Earlier this week we learned what the Enneagram is and how it can potentially impact your leadership of students, as well as other relationships.
In addition to Darrin Patrick, Carey Nieuwhof, and Beth McCord, whose writings I referred to in the previous article, Greg Curtis of Eastside Christian Church, CA, also writes a lot of great blogs that I follow. How to Best Relate to Guests Based on Their Enneagram describes how the Enneagram can relate to church hospitality. I think his observations can be adapted to any ministry area, and I’ve integrated his observations, as well as collective insights from both Patrick and McCord.
Also listed are a few examples, both “good” and “bad,” of each personality type. Obviously, for many of these, they are only guesses based on their observed personality traits, but it should give you a pretty good idea overall of each type.
Type 1: The Moral Perfectionist (Reformer)
- At Her Best: rational, conscientious, productive, principled, idealistic, self-disciplined
- At Her Worst: judgmental, inflexible, controlling, uptight, jealous
- Her Primary Focus of Attention: seeing error to reform and improve
- Her Core Motivations:
- Fear—being bad, wrong, irresponsible, or unredeemable;
- Desire—to have integrity, balance, virtue, ethics;
- Weakness—resentment;
- Longing—to be seen as “good”
- How She Sees the World: a place that needs to be managed by following procedures, upholding values and standards
- How She Sees the Church: a transaction
- Do This for Her: follow through
- Don’t Do This: NOT follow through
- Her Super Powers: works hard to make things better; shows up on time
- Her Blind Spots: intolerant of others’ views/critical spirit
- Extra Info: wants to improve the world, strives to overcome adversity, gets lots of stuff done, can come across as rigid or aggressive, rule follower, to be corrected feels like an attack
- Famous 1s: Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther, General Colin Powell, Steve Jobs, Kate Middleton, Captain “Sully” Sullenberger
Type 2: The Helper (Advisor)
- At Her Best: caring, loving, supportive, hospitable, empathetic, generous
- At Her Worst: intrusive, overly accommodating, martyr-like, indirect, manipulative, possessive, flatterer
- Her Primary Focus of Attention: other people’s needs to get approval
- Her Core Motivations:
- Fear—being rejected, not needed;
- Desire—to feel appreciated;
- Weakness—pride;
- Longing—to feel wanted/loved
- How She Sees the World: potentially fearful and unloving, and she see herself as a stabilizer
- How She Sees the Church: a potential partner to help meet other’s needs
- Do This for Her: wow her friends she brings
- Don’t Do This: take advantage of her
- Her Super Powers: tirelessness, emotionally tuned in to others and how to help meet needs
- Her Blind Spot: can become resentful
- Extra Info: nurturer, sacrificial, makes a super volunteer, concerned about practical needs and the energy toward meeting those, in ministry, it’s viewed as the number that women should be, can seem intrusive in their desire to help, you feel you can’t compliment them enough, when she gets connected to her own needs (which feels selfish to her), she is better able to serve others
- Famous 2s: Mother Theresa, Fred Rogers, Dolly Parton, Danny Thomas, Ann Landers
Type 3: The Achiever (Performer)
- At Her Best: efficient, industrious, motivating, optimistic, driven, image-conscious, energetic, team builder
- At Her Worst: deceptive, exploitative, self-promoting, pretentious, superficial, overly competitive
- Her Primary Focus of Attention: tasks to accomplish to receive praise and recognition
- Her Core Motivations:
- Fear—being a failure, incapable, unimpressive;
- Desire—to be admired, efficient, accomplished;
- Weakness—deceit (believing she is only the image she presents to others);
- Longing—to be loved for being herself
- How She Sees the World: a place filled with opportunities to demonstrate her values by overcoming challenges and creating better results
- How She Sees the Church: a hoop, or a series of hoops—something to jump through in order to achieve something
- Do This for Her: put her in charge of something, give her a goal or objective
- Don’t Do This: nag or micromanage her
- Her Super Powers: develop a ministry or project; knows how to get it done, sees quickest route
- Her Blind Spots: cutting corners, all she can see is the end game
- Extra Info: adaptable, identity can be in their activity (struggle with that more than any other type), can be awesome or awful, needs older mentors (by 10-15 years or more) than any other type because of their temptation toward deceit
- Famous 3s: George Washington, Elvis Presley, Michael Jordan, Oprah, Tiger Woods, Ted Bundy
Type 4: The Individualist (Romantic)
- At Her Best: authentic, compassionate, introspective, expressive, creative, adaptive, supportive, driven, pragmatic
