perfect. They are
often models of decorum, clear logic and appropriate behavior. They focus on rules, procedures
and making sure that they are always doing the “right thing.” When they overdo their Striving to
be Perfect they can become critical, judgmental and unwilling to take risks.
Derailers for Type One:
• Meritocracy: The belief that people should be judged solely on “merit” (being right; working
harder than others; scoring well on exams; accomplishing tasks on deadline; etc), rather than on
things like political connection, likeability, etc.
• Unwillingness to change: Belief that, since “I am right,” others should change, no matter who
tells me I’m wrong or that I am the one that needs to change behavior.
• Seeing the world in black and white: Too much focus on right and wrong; inability, or
unwillingness, to see life as complex and situational; unwillingness to bend or compromise.
• Not having fun: Being too “serious;” unwilling to relax and be light-hearted; maintaining a stiff
and detached façade.
• Perfectionism: Inability to let go of a decision, project, or assignment until the solution is
perfect; focus on the mistakes of others rather than their positive accomplishments.
• Always being right: Conviction that your solution is the only correct solution combined with
defensiveness about your position. Seeing suggestions and alternatives as affronts to your
position rather than being open-minded and looking for ways that your position can be enhanced.
Type Two: The Coach. Twos interact with the world by Striving to be Connected. They are often
selfless, caring and nurturing. They focus on helping others meet their needs; they build rapport
easily and enjoy finding a common bond with others. When they overdo their Striving to be
Connected they may fail to take care of their own needs and end up becoming emotionally
dependent on others.
Type Two Derailers:
• Breaking boundaries: The desire to “help” causes you to become intrusive and involve yourself
in the affairs of others, whether invited or not.
• Histrionics: Inappropriate and overly-emotional responses to circumstances; can be excessive
displays of anger, sadness, jealousy, excitement, etc.
• Playing favorites: Seeing some people as more worthy of your attention than others; an innate
tendency to rank others by perceived value and treat them accordingly. This can also lead to
abrupt treatment of people or issues that you do not see as important.
• Worrying about everyone else’s problems: Focusing on the needs and desires of other
people instead of your own in an effort to be helpful and appreciated.
• Needing other people to like you: Anxiety, conformity, self-sacrifice, and/or insincerity caused
by the need to have other people like you.
• Always taking support role: Resistance to leading from the front; preferring to lead from behind
by advising, supporting, or manipulating.
Type Three: The Pacesetter. Threes interact with the world by Striving to be Outstanding. They
work hard to exceed standards and to be successful in whatever they undertake. They place
high value on productivity and presenting an image of being a winner in whatever environment
they are in. When they overdo their Striving to be Outstanding they may become attention
seeking and may value image over substance.
Type Three Derailers:
• Spin and wanting to look good: The tendency to put the best possible face on things or events,
which at times involves leaving out of less attractive facts; can cause lack of trust from others.
• Taking on too much (“I’ll do it” syndrome): Desire to be highly accomplished and seen as
adding value leads to taking on too many projects.
• Not seeming “knowable”: Trying to be all things to all people leads to being unknown to all;
having no “nooks and crannies”; others sometimes perceive you as being superficial.
• Seeking recognition: Bringing attention to your accomplishments and importance.
• The Individual Contributor syndrome: Seeing other people as impediments who often slow
down your progress and ability to accomplish your goals; failure to nurture subordinates because
you prefer to “lead by example.”
Type Four: The Creative. Fours interact with the world by Striving to be Unique. They generally
approach their lives creatively, in fresh and interesting ways. They gravitate toward things and
experiences that are elegant, refined, or unusual. When they overdo their Striving to be Unique
they may feel misunderstood, and they may withdraw from others and become isolated.
Type Four Derailers:
• Rebellion for rebellion’s sake: Anger at not feeling “special” causes you to act our and rebel
against sources of authority and the status quo.
• Making it different: Desire to be seen as unique causes you to separate your way of doing
things from the way that everyone else does things, whether this adds value or not. This
sometimes means you make things more complicated than they need to be.
• Aggression: Frustration with feeling misunderstood or with others not behaving in the way you
expect sometimes leads to aggressive overcompensation.
• Insistence on being right: Insistence on being right; defensiveness about position; hostile
negativity toward other opinions or ways of doing things.
• Slow to decide: A lack of confidence leads to the inability or unwillingness to make decisions
quickly.
• Drama: Excessive displays of emotion; often making problems and slights out to be greater
than they really are.
Type Five: The Analyzer. Fives interact with the world by Striving to be Detached. They are
observant, logical and generally reserved. They focus on problem solving, innovative ideas, and
data gathering. When they overdo their Striving to be Detached they can end up being dull—out
of touch with their experiences and emotions.
