Beyond the Plateau: An Approach to Executive Coaching
Using the Enneagram
B Mario Sikora
(This article originally appeared in the December 2003 issue of The Enneagram Monthly. Copyright 2003 Mario
Sikora/Enneagram Consulting and Training Center)
Since 1997 I’ve had the good fortune to be able to make my living by teaching the
enneagram to corporate clients. I have taught an introduction to the enneagram as part
of a management training program for a Fortune 100 company and developed
enneagram-based teambuilding and executive-coaching programs. In fact, the bulk of
my work has been in executive coaching and over the past five years I’ve put over 100
executives through my executive-development program. I’d like to share my observations
with "The Enneagram Monthly’s" readers and explain the process I’ve developed for
using the enneagram in corporate coaching.
This article will give an overview to my executive coaching process and set the
foundation for future articles that will explain different components of the model in depth.
These articles, will not, however, serve to teach anyone how to coach. Executive
coaching is as much art as it is craft. Each client, situation, and environment is unique
and the effective coach must have a set of skills and abilities that can be applied
creatively to the circumstances he or she faces. The enneagram in general, and this
application of it in particular, will not provide all of the answers—they simply provide a
useful framework upon which to hang your unique skills, abilities, and insights.
What the Client Wants
“We care about these things: profit, loss, metrics, and results,” said Fran, a vice
president of sales and marketing, at a meeting I recently facilitated. This comment was a
great reminder of the true goals of corporate executives: running a business as
effectively as possible so that they can maximize return and thus ensure the longevity of
the business. Doing so means that as many people as possible can have jobs and that
stock prices rise so we can all have the opportunity to invest sensibly and enjoy
retirement someday.
Notice that “self-development” is not included on Fran’s list, even though I know her to
be a deeply spiritual person. The absence of “self-development” as a corporate priority
leads to a problem for many people who try to take the enneagram into the workplace:
they focus on self-development as if that alone is inherently of value to business
executives. Self-development—becoming a “better” person in whatever subjective way
you want to define that—is important to most of the people I’ve worked with. That is not
what they are paying for, however, and it is not why they hire an executive coach. They
hire an executive coach because they want to change in a way that will improve their
ability to perform their jobs. And the change they make must be commensurate with or
greater than what they invest in time, money, and effort to make those changes. “Self-
development” is only a fortunate by-product of the work. If you are currently working as a
corporate coach or want to get into the field, never forget this.
The Plateau
There is a pattern that eventually happens to every executive that I call “the Plateau
Principle.” It works like this:
The behaviors generated or influenced by their personality or character type aid them in
their ascension up the corporate ladder. Generally, the 80/20 rule is in effect; 80
percent of their behaviors are effective and 20 percent are either ineffective or
detrimental, but that 20 percent does not get in the way enough to be a noticeable
problem. For example, early in his career a One’s perfectionism leads to high-quality
work and attention to detail that far outweigh his tendency to be critical of others and
occasionally self-doubting. At some point, due to factors such as the changing
environment caused by their ascension, their growing importance to the organization,
increased span of control, or the pressure of added responsibility, the 20 percent
becomes more important and is now seen as an impediment rather than a minor
character flaw in an otherwise promising employee. The One’s tendency to be critical is
now starting to alienate the subordinates he is supposed to motivate and his bosses are
starting to notice that his fear of making mistakes is causing him to be late on important
projects and avoid making decisions. He has now hit the plateau—he is not being
promoted anymore and people are starting to question whether he is capable enough
for the position he currently holds.
Hitting the plateau happens to almost every executive, though at varying stages of their
career, and how the executive responds to the plateau will determine the future of his or
her career. If they modify their behaviors they will increase “flexibility of response” (the
ability to adapt their behavior to fit the situation they face rather than habitually respond
as if every situation is the same—see text box at the end of this article).Flexibility of
response helps executives get off the plateau and continue to advance in their careers.
If they stubbornly hold onto and repeat current behaviors because those behaviors
worked in the past, executives will (at best) stay in their current level in the hierarchy or
(more frequently) be “transitioned” to a lesser role or out of the organization completely.
In working with executives of all personality types I have observed that there are
identifiable patterns of attitude and/or behavior that cause the career plateau; patterns
that I call “the Derailers.” When working with a client, once I know their type I can pretty
much predict where the problem is going be and what behaviors are holding the client
back. Unfortunately, a coach can’t simply tell the client what the problem behaviors are
and then start mapping out an action plan for her success. Doing so would be met with
defensiveness and cheat the client out of the learning experience of uncovering the
truths for herself. Instead, she must come to see the patterns herself through 360-
degree feedback and assisted self-reflection. Once the client sees the Derailers in
action and their impact on her performance, I guide her through a process of 1)
developing self-awareness; 2) deconstructing maladaptive behaviors and attitudes; and
3) reconstructing behaviors and attitudes in a way that facilitate developing flexibility of
response.