- At Her Worst: withdrawn, depressed, exaggerated moods, moralistic, self-absorbed
- Her Primary Focus of Attention: search for what is missing to fulfill an ongoing longing for depth and beauty
- Her Core Motivations:
- Fear—being inadequate, emotionally cut-off, plain, ordinary, mundane, abandoned, defective, flawed;
- Desire—to find herself and her unique significance;
- Weakness—envy;
- Longing—to be seen and loved for exactly who she is
- How She Sees the World: exceptional highs and bitter lows, in search of the ideal
- How She See the Church: a buffet or palette
- Do This For Her: let her explore something deeply
- Don’t Do This: harshly criticize or not acknowledge their contribution to an endeavor
- Her Super Powers: helps form “guiding lights” and values that a ministry can build on; aesthetics/imagination, see beauty in the ordinary
- Her Blind Spots: can take too long with aesthetics, uncompromising (like a Type 1)
- Extra Info: loves to long for what is missing, never quite satisfied, hard to live in present moment, controlled by emotions, needs to feel more special than others, struggles with envy, can get stuck in melancholy, carries the suffering and loss of the past, often prefers to work alone
- Famous 4s: Edgar Allan Poe, Frederic Chopin, Vincent Van Gogh, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Bob Dylan
Type 5: The Investigator (Thinker)
- At Her Best: analytical, cerebral type, persevering, sensitive, perceptive, wise, objective, intense, curious, innovative
- At Her Worst: intellectually arrogant, critical of others, stingy, stubborn, distant, unassertive, cynical
- Her Primary Focus of Attention: detaching and observing to maintain boundaries and privacy
- Her Core Motivations:
- Fear—obligation, annihilation, emptiness, being ignorant, overwhelmed, invaded, and depleted of inner resources;
- Desire—to be knowledgeable, capable, competent;
- Weakness—avarice, too much interaction with others will lead to catastrophic depletion;
- Longing—that her needs are not problematic
- How She Sees the World: overwhelming and they strive to maintain competency by knowing those around them and the topics in advance
- How She See the Church: a catalog
- Do This For Her: give her information in an organized way
- Don’t Do This For Her: force her to commit to positions
- Her Super Power: when committed, a docent (tour guide) for others and a master of material
- Her Blind Spot: wants to consume the whole thing, then gets bored
- Extra Info: loves facts and data, able to detach from the emotion in the moment, can seem aloof, needs to work on non-verbal communication, when she’s overwhelmed, she pulls into herself, good at boundaries, thinkers, researchers, study-ers
- Famous 5s: Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Julian Assange
Type 6: The Loyalist (Guardian, Skeptic)
- At Her Best: committed, faithful, security-oriented, engaging, likable, responsible, prepared, trustworthy, compassionate, witty, practical
- At Her Worst: suspicious, hyper-vigilant, anxious, paranoid, dependent, unpredictable, judgmental, defensive, self-doubting
- Primary Focus of Attention: worst-case scenario to try to anticipate potential harm
- Core Motivations:
- Fear—of fear itself, danger, uncertainty, chaos, not having guidance, of being blamed, in trouble, alone, targeted, helpless, unsafe, and physically abandoned;
- Desire—security, support, and guidance;
- Weakness—anxiety;
- Longing—safety
- How She Sees the World: fraught with danger; worriers over those they love; hard-wired for safety and security
- How She Sees the Church: a network of resources to bless those both inside and outside the church
- Do This For Her: be there for her family and friends in need
- Don’t Do This: make her do something that would make her friends and family uncomfortable
- Her Super Powers: a “broker” or “consultant” when she volunteers; risk assessment (take out “but” and use “and’)
- Her Blind Spot: hyper vigilance
- Extra Info: very good at keeping things going, managing; being reliable, prepared, attention to detail, steady, always a radar out for what can go wrong, self-questioning, fear of the unknown, worry, looking for external assurance, can be compliant or distrusting, projects their fear on to others
- Famous 6s: Adolf Hitler, Sigmund Freud, Charles Manson, George H. W. Bush, Princess Diana, Ellen DeGeneres
Type 7: The Enthusiast (Optimist)
- At Her Best: fun-loving, enthusiastic, versatile, spontaneous, imaginative, productive, confident, charming, sober-minded
- At Her Worst: self-focused, impulsive, scattered, distracted, escapist, rebellious, superficial, manic, self-destructive
- Her Primary focus of attention: best-case thinking to provide herself stimulation
- Her Core Motivations:
- Fear—of being incomplete, inferior, limited, bored, trapped in emotional pain, disappointed, criticized, or missing out;
- Desire—full satisfaction or contentment;