Type Five Derailers:
• Thinking too much, doing too little: Preferring analysis to action and allowing that preference to
affect performance.
• Not nurturing relationships: Neglecting to make contact with others and identify needs;
avoidance of networking and social connection.
• Unaware of their surroundings and their own impact: Constant inward focus leads to not noticing
the effects of your actions (or lack of action) on those around you.
• Needing to show off intellect: Showing off knowledge; too much attention to detail, hyper-
verbosity in areas of expertise; “know-it-all-ism.”
• Not sharing information: Not communicating with others either through neglect or because you
simply don’t want to share.
Type Six: The Protector. Sixes interact with the world by Striving to be Secure. They find
security in being part of something bigger than themselves, such as a group or tradition. They
are careful, responsible and protective of the welfare of the group. They focus on maintaining
consistency, tradition and cohesion. When they overdo their Striving to be Secure they may fail
to take the risks necessary for high performance and settle for mediocrity.
Type Six Derailers:
• Pessimism: Focusing on problems rather then solutions; looking for what could go wrong rather
than what could go right; includes complaining.
• Suspicion: Doubt about the good will of others’ motives and agenda.
• Holding back: Fear of taking risks and resistance to assuming leadership and authority.
• Indecisiveness: Inability to settle on one course of action or to trust that your decision is the
correct one. Will sometimes use combativeness to feel certain.
• Combativeness: Instinctively taking the devil’s advocate role; hostility toward change and
“outsiders.”
• The “Dog with a Bone” Syndrome: Relentless persistence in making your point of view heard
and winning approval for your ideas.
Type Seven: The Energizer. Sevens interact with the world by Striving to be Excited. They are
upbeat, enthusiastic, optimistic, and curious. They focus on possibilities and options and
keeping others entertained. When they overdo their Striving to be Excited they may fail to follow-
through, become easily distracted, and act irresponsibly.
Type Seven Derailers:
• Talking too much: Dominating conversations; reluctance to listen to others or ask probing
questions; expressing uncensored thoughts to fill conversational voids.
• Not following through: Tendency to start the next project before the current one is finished.
• Hyperactivity and impulsiveness: Taking action before thinking things through; impatience;
nervous activity that makes others uncomfortable.
• Avoiding Unpleasantness: Failing to address or absenting yourself from unpleasant people,
situations, or tasks.
• Always wanting more: Never being satisfied with what you currently have; looking for additional
compensation, recognition, or reward; always looking to the next “treat.”
Type Eight: The Driver. Eights interact with the world by Striving to be Powerful. They are action-
oriented self-starters who love to be in charge. They focus on getting things done and
overcoming obstacles that may lie in their way. When they overdo their Striving to be Powerful
they may not adhere to the rules or norms that others expect them to follow and their behavior
can become uncontrolled.
Type Eight Derailers:
• Bullying: Verbally abusing co-workers, often in the guise of “tough love” or “straight talk,”
sometimes in an attempt to be helpful and sometimes for your own amusement.
• Volatility and Overwhelming others: Overwhelming others with anger or the intensity of your
opinions; aggressively pushing your agenda; focus on task at the expense of feelings.
• Always being right: Arrogance and unwillingness to hear feedback or other points of view.
• Needing to be the boss: An overwhelming need to be in charge, or at least feel like you are in
charge.
• Impatience and impulsiveness: Unwillingness to delay action or decisions; expecting others to
act at your pace.
Type Nine: The Peacemaker. Nines interact with the world by Striving to be Peaceful. They are
calm, pleasant, and likable. They focus on maintaining a sense of inner harmony by minimizing
their own needs and concentrating on the needs of others. When they overdo their Striving to be
Peaceful they can become passive, relying on others to make decisions for them.
Type Nine Derailers:
• Holding back: Unwillingness to assert oneself fully out of self-doubt or fear of appearing
arrogant.
• Avoiding conflict: Letting conflict or potential conflict fester unaired and unresolved.
• Passive aggressiveness: Getting your way through inaction; punishing others or proving points
indirectly; stating uncomfortable comments through sarcasm or “humor.”
• Fuzzy around agreements and details: Conveniently forgetting unpleasant details; relying on
non-affirmative responses to signal negatives.
• Losing temper: Letting unresolved conflicts and unexpressed anger build to a volcanic climax.
• The Nice Guy Syndrome: Seeming to lack the killer instinct and high self-regard often looked
for in leaders.
The model we use for identifying the personality types and their related strategies is called the
Enneagram (pronounced “ANY-a-gram”). The Enneagram diagram consists of a triangle and a
hexagon enclosed within a circle. These elements combine to create nine points along the circle
(see below). Though no one is sure when the first enneagram was drawn, it is thought to have its
roots in ancient Greece—thus its name (ennea is Greek for nine; gram means drawing). In the
early 1970s, the application of this diagram to understanding personality began to grow in
popularity, namely through the work of Claudio Naranjo, M.D., a noted Gestalt psychologist. Over
time, numerous schools of thought sprang from Naranjo’s work, and there are currently many
books available on the Enneagram of personality (as it came to be known).
