Enneagram at Work

If your team has already used DISC, you may be wondering whether the Enneagram is basically the same thing, or whether there’s any value in doing both. The short answer: they’re different tools that can support many of the same workplace goals, but they tend to approach those goals through different lenses. In this episode, we explore how DISC and the Enneagram compare when it comes to communicati...

Performance reviews are supposed to help people grow. But even accurate feedback can miss the mark if the person receiving it doesn’t fully understand what needs to change, why it matters, or what success looks like moving forward. In this episode, we explore how the Enneagram can help managers make performance conversations more intentional, without lowering expectations or excusing poor performa...

Type 7s can bring something teams genuinely need: energy, possibility, creativity, and the ability to see a way forward when everyone else is focused on what went wrong. That optimism can be a major workplace strength. But what happens when looking on the bright side becomes a way of moving past something that actually needs attention? In this episode, we explore the difference between healthy ref...

We all have workplace habits that seem to follow us around, especially when we’re stressed, under pressure, or moving too fast to notice our own patterns. In this Halloween-themed episode, we’re looking at one habit that can “haunt” each Enneagram type at work. The good news is that we’re doomed to repeat these patterns forever because awareness gives us a chance to catch them earlier and choose a...

Goal setting often starts with what we think we need to fix. But what if a better approach was to first understand where your attention naturally goes, where you tend to experience friction, and what you may be overlooking altogether? In this episode, we use the Instinctual Biases from the Awareness to Action framework to look at goal setting from a different angle.   We explore the three Instinct...

Type 8s can have a reputation for being intense, confrontational, or even angry, but that isn’t usually what’s happening. Often, what others experience as intensity may simply be directness, urgency, passion, confidence, or a willingness to say the thing everyone else is avoiding. In this episode, we look at what Type 8 energy can bring to the workplace, including: Courage and decisiveness A willi...

Featuring Special Guest: Andy Bales | Enneagram Type 6 What does it actually look like when people use the Enneagram at work, not just during a workshop, but in everyday decisions, conversations, and leadership challenges? In this episode of Enneagram at Work , I'm joined by Andy Bales, a retired engineer, manager, and global supply chain leader who spent 35 years working for a Fortune 500 co...

Why do some coworkers question everything? And why can their questions sometimes feel like criticism, resistance, or a lack of trust? Inspired by a recent conversation between Adam Grant and Brené Brown about the Enneagram, we're exploring skepticism through a different lens. What if three people questioned the exact same idea, but for three completely different reasons? In this episode of En...

Adam Grant, organizational psychologist, bestselling author, and longtime skeptic of the Enneagram, has agreed to take an Enneagram assessment. During a recent episode of The Curiosity Shop with Brené Brown, the two discussed revisiting the Enneagram on Adam's ReThinking podcast. And as someone who uses the Enneagram professionally, I couldn't resist digging into the conversation. Does A...

If you'd like to take what you hear today further, Enneagram MBA offers standalone workshops, retreat experiences, and team-development programs that can be customized around communication, collaboration, and working styles. If you’d rather lead the experience internally, the DIY Enneagram Workshop Kit includes a slide deck, facilitator guide, sample agendas, icebreakers, and tools to help yo...

Planning an end-of-year or beginning-of-year team experience? If your team is looking for a meaningful way to reflect, reconnect, or start the new year with a stronger shared language, learn more about Enneagram MBA team workshops and kickoff experiences. You can also download the free Enneagram Workshop Planning Kit for ideas, sample agendas, planning questions, and practical resources to help yo...

Planning an Enneagram workshop for your team? Before you decide on the agenda, activities, or even how much Enneagram content to include, there are a few bigger questions worth answering first. In this episode of the Enneagram at Work Podcast, you'll learn five questions that can help you plan a workshop that is not only interesting in the room, but useful once everyone gets back to work. Whe...