This reconstruction must always happen in a way that improves performance in a
relevant and measurable way. Therefore, rather than the coach merely telling an Eight
that by not verbally abusing his coworkers and subordinates he will be more effective
and a better human being, he must come to agree that not abusing people will make him
more effective because people will feel more comfortable pointing out errors in his
thinking, or share information that they would have otherwise not shared, or stop filing
complaints against him, etc.
The Derailers also have a useful predictive quality as well. That is, rather than simply
waiting for one of the Derailers to become a problem and then going about fixing it, the
smart executive will seek out these potential problems before they become actual
problems and head them off by modifying the attitudes that lead to the Derailers.
Resistance to Change and the Enneagram Coaching Matrix
Character-driven behaviors are deeply embedded in the psyche and the habits are
difficult to change. The word “character” comes from the same Greek word (charaxo)
that means “to engrave” and neuroscience supports that these behaviors and attitudes
are literally engraved in our brains.1
Changing these character-driven behaviors is difficult for a number of reasons, including:
• Inertia. Bodies at rest want to stay at rest.
• Homeostasis. Every organism (including humans) has a biological interest in
remaining in the state it is currently in.
• Conflicting commitments, or what I like to call “the Law of Mutually Attractive
Opposites”: We do what we do and think what we think because we have a seemingly
logical reason for doing so; any change in our thoughts or behaviors (even change for a
logical reason) is naturally going to be in conflict with the logical justification for the
original. This conflict—consciously seeing a valid reason to change but subconsciously
seeing an equally compelling reason to stay the same—often leads to paralysis and
abandonment of attempts to change.
Overcoming inertia and homeostasis is a matter of persistence and providing a
compelling enough reason to change: The other side of the law of inertia is that a body
in motion stays in motion; with effort and persistence the new behavior or thoughts can
take root, eventually become the new homeostatic position.
Dealing with conflicting commitments is more difficult, however. To help both clients and
other coaches identify these conflicts more easily, I’ve developed the Enneagram
Coaching Matrix, a model that identifies nine core beliefs for each type that create the
basis for resistance to change. Once the conflicting commitments are identified, I
generally take an approach similar to Hegel’s dialectics (identify the thesis and the
antithesis and then create a synthesis that includes both and resolves the conflict). I
then work with the client to create an action plan that supports the new attitude or
behavior (the synthesis) and monitor the action plan until the new behavior has taken
root.
The enneagram can inspire a tendency to prejudge and rush to unsupported
conclusions. Therefore, it is important to go into every coaching or consulting
intervention with a blank slate rather than with an assumption of cause or a
predetermined solution. That said, it is rare that the root cause of a Derailer or any other
developmental issue is not directly related to one of the aforementioned nine core
beliefs or “stances” for each of the types.
The enneagram is a geometric pattern set up to identify how psychological (and other)
phenomena relate to each other. For ease of use, I have set up the information one
must know about a given type on a grid, or matrix, with three factors on the horizontal
dimension and three on the vertical dimension. The horizontal factors are the personality
type in question and the two types connected to it by the internal lines of the
enneagram. (For example, the matrix for Type Eight would have Eight, Two, and Five as
its horizontal dimensions.) The vertical factors are the Strategies, the Accelerators, and
the Basic Qualities.
Bob Tallon and I wrote articles for the Enneagram Monthly in the past that
introduced the concept of the Strategies and the Basic Qualities. Briefly, a type’s
Strategy is the theme that runs through a person’s intermingling of thoughts, emotions,
and behaviors that define her character type (see Table One). The Basic Qualities are
innate qualities of mature or actualized people who are less encumbered by the patterns
of type (see Table Two). The Accelerators are a concept I developed to help people
bridge the gap between the Strategies and the Basic Qualities (see Table Three).