Type One: The Administrator. Ones interact with the world by Striving to be Perfect. They are
often models of decorum, clear logic and appropriate behavior. They focus on rules, procedures
and making sure that they are always doing the “right thing.” When they overdo their Striving to
be Perfect they can become critical, judgmental and unwilling to take risks.
Derailers for Type One:
• Meritocracy: The belief that people should be judged solely on “merit” (being right; working
harder than others; scoring well on exams; accomplishing tasks on deadline; etc), rather than on
things like political connection, likeability, etc.
• Unwillingness to change: Belief that, since “I am right,” others should change, no matter who
tells me I’m wrong or that I am the one that needs to change behavior.
• Seeing the world in black and white: Too much focus on right and wrong; inability, or
unwillingness, to see life as complex and situational; unwillingness to bend or compromise.
• Not having fun: Being too “serious;” unwilling to relax and be light-hearted; maintaining a stiff
and detached façade.
• Perfectionism: Inability to let go of a decision, project, or assignment until the solution is
perfect; focus on the mistakes of others rather than their positive accomplishments.
• Always being right: Conviction that your solution is the only correct solution combined with
defensiveness about your position. Seeing suggestions and alternatives as affronts to your
position rather than being open-minded and looking for ways that your position can be enhanced.
Type Two: The Coach. Twos interact with the world by Striving to be Connected. They are often
selfless, caring and nurturing. They focus on helping others meet their needs; they build rapport
easily and enjoy finding a common bond with others. When they overdo their Striving to be
Connected they may fail to take care of their own needs and end up becoming emotionally
dependent on others.
Type Two Derailers:
• Breaking boundaries: The desire to “help” causes you to become intrusive and involve yourself
in the affairs of others, whether invited or not.
• Histrionics: Inappropriate and overly-emotional responses to circumstances; can be excessive
displays of anger, sadness, jealousy, excitement, etc.
• Playing favorites: Seeing some people as more worthy of your attention than others; an innate
tendency to rank others by perceived value and treat them accordingly. This can also lead to
abrupt treatment of people or issues that you do not see as important.
• Worrying about everyone else’s problems: Focusing on the needs and desires of other
people instead of your own in an effort to be helpful and appreciated.
• Needing other people to like you: Anxiety, conformity, self-sacrifice, and/or insincerity caused
by the need to have other people like you.
• Always taking support role: Resistance to leading from the front; preferring to lead from behind
by advising, supporting, or manipulating.
Type Three: The Pacesetter. Threes interact with the world by Striving to be Outstanding. They
work hard to exceed standards and to be successful in whatever they undertake. They place
high value on productivity and presenting an image of being a winner in whatever environment
they are in. When they overdo their Striving to be Outstanding they may become attention
seeking and may value image over substance.
Type Three Derailers:
• Spin and wanting to look good: The tendency to put the best possible face on things or events,
which at times involves leaving out of less attractive facts; can cause lack of trust from others.
• Taking on too much (“I’ll do it” syndrome): Desire to be highly accomplished and seen as
adding value leads to taking on too many projects.
• Not seeming “knowable”: Trying to be all things to all people leads to being unknown to all;
having no “nooks and crannies”; others sometimes perceive you as being superficial.
• Seeking recognition: Bringing attention to your accomplishments and importance.
• The Individual Contributor syndrome: Seeing other people as impediments who often slow
down your progress and ability to accomplish your goals; failure to nurture subordinates because
you prefer to “lead by example.”
Type Four: The Creative. Fours interact with the world by Striving to be Unique. They generally
approach their lives creatively, in fresh and interesting ways. They gravitate toward things and
experiences that are elegant, refined, or unusual. When they overdo their Striving to be Unique
they may feel misunderstood, and they may withdraw from others and become isolated.
Type Four Derailers:
• Rebellion for rebellion’s sake: Anger at not feeling “special” causes you to act our and rebel
against sources of authority and the status quo.
• Making it different: Desire to be seen as unique causes you to separate your way of doing
things from the way that everyone else does things, whether this adds value or not. This
sometimes means you make things more complicated than they need to be.
• Aggression: Frustration with feeling misunderstood or with others not behaving in the way you
expect sometimes leads to aggressive overcompensation.
• Insistence on being right: Insistence on being right; defensiveness about position; hostile
negativity toward other opinions or ways of doing things.
• Slow to decide: A lack of confidence leads to the inability or unwillingness to make decisions
quickly.
