Famous Enneagram Twos: Sally Field and Bill Cosby

WORLDVIEW: The world is full of suffering and need: I must help alleviate this.

TWOS want to be liked and appealing, try to meet the needs of others,
and attempt to orchestrate the people and events in their lives.

Optimistic, generous, and emphatic, Twos focus on the needs and behavior of others far more than on their own needs and desires, often developing an intuitive ability to know how to best support others in achieving their dreams or in minimizing their suffering. It can be misleading to think that all Twos want everyone with whom they come in contact to like them. A more accurate understanding is that Twos want, and even expect, the people they want to like them to respond favorably, but don’t care at all if people they dislike don’t find the Two appealing. What is true of almost all Twos is that they can become extremely distressed when someone whose opinion or affection they care about perceives them in a negative way.

Most Twos appear warm and are good listeners offering advice that they hope and expect others will take. Some Twos appear vulnerable, even childlike as if needing protection; other Twos exhibit more assertiveness, focusing their efforts to help or move groups or institutions in a forward direction; and other Twos derive their sense of value and importance by becoming indispensible to special individuals in their lives.

In the following YouTube segments, these short clips reveal two famous Enneagram Style Twos, Sally Field and Bill Cosby. You will see the Two interpersonal style very clearly; both Field and Cosby speak softly, have gentle voices and are clearly engaged in relationship with their interviewers. For example, they both respond with gracefulness and timeliness to the questions asked; neither talking over or interrupting the interviewer nor waiting more than a second to address the issues raised thus reducing the social awkwardness of the gap of silence. At the same time, both Field and Cosby appear somewhat self-effacing or possibly uncomfortable. This may be the result of the fact that the focus is on them, and most Twos prefer not to be in the public view.

Remember: While we can all be thoughtful and want others to value us, for Twos, the search for appreciation and the avoidance of feeling unworthy is their primary, persistent, and driving motivation.

Sally Field - Click here to see clip
While the most obvious video that reflects Sally Field’s Enneagram Style Two sentiments would be her Academy Award acceptance speech – “Oh, you really like me!” – this interview clip very clearly reveals even more. Listen closely to her introduction in which the narrator explains what matters to Field, and pay attention to the discomfort in her face as she receives a compliment from the host, her soft and high-pitched voice tone, almost girl-like even though she is an accomplished actress, and her comments about her own emotionality.

Bill Cosby - Click here to see clip
In response to interviewer Tim Russert’s questions about Cosby’s new book, watch the first part of this short video for Bill Cosby’s soft and reflective voice tone that is simultaneously emotional as he expresses his deeply held values about social issues and how others should treat one another. This is the second blog in a 9-part series on famous people of the 9 Enneagram styles. Check back for future blogs.