Table One: The Strategies
(© 2003 Mario Sikora and Robert Tallon)
Type One: Striving to be Perfect
Type Two: Striving to be Connected
Type Three: Striving to be Outstanding
Type Four: Striving to be Unique
Type Five: Striving to be Detached
Type Six: Striving to be Secure
Type Seven: Striving to be Excited
Type Eight: Striving to be Powerful
Type Nine: Striving to be Peaceful
Table Two: The Basic Qualities
(© 2003 Mario Sikora and Robert Tallon)
Type One: Objectivity
Type Two: Compassion
Type Three: Value
Type Four: Individuality
Type Five: Intuition
Type Six: Will
Type Seven: Joy
Type Eight: Vitality
Type Nine: Benevolence
Table Three: The Accelerators
(© 2003 Mario Sikora)
Type One: Acceptance
Type Two: Empathy
Type Three: Purpose
Type Four: Individuation
Type Five: Applied Knowledge
Type Six: Faith
Type Seven: Enjoyment
Type Eight: Discipline
Type Nine: Generativity
In future articles I will discuss the Strategies, the Accelerators, the Basic Qualities, and
the Enneagram Coaching Matrix in more detail and describe how they can be used in
coaching executives to overcome the effects of the Derailers. The rest of this article is
given to very brief descriptions of the Derailers for each of the types.
The Derailers for the Nine Personality Types
Type One Derailers
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 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 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 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.
Resentment
Hostility toward and downplaying of accomplishments of others; feeling that you are not
appreciated for your special qualities and others are getting all the credit or lucky breaks.
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 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 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 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.
Rough around the edges
Cultivating a coarseness of manner; getting enjoyment out of shocking people; rebelling
against the status quo.
Impatience and impulsiveness
Unwillingness to delay action or decisions; expecting others to act at your pace.
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.
_______________________________________________________________
1 When we execute a behavior or thought pattern, the synaptic connections between
neurons strengthen and increase in size. The stronger the connection becomes, the
easier it is to repeat the behavior and the more difficult it becomes to naturally do
something else. See Daniel Goleman’s books on emotional intelligence or Joseph
Ledoux’s books on the workings of the brain to better understand this process.
Using the Enneagram
B Mario Sikora
(This article originally appeared in the December 2003 issue of The Enneagram Monthly. Copyright 2003 Mario
Sikora/Enneagram Consulting and Training Center)
Since 1997 I’ve had the good fortune to be able to make my living by teaching the
enneagram to corporate clients. I have taught an introduction to the enneagram as part
of a management training program for a Fortune 100 company and developed
enneagram-based teambuilding and executive-coaching programs. In fact, the bulk of
my work has been in executive coaching and over the past five years I’ve put over 100
executives through my executive-development program. I’d like to share my observations
with "The Enneagram Monthly’s" readers and explain the process I’ve developed for
using the enneagram in corporate coaching.
This article will give an overview to my executive coaching process and set the
foundation for future articles that will explain different components of the model in depth.
These articles, will not, however, serve to teach anyone how to coach. Executive
coaching is as much art as it is craft. Each client, situation, and environment is unique
and the effective coach must have a set of skills and abilities that can be applied
creatively to the circumstances he or she faces. The enneagram in general, and this
application of it in particular, will not provide all of the answers—they simply provide a
useful framework upon which to hang your unique skills, abilities, and insights.
What the Client Wants
“We care about these things: profit, loss, metrics, and results,” said Fran, a vice
president of sales and marketing, at a meeting I recently facilitated. This comment was a
great reminder of the true goals of corporate executives: running a business as
effectively as possible so that they can maximize return and thus ensure the longevity of
the business. Doing so means that as many people as possible can have jobs and that
stock prices rise so we can all have the opportunity to invest sensibly and enjoy
retirement someday.
Notice that “self-development” is not included on Fran’s list, even though I know her to
be a deeply spiritual person. The absence of “self-development” as a corporate priority
leads to a problem for many people who try to take the enneagram into the workplace:
they focus on self-development as if that alone is inherently of value to business
executives. Self-development—becoming a “better” person in whatever subjective way
you want to define that—is important to most of the people I’ve worked with. That is not
what they are paying for, however, and it is not why they hire an executive coach. They
hire an executive coach because they want to change in a way that will improve their
ability to perform their jobs. And the change they make must be commensurate with or
greater than what they invest in time, money, and effort to make those changes. “Self-
development” is only a fortunate by-product of the work. If you are currently working as a
corporate coach or want to get into the field, never forget this.
The Plateau
There is a pattern that eventually happens to every executive that I call “the Plateau
Principle.” It works like this:
The behaviors generated or influenced by their personality or character type aid them in
their ascension up the corporate ladder. Generally, the 80/20 rule is in effect; 80
percent of their behaviors are effective and 20 percent are either ineffective or
detrimental, but that 20 percent does not get in the way enough to be a noticeable
problem. For example, early in his career a One’s perfectionism leads to high-quality
work and attention to detail that far outweigh his tendency to be critical of others and
occasionally self-doubting. At some point, due to factors such as the changing
environment caused by their ascension, their growing importance to the organization,
increased span of control, or the pressure of added responsibility, the 20 percent
becomes more important and is now seen as an impediment rather than a minor
character flaw in an otherwise promising employee. The One’s tendency to be critical is
now starting to alienate the subordinates he is supposed to motivate and his bosses are
starting to notice that his fear of making mistakes is causing him to be late on important
projects and avoid making decisions. He has now hit the plateau—he is not being
promoted anymore and people are starting to question whether he is capable enough
for the position he currently holds.