• Drama: Excessive displays of emotion; often making problems and slights out to be greater
than they really are.
Type Five: The Analyzer. Fives interact with the world by Striving to be Detached. They are
observant, logical and generally reserved. They focus on problem solving, innovative ideas, and
data gathering. When they overdo their Striving to be Detached they can end up being dull—out
of touch with their experiences and emotions.
Type Five Derailers:
• Thinking too much, doing too little: Preferring analysis to action and allowing that preference to
affect performance.
• Not nurturing relationships: Neglecting to make contact with others and identify needs;
avoidance of networking and social connection.
• Unaware of their surroundings and their own impact: Constant inward focus leads to not noticing
the effects of your actions (or lack of action) on those around you.
• Needing to show off intellect: Showing off knowledge; too much attention to detail, hyper-
verbosity in areas of expertise; “know-it-all-ism.”
• Not sharing information: Not communicating with others either through neglect or because you
simply don’t want to share.
Type Six: The Protector. Sixes interact with the world by Striving to be Secure. They find
security in being part of something bigger than themselves, such as a group or tradition. They
are careful, responsible and protective of the welfare of the group. They focus on maintaining
consistency, tradition and cohesion. When they overdo their Striving to be Secure they may fail
to take the risks necessary for high performance and settle for mediocrity.
Type Six Derailers:
• Pessimism: Focusing on problems rather then solutions; looking for what could go wrong rather
than what could go right; includes complaining.
• Suspicion: Doubt about the good will of others’ motives and agenda.
• Holding back: Fear of taking risks and resistance to assuming leadership and authority.
• Indecisiveness: Inability to settle on one course of action or to trust that your decision is the
correct one. Will sometimes use combativeness to feel certain.
• Combativeness: Instinctively taking the devil’s advocate role; hostility toward change and
“outsiders.”
• The “Dog with a Bone” Syndrome: Relentless persistence in making your point of view heard
and winning approval for your ideas.
Type Seven: The Energizer. Sevens interact with the world by Striving to be Excited. They are
upbeat, enthusiastic, optimistic, and curious. They focus on possibilities and options and
keeping others entertained. When they overdo their Striving to be Excited they may fail to follow-
through, become easily distracted, and act irresponsibly.
Type Seven Derailers:
• Talking too much: Dominating conversations; reluctance to listen to others or ask probing
questions; expressing uncensored thoughts to fill conversational voids.
• Not following through: Tendency to start the next project before the current one is finished.
• Hyperactivity and impulsiveness: Taking action before thinking things through; impatience;
nervous activity that makes others uncomfortable.
• Avoiding Unpleasantness: Failing to address or absenting yourself from unpleasant people,
situations, or tasks.
• Always wanting more: Never being satisfied with what you currently have; looking for additional
compensation, recognition, or reward; always looking to the next “treat.”
Type Eight: The Driver. Eights interact with the world by Striving to be Powerful. They are action-
oriented self-starters who love to be in charge. They focus on getting things done and
overcoming obstacles that may lie in their way. When they overdo their Striving to be Powerful
they may not adhere to the rules or norms that others expect them to follow and their behavior
can become uncontrolled.
Type Eight Derailers:
• Bullying: Verbally abusing co-workers, often in the guise of “tough love” or “straight talk,”
sometimes in an attempt to be helpful and sometimes for your own amusement.
• Volatility and Overwhelming others: Overwhelming others with anger or the intensity of your
opinions; aggressively pushing your agenda; focus on task at the expense of feelings.
• Always being right: Arrogance and unwillingness to hear feedback or other points of view.
• Needing to be the boss: An overwhelming need to be in charge, or at least feel like you are in
charge.
• Impatience and impulsiveness: Unwillingness to delay action or decisions; expecting others to
act at your pace.
Type Nine: The Peacemaker. Nines interact with the world by Striving to be Peaceful. They are
calm, pleasant, and likable. They focus on maintaining a sense of inner harmony by minimizing
their own needs and concentrating on the needs of others. When they overdo their Striving to be
Peaceful they can become passive, relying on others to make decisions for them.
Type Nine Derailers:
• Holding back: Unwillingness to assert oneself fully out of self-doubt or fear of appearing
arrogant.
• Avoiding conflict: Letting conflict or potential conflict fester unaired and unresolved.
• Passive aggressiveness: Getting your way through inaction; punishing others or proving points
indirectly; stating uncomfortable comments through sarcasm or “humor.”
• Fuzzy around agreements and details: Conveniently forgetting unpleasant details; relying on
non-affirmative responses to signal negatives.
• Losing temper: Letting unresolved conflicts and unexpressed anger build to a volcanic climax.
• The Nice Guy Syndrome: Seeming to lack the killer instinct and high self-regard often looked
for in leaders.
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