Typology

As President of Belmont University, Dr. Greg Jones sees the importance of connection and community and puts a strong emphasis on molding character through storytelling. "I think that people are yearning for that sense of hope and that sense of community," says Dr. Jones, "and, I think, to be able to hear one another's stories, share one another's stories, and find a story worth living." This week,...

As a former at-risk foster kid, Shipp found it difficult to trust adults: "The way I defined trustworthiness was: are you gonna not give up on me when I show you what I'm capable of? When I show you all my ugliness and all of my past and everything you didn't cause, but now you're gonna be dealing with…can you handle all of that?" Josh Shipp wants to pass that experience on to as many others as he...

Two years following his departure from the band, NEEDTOBREATHE, Bo is releasing a candid look at his past with childlike wonder and self-realization under a new name, Coy Roy:  "I got into therapy and began to dig into my childhood and why the trajectory of my life took a different path. I left my six-year-old self back there, and we went different places. [Now I'm] recognizing that I'm not going...

Throughout her 20+ years of teaching,  Professor Bonnie Smith Whitehouse, has seen a significant change in her students' ties to religion.  "I've seen them completely abandon spirituality because that drug of certainty has just gotten too toxic for them," says Whitehouse. "And so, what is really powerful to me is wonder. It's always been really powerful to me, as an Enneagram 2." This week, we tal...

As the director of adolescent counseling at Daystar Counseling in Nashville, TN, Sissy Goff has seen first-hand how anxious behavior in children has been fueled by unrealistic social expectations. But according to Goff, one way to address that worry in kids is by teaching them self-talk: "I have them give the worry a name, because we all think of the voice in the back of our head as truth until we...

No matter where we fall on the Enneagram, intentionality is a crucial posture to take into the new year. This week, we model how you can think ahead in the new year by drawing a few questions out of a hat and reflecting on the year to come. 

A special offer for our podcast listeners: sign up for the Typology Institute today to get access to all 3 courses and other monthly perks. Go to typologyinstitute.com/workplace and use the code TYPOLOGYPODCAST for 30% savings through the end of 2022 only. The Enneagram is all about self-knowledge, self-reflection and learning about ourselves. We close out the year with today's episode, and talk t...

A special offer for our podcast listeners: sign up for the Typology Institute today to get access to all 3 courses and other monthly perks. Go to typologyinstitute.com/workplace and use the code TYPOLOGYPODCAST for 30% savings through the end of 2022 only. This week, we take a phone call from a friend. Also: the benefits of the Enneagram for those in recovery.  Tune in to hear our discussion on th...

A special offer for our podcast listeners: sign up for the Typology Institute today to get access to all 3 courses and other monthly perks. Go to   typologyinstitute.com/workplace   and use the code TYPOLOGYPODCAST for 30% savings through the end of 2022 only. Every month, we record a secret ad-free podcast episode exclusively for Typology Institute Members. This week, we're giving you special acc...

A special offer for our podcast listeners: sign up for the Typology Institute today to get access to all 3 courses and other monthly perks. Go to typologyinstitute.com/workplace and use the code TYPOLOGYPODCAST for 30% savings through the end of 2022 only. I receive so many questions from our listeners via email and social media that I don't get to respond to them all. But I want you to know I'm p...

Podcast listeners: sign up for the Typology Institute today to get access to all 3 courses and other monthly perks. Go to typologyinstitute.com/workplace and use the code TYPOLOGYPODCAST for 30% savings through the end of 2022 only. Hey folks! Last week, I shared one of my favorite episodes in which the host of The Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, founder of North Point Ministries, and author of B...

We're off for Thanksgiving, but while we're gone, I wanted to share one of my favorite conversations I've been a part of about the Enneagram. Make sure to check us out next week for part two!  In this episode, The host of The Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, founder of North Point Ministries, and author of Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets , Andy Stanley takes over as host and interviews me on how e...

We've got a special treat for you this week. Every month, we record a secret podcast episode exclusively for Typology Institute Members. But this month, we're letting you listen to one of our favorites, a conversation with Andrew Chapman, psychotherapist and meditation teacher, about the nature of mindfulness and how it relates to the Enneagram. You won't want to miss this deep dive into how trans...