Hitting the plateau happens to almost every executive, though at varying stages of their
career, and how the executive responds to the plateau will determine the future of his or
her career. If they modify their behaviors they will increase “flexibility of response” (the
ability to adapt their behavior to fit the situation they face rather than habitually respond
as if every situation is the same—see text box at the end of this article).Flexibility of
response helps executives get off the plateau and continue to advance in their careers.
If they stubbornly hold onto and repeat current behaviors because those behaviors
worked in the past, executives will (at best) stay in their current level in the hierarchy or
(more frequently) be “transitioned” to a lesser role or out of the organization completely.
In working with executives of all personality types I have observed that there are
identifiable patterns of attitude and/or behavior that cause the career plateau; patterns
that I call “the Derailers.” When working with a client, once I know their type I can pretty
much predict where the problem is going be and what behaviors are holding the client
back. Unfortunately, a coach can’t simply tell the client what the problem behaviors are
and then start mapping out an action plan for her success. Doing so would be met with
defensiveness and cheat the client out of the learning experience of uncovering the
truths for herself. Instead, she must come to see the patterns herself through 360-
degree feedback and assisted self-reflection. Once the client sees the Derailers in
action and their impact on her performance, I guide her through a process of 1)
developing self-awareness; 2) deconstructing maladaptive behaviors and attitudes; and
3) reconstructing behaviors and attitudes in a way that facilitate developing flexibility of
response.
This reconstruction must always happen in a way that improves performance in a
relevant and measurable way. Therefore, rather than the coach merely telling an Eight
that by not verbally abusing his coworkers and subordinates he will be more effective
and a better human being, he must come to agree that not abusing people will make him
more effective because people will feel more comfortable pointing out errors in his
thinking, or share information that they would have otherwise not shared, or stop filing
complaints against him, etc.
The Derailers also have a useful predictive quality as well. That is, rather than simply
waiting for one of the Derailers to become a problem and then going about fixing it, the
smart executive will seek out these potential problems before they become actual
problems and head them off by modifying the attitudes that lead to the Derailers.
Resistance to Change and the Enneagram Coaching Matrix
Character-driven behaviors are deeply embedded in the psyche and the habits are
difficult to change. The word “character” comes from the same Greek word (charaxo)
that means “to engrave” and neuroscience supports that these behaviors and attitudes
are literally engraved in our brains.1
Changing these character-driven behaviors is difficult for a number of reasons, including:
• Inertia. Bodies at rest want to stay at rest.
• Homeostasis. Every organism (including humans) has a biological interest in
remaining in the state it is currently in.
• Conflicting commitments, or what I like to call “the Law of Mutually Attractive
Opposites”: We do what we do and think what we think because we have a seemingly
logical reason for doing so; any change in our thoughts or behaviors (even change for a
logical reason) is naturally going to be in conflict with the logical justification for the
original. This conflict—consciously seeing a valid reason to change but subconsciously
seeing an equally compelling reason to stay the same—often leads to paralysis and
abandonment of attempts to change.
Overcoming inertia and homeostasis is a matter of persistence and providing a
compelling enough reason to change: The other side of the law of inertia is that a body
in motion stays in motion; with effort and persistence the new behavior or thoughts can
take root, eventually become the new homeostatic position.
Dealing with conflicting commitments is more difficult, however. To help both clients and
other coaches identify these conflicts more easily, I’ve developed the Enneagram
Coaching Matrix, a model that identifies nine core beliefs for each type that create the
basis for resistance to change. Once the conflicting commitments are identified, I
generally take an approach similar to Hegel’s dialectics (identify the thesis and the
antithesis and then create a synthesis that includes both and resolves the conflict). I
then work with the client to create an action plan that supports the new attitude or
behavior (the synthesis) and monitor the action plan until the new behavior has taken
root.
The enneagram can inspire a tendency to prejudge and rush to unsupported
conclusions. Therefore, it is important to go into every coaching or consulting
intervention with a blank slate rather than with an assumption of cause or a
predetermined solution. That said, it is rare that the root cause of a Derailer or any other
developmental issue is not directly related to one of the aforementioned nine core
beliefs or “stances” for each of the types.