- Weakness—gluttony, to overcome feelings of inner emptiness (they pursue a variety of positive stimulating ideas and activities, but they never feel they have enough);
- Longing—to be taken care of
- How She See the World: drawn toward the happy and hopeful things of life
- How She Sees the Church: a “mixer,” looking to connect with certain kinds of people and wanting to have fun and get “amped” about something
- Do This for Her: make it fun
- Don’t Do This: make them sit with people who would not identify with or appreciate them
- Her Super Powers: host, connector; positivity/optimism
- Her Blind Spots: racing mind, gets bored; “reality recognition disorder”
- Extra Info: optimistic; committed to avoiding anxiety, pain, and sadness at any cost; spacey; narcissistic; great at starting things; often search for distractions
- Famous 7s: Benjamin Franklin,Thomas Jefferson, W. A. Mozart, John F. Kennedy, Fred Astaire, Katy Perry
Type 8: The Challenger (Protector)
- At Her Best: compassionate, self-confident, inspiring, energetic, willful, resilient, loyal, protective, empowering
- At Her Worst: confrontational, vengeful, controlling, loud, excessive, intense, rebellious, insensitive, domineering, self-centered
- Her Primary Focus of Attention: taking control to protect herself and others from vulnerability
- Her Core Motivations:
- Fear—of being weak, powerless, underestimated, humiliated, vulnerable, harmed, controlled, manipulated, and at the mercy of injustice;
- Desire—to protect themselves;
- Weakness—lust (not relationships, but a constant need for intensity, control, and power, causing her to push and assert herself willfully);
- Longing—to not be betrayed
- How She Sees the World: a wrong that needs to be righted (but not in the same way as a Type 1)
- How She Sees the Church: a tire to be kicked
- Do This for Her: make it a safe place to process their faith
- Don’t Do This: argue with them, especially in front of others
- Her Super Powers: advocate; creates order from chaos, lives with gusto, comfortable with confrontation, most energy
- Her Blind Spots: the myth of invincibility, doesn’t like details
- Extra Info: hates lack of clarity; loves two colors—black and white, sticks up for the underdog, puts people on their heels, not necessarily an extrovert, but has a need for power; wants you to match her energy; hates passive-aggressiveness and prefers direct confrontation; women who are 8s get a bad rap (doesn’t feel safe to show any vulnerability, or may have felt controlled or their weakness was used against them, so they focused only on building strength); amazing leaders when they’re healthy
- Famous 8s: Martin Luther King, Jr., Lucille Ball, Winston Churchill, Dr. Phil, Serena Williams, Donald Trump
Type 9: The Peacemaker (Mediator)
- At Her Best: easy-going, accommodating, agreeable, thoughtful, reassuring, self-effacing, receptive, pleasant, peaceful, patient, generous, diplomatic, empathetic
- At Her Worst: spaced-out, forgetful, stubborn, resigned, complacent, passive-aggressive, judgmental, unassertive
- Her Primary Focus of Attention: others’ agendas to keep the peace
- Her Core Motivations:
- Fear—of being in conflict, experiencing relationship tension, losing connection with others, being unimportant or overlooked;
- Desire—inner stability and peace of mind;
- Weakness—sloth (unwillingness to be fully awake to herself—desires, needs, abilities); resists bringing her full self to all of life and instead merges with everyone else’s likes and desires;
- Longing—that her presence matters
- How She Sees the World: potentially chaotic where conflict can arise between otherwise good people
- How She Sees the Church: an invitation
- Do This for Her: personally invite them
- Don’t Do This: single her out, ask her to lead, or spontaneously do something in front of others
- Her Super Powers: creates order and harmony and extends peace through order and process; supports others’ successes
- Her Blind Spots: self-forget, conflict avoidance
- Famous 9s: Abraham Lincoln, Claude Monet, Norman Rockwell, Walt Disney, Queen Elizabeth II, Ronald Reagan
So, do you know your personality type? With this information, are you more aware of both the attributes and the weaknesses that you have as a student leader? Do you feel better prepared to relate to the personalities of the students you lead? How can knowing these things make you more effective in ministry? Drop a comment below with your answers!
Vivian Penuel is the Serve Specialist and Internship Coordinator at Long Hollow Baptist Church, Hendersonville, TN. She is a Type 9 (Wing 1) married to a Type 6, mother to a 1 and a 7, and mother-in-law to a 3 and a 6. On the side, she is adamant about proper form in teaching her Group Fitness classes (her Wing 1) and begs her husband often to take her to play golf (some Type 7).
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