Mother & Daughter duo Nancy and Samantha Beach are both leaning into their Enneagram number by tackling one of the most audacious goals possible: addressing the mass exodus from the church, and working to make it more inclusive.  As a millennial, Samantha suspects there may be a disconnect within the generations when it comes to messaging: "We're seeing this all across society, all the -isms, righ...

For years, Irene Rollins lived on auto-pilot. Unaware of just how motivated by shame she was, it took a jolt to wake her up to the fact that she didn't have to live a life characterized by fear and defensiveness.  It was an addiction to alcohol, made more severe by the pressures of pastoring a church, that finally woke her up to these bigger problems: "Imagine the weight I was carrying. I still ha...

As the director of family counseling at Daystar Counseling in Nashville, TN, David Thomas has seen some patterns develop over the years.  "Some of the healthiest parents I have worked with over the years are parents in recovery," says David. "Because you've done your work: those basic tenets of 'I understand I have a struggle, I need God, I need community.'" Those are principles that apply for eve...

Is motherhood really the hardest job in the world? Is there such a thing as a biological clock? Is motherhood the highest calling? And is it true that you can't truly know love until you're a mother?  For Erin Lane, the mythology around motherhood has gotten out of hand. "How did we make motherhood an occupational, performative, identity based measure of worth?"  This week, we speak to Erin Lane a...

In addition to breaking ten world records, Colin O'Brady's feats include the world's first solo, unsupported, and fully human-powered crossing of Antarctica, speed records for the Explorers Grand Slam and the Seven Summits, and the first human-powered ocean row across Drake Passage. Would you be surprised to hear he's a three on the Enneagram?  But as he grows older, his approach to achieving his...

This week, we step bravely into the world of politics, investigating the reasons it feels more divided than ever, and how we can truly listen to one another.  Sarah and Beth started discussing these issues from opposite sides of the aisle, and while their positions have changed over time, they still believe in the power of dialoguing with those who disagree. In fact, they see their shifting positi...

When Maud Newton read about the traits of the Enneagram Four, she had to laugh out of pure recognition. "On my mother's side, there was this impulse toward larger than life stories. There wasn't really shame around difficult histories and that sort of thing. The greatest sin was to be boring." Maud's ancestors were anything but boring. In this episode, Maud shares what she's learned about herself...

Just three weeks shy of their one-year anniversary, the unthinkable happened. Mattie's 28-year-old husband died unexpectedly, leaving her with a massive hole in her life.  But being an Enneagram three becomes a double-edged sword in grief: "This compulsion to perform that I have, in whatever I'm doing, was one of my greatest assets in my grief," says Jackson, who adds,  "It was also one of the thi...

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier has experienced abandonment from her mother, put herself in positions where she would inevitably be betrayed, come to terms with the power of her anger, and found herself struggling with addiction and alcoholism. But for Mary, so much of that tumult and life experience came from a sense of internal intensity. "The self-destructive and self-construct...

Every creative has a dream project: something they'd love to do if they had infinite time and resources. But what if you got the chance to pull off that dream project, and it didn't succeed?  That's what happened to Steve Taylor, who poured himself into directing Blue Like Jazz , only to see a middling response at the theater. To him, that result felt like humiliation. This week, we hear about how...

This week, we're going deep! With the help of the author of The Enneagram for Spiritual Formation , we discuss the various ways the Enneagram can be used narcissistically, and how to avoid those pitfalls.  Then, we discuss spiritual bypassing, or the ways each type can end up evading the essential personal work they need to do to grow as an individual.  AJ Sherrill (DMin, Fuller Theological Semina...

In the span of a few years, Shauna Niequest found herself experiencing a series of changes and heartbreaks that left her feeling like a completely different person. But in the end, she found herself more easily feeling empathy for those who were going through grief themselves.  In this episode, Shauna and and I discuss the importance of finding the right geographical place for who you are, the var...