The enneagram is a geometric pattern set up to identify how psychological (and other)
phenomena relate to each other. For ease of use, I have set up the information one
must know about a given type on a grid, or matrix, with three factors on the horizontal
dimension and three on the vertical dimension. The horizontal factors are the personality
type in question and the two types connected to it by the internal lines of the
enneagram. (For example, the matrix for Type Eight would have Eight, Two, and Five as
its horizontal dimensions.) The vertical factors are the Strategies, the Accelerators, and
the Basic Qualities.
Bob Tallon and I wrote articles for the Enneagram Monthly in the past that
introduced the concept of the Strategies and the Basic Qualities. Briefly, a type’s
Strategy is the theme that runs through a person’s intermingling of thoughts, emotions,
and behaviors that define her character type (see Table One). The Basic Qualities are
innate qualities of mature or actualized people who are less encumbered by the patterns
of type (see Table Two). The Accelerators are a concept I developed to help people
bridge the gap between the Strategies and the Basic Qualities (see Table Three).
Table One: The Strategies
(© 2003 Mario Sikora and Robert Tallon)
Type One: Striving to be Perfect
Type Two: Striving to be Connected
Type Three: Striving to be Outstanding
Type Four: Striving to be Unique
Type Five: Striving to be Detached
Type Six: Striving to be Secure
Type Seven: Striving to be Excited
Type Eight: Striving to be Powerful
Type Nine: Striving to be Peaceful
Table Two: The Basic Qualities
(© 2003 Mario Sikora and Robert Tallon)
Type One: Objectivity
Type Two: Compassion
Type Three: Value
Type Four: Individuality
Type Five: Intuition
Type Six: Will
Type Seven: Joy
Type Eight: Vitality
Type Nine: Benevolence
Table Three: The Accelerators
(© 2003 Mario Sikora)
Type One: Acceptance
Type Two: Empathy
Type Three: Purpose
Type Four: Individuation
Type Five: Applied Knowledge
Type Six: Faith
Type Seven: Enjoyment
Type Eight: Discipline
Type Nine: Generativity
In future articles I will discuss the Strategies, the Accelerators, the Basic Qualities, and
the Enneagram Coaching Matrix in more detail and describe how they can be used in
coaching executives to overcome the effects of the Derailers. The rest of this article is
given to very brief descriptions of the Derailers for each of the types.
The Derailers for the Nine Personality Types
Type One Derailers
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 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 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 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.
Resentment
Hostility toward and downplaying of accomplishments of others; feeling that you are not
appreciated for your special qualities and others are getting all the credit or lucky breaks.
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 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 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 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.
Rough around the edges
Cultivating a coarseness of manner; getting enjoyment out of shocking people; rebelling
against the status quo.
Impatience and impulsiveness
Unwillingness to delay action or decisions; expecting others to act at your pace.
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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1 When we execute a behavior or thought pattern, the synaptic connections between
neurons strengthen and increase in size. The stronger the connection becomes, the
easier it is to repeat the behavior and the more difficult it becomes to naturally do
something else. See Daniel Goleman’s books on emotional intelligence or Joseph
Ledoux’s books on the workings of the brain to better understand this process.
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Sidebar: “Flexibility of Response” When I introduce my coaching clients to the enneagram, they often ask what exactly I hope to accomplish by introducing them to the concept of character type. Common questions include: “Are you trying to make me into some other type?” “Are you trying to get everyone to be one idealized type?” and “Are you trying to get me to get rid of the qualities that make me me?” I assure them that I am not able to do, nor do I desire to do, any of the above. The goal is to help them develop flexibility in the way they respond to the situations they face. We all have a tendency to rely on a relatively limited number of habitual responses to life, and while these responses are often successful, they sometimes backfire. To be effective at work (and to be generally happy in life) we need to respond to our circumstances in the appropriate way, not in the comfortable way. The “appropriate” response is the one that achieves the desired result without complications or compounding problems. I tell my clients that what they are striving for is Aristotle’s Golden Mean. Many people misunderstand what Aristotle meant by “golden mean,” believing that it is the midpoint between two opposing behaviors such as, say, action and patience. This interpretation misses Aristotle’s point, however. He was not saying that there is a scale from one to one hundred, with Patience at one end and Action at the other, and that we should strive for a score of fifty. He was saying that some situations call for action and others call for patience, and using the right amount of either to fit the situation was the ideal. Unfortunately, our habitual behaviors affect our ability to accomplish this. Untangling the attitudes that reinforce the habitual behaviors and practicing alternative behaviors helps us develop flexibility of response. |