The Enneagram
Every month I gather with fifteen other young adults from the New York City area as part of the Jesuit Collaborative’s Contemplative Leaders in Action Program (CLIA). The purpose of the group is to lead by reflection. That is, through prayer, literature, discussion and community involvement, we seek to first better understand ourselves so that we might then better understand the world in which we live. All of us who gather with the program lead incredibly active, diverse and devoted lives professionally, academically and spiritually. We are engineers, investment bankers, educators, hotel managers, lawyers and marketing specialists who have been formed in Jesuit education and want to continue to lead, pray and live lives of service and faith. If you are reading this blog, chances are a group like this is right up your alley and you might want to read more about the program and the Collaborative at: http://www.jesuit-collaborative.org/CLIA-Opens-in-Two-New-Cities .
A couple of months ago I looked through the CLIA syllabus and noticed the phrase “personality indicator tool” alongside the next two upcoming meeting dates. Clearly our beloved group leader suspected that the clever phrasing might sound a little less harsh than PERSONALITY TEST. A bit begrudgingly, our group of engineers, bankers, lawyers, teachers and wall street gurus sat down to take the personality indicator, the Enneagram. Little did we know the results would bring welcomed and accurate “labels” for who we are, how we lead and where we might grow as leaders. While the Enneagram itself is not explicitly rooted in Christianity, it is based on the premise that through self-awareness, we can use our strengths to better serve and live lives of leadership. Therefore, it is easy to see how the tool can be situated in a Christian framework. In fact, the process of taking the personality indicator and answering focused Enneagram questions reminded me very much of the daily practice of the Ignatian Examen. In the Enneagram, focused questions, lead you to a number (one through nine) that is your “type.” The premise is that people of the same type have the same basic motivations and communication patterns, and view the world in fundamentally similar ways. The Enneagram groups its questions under the following five categories: 1) What is your driving force? 2) What behaviors do you rely on to get what you long for? 3) What role do you usually take in relationships? 4) How do you react under stress? And, 5) What will make you truly satisfied? Just as the Examen asks you to look back at the day, at your actions and choices, the Enneagram helps to pinpoint where your personality shines, where you are at peace, and in what ways you bring peace to others. Yet, the learning aspect of the Enneagram comes with the discussion of where your personality needs to grow and be stretched in order to fully embrace and live a fulfilled life as a scholar, friend, worker, lover, caregiver or confidant. If you’re interested in learning more about the Enneagram, look into Richard Rohr’s book The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective. This rich, extensive book prods you as you figure out your type, situating the tool within a Christian framework and offering anecdotal remarks along the way of Saints who embodied each of the nine types. Alternatively, two websites that offer comprehensive Enneagram material are: http://www.9types.com/ and
http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/.
Once we fifteen engineers, investment bankers, educators, hotel managers, lawyers and marketing specialists had our defined Enneagram numbers in hand, perceptions of the “personality indicator tool” slowly began to change. Unlike any personality test I, or others, had taken, something seemed very Christ-like about the brutally honest and reflective conversation that followed. The gist of it was: “let me explain who I am and how I am so that we can better work, live and serve together.” Since the first CLIA-Enneagram meeting, I have used the “personality indicator tool” to have reflection-based discussions with roommates, coworkers and friends. Going throughout my days now with people who I now know to be “threes” or “nines” has helped me to better understand our relationship and how to effectively work, live and pray together with those around me. Consider my “personality indicator tool” skepticism erased. And, in case you are wondering, I’m a “two.”
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March 7th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Well, I’m a “one” – God bless you in your “twoness”
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March 8th, 2010 at 10:24 am
Megan we use the Ennea a lot in our community, but I’ve noticed that we sometimes have gotten in the habit of misusing it. Because it’s such a powerful tool sometimes we have used it as a weapon to “uncover the hidden motivations” in each other’s actions (which are often very private and painful wounds) or to explain why we do what we do. “Well, I do that because I am a ___.” I blame myself for some of those problems, because I was one of the first to know about it and met the ennea when I was 20 and so have sometimes modeled its use in an immature way. We are also really bad in this community about trying to type people so that their first intro to the Ennea can end up being “Well, we think you are a _.” Again, I am a primary contributor to that.
I’d just encourage you as you start to use it to share about yourself as a 2 in as much as you feel like you can trust people and to be really careful that as you approach people knowing their ennea type you can notice the presence of other types in their personality as well. I think that it is a really powerful and deep spiritual tool that we should use primarily for self-growth, with lots of respect for the wounds that it can and does reveal.
March 8th, 2010 at 10:25 am
ps: I’m a 1.
March 13th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Liz, I agree on your comments with growth. Initially, my conversations with others about the Enneagram stemmed from a ‘novelty perspective.’ “Hey, this is nifty….what are you?!” I now see my conversations with those same people, (especially those who are nearest and dearest to my everyday life), shifting into the ‘respect the wounds’ stage that you wrote about. Point well taken.