What does leadership look like when you don’t fit the stereotypical image of the bold, outspoken, highly assertive leader? In this episode, we get to hear from Suha Patel, an Enneagram Type 2, and Gallia Levy, an Enneagram Type 4 , about the leadership strengths that can be easy to overlook - from relationship building and coaching to authenticity, intuition, depth, and the courage to say what oth...

Type 1s bring something incredibly valuable to the workplace: high standards, reliability, precision, follow-through, and a natural ability to see what could be improved. But those same strengths can become heavy. A Type 1 may notice the typo, the missed deadline, the unclear process, the skipped step, or the work that is almost right - and then quietly become the person who fixes it, checks it, f...

AI can help us write faster, prepare for meetings, summarize information, and organize ideas. But can it also help us become better managers and teammates? In this episode of Enneagram at Work , we're looking at how AI and the Enneagram can work together as a thinking tool - not to predict, diagnose, or stereotype people, but to help us become more intentional about the way we communicate, le...

Not everyone walks into an Enneagram workshop excited to be there. In fact, there are usually a few skeptics in the room, and that’s okay. In this episode, I’m sharing a recent experience from an Enneagram team workshop in Nashville. One participant admitted that he didn’t want to attend the workshop and didn’t want to take the Enneagram assessment. But after receiving his results and learning mor...

“But what happens if…?” “Have we thought about…?” “Who’s responsible for…?” “What if this doesn’t work?” If you work with an Enneagram Type 6, you may be familiar with the questions. And depending on how those questions are delivered or received, they can sometimes sound like resistance, negativity, or a challenge to the person leading the conversation. But what if the Type 6 question isn’t really...

“I can see myself in several of these.” If you’ve ever said that while trying to determine your Enneagram type, you’re not alone, and it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing anything wrong. In this episode of Enneagram at Work , we’re talking about why it’s completely normal to relate to multiple Enneagram types and why identifying your type requires looking beyond individual traits and behaviors...

Someone plagiarized our website. Not exactly the way I expected to find clarity about the future of Enneagram MBA, but here we are. In this behind-the-scenes episode of Enneagram at Work , I'm sharing what happened when I discovered that a significant amount of our website messaging, design, and offers had been copied, and the unexpected good that came out of an understandably frustrating exp...

Have you ever walked out of a meeting thinking a decision had been made, only to discover your coworker thought you were still discussing it? You were in the same room. You heard the same words. And somehow, you walked away with two completely different interpretations. In this episode of Enneagram at Work , we’re kicking off our Overheard at Work series by looking at what can get lost in translat...

"You’re the Enneagram expert...can’t you just tell me what type I am?” It’s a question I hear sometimes. And while an experienced Enneagram practitioner might have a hypothesis about someone’s type, there’s a reason we should be cautious about typing people based only on what we see from the outside. In this episode of Enneagram at Work , we’re talking about the difference between observing s...

There’s one workplace that deserves an Enneagram conversation of its own: education. In this special episode of Enneagram at Work , I’m introducing our brand-new podcast, Enneagram for Educators , co-hosted with Tawny Hall. We’ll explore how the Enneagram can help teachers, school leaders, administrators, and other education professionals better understand themselves, communicate with others, navi...

Your Type 9 coworker may have an opinion. They may even have a strong opinion. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to hear it in the meeting. In this episode of Enneagram at Work , we’re looking at why Enneagram Type 9s can sometimes stay quiet in group conversations, even when they have something valuable to contribute. For a Type 9, the issue isn't necessarily that they don'...

What happens when someone who teaches the Enneagram takes an Enneagram assessment…and gets a different type than expected? That's exactly what happened to me. I've identified as an Enneagram Type 7 for years, but recent assessments put Type 3 at the top of my results, which wasn't a total surprise. In this episode of Enneagram at Work , I'm sharing what happened next, including...

Have you ever felt like one Enneagram type at work and a completely different type at home? Maybe you’re organized, polished, and decisive at work, but much more relaxed, emotional, spontaneous, or outspoken at home. Does that mean your Enneagram type changes depending on the environment? In this short episode of Enneagram at Work , we'll explore why different behavior doesn’t necessarily mea...