The Enneagram in Business Blog | A Blog by Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D.

Reflections on Projection | Part 3 | Claudio Naranjo’s Ennea-type Symposium 2012 | Brazil

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:19:00 +0000

Since my time in Brasilia, I have been mostly reflecting on the concept of evil: What is evil, are corporations evil, are leaders and consultants who work with them evil? I always do that: I reflect on things said even if I don’t agree with them at the time, just to see what’s inside me on that topic that I may not be considering.

Not so long ago (12 years ago to be exact), I didn’t think too much about evil because my mindset was more like this: human beings come into this world neither good nor evil, so if people do “bad” things, there is something where they got distorted early-on. This mind-set is very Twoish, a distortion of reality. Then, a friend of mine who had recently married, then soon divorced, told me that her husband was evil. However, when she shared what she thought was evil about him, nothing she said seemed evil to me. Just to give you a flavor of her comments, she had waited a long time to get married and expected she would marry a highly spiritual person who would engage with her in a spiritually-based marriage. Her complaint was that he was rather common and boring, and that he had deeply disappointed her; hence, he was evil because she was so miserable being married to him.

I realized that I knew very little about evil and the above example didn’t give me much insight into the nature of it because his behavior did not seem evil by any definition I could find. I began reading “A Road Less Traveled” by M. Scott Peck, and a particular section of the book grabbed my attention. Peck says that western society has relegated evil versus good to the religious domains, with secular society absenting itself with evil even when it is there. He also says (and this idea I have kept with me forever) that some people appear “evil,” but are not, while others appear “good,” but are not. His example is a serial killer, some of whom are evil and some of whom are not. Similarly, he speaks of people who appear to be doing good in the world but are fundamentally not so. His differentiating remark, that which distinguishes someone who is “good” from another who is “evil,” is this: does the person eat away (“nibble”) at the soul of others in order to feel good or satisfied themselves? This has been helpful when I work with people whose parents were just not very good parents, versus those whose parents took pleasure (conscious or unconscious) in nibbling at the souls of their young.

So when the idea of “evil” came at me in Brasilia with an energy that was hot and cold in alternating waves, I took notice, recognizing that if I had not been really centered, the energy could have easily knocked me over. Since that time, I have been wondering about the “organizations as evil” idea. Directly after Brasilia, I went to San Francisco to do a day’s work with an existing client, a leader, who I hadn’t seen in a year. Throughout the day, I wondered this: Is he evil and I don’t see it? Right in front of me was a man who was using the Enneagram so well for his own development and his team’s that there was goodness emanating every moment from both him and the group. They were thrilled to have someone as honest, transparent, trustworthy, and real as their leader; without exception, the team was clearly effective and had high, high integrity.

This made me even more sure of what I had been thinking about from my experience in Brasilia. The categorical and absolute use of the word “evil” to describe each and every organization (and leader) felt like a projection of a major order. Maybe that’s why I didn’t take it personally, either at the time or later on.

Since then, my mind has been wandering to the nature and importance of projections in general, Enneagram projections in particular, and also projections within psychological or spiritual communities (even religious groups). As a Gestalt-trained professional, I am well-versed in the notion that we all project, especially those attributes that are true about ourselves and that we, for a variety of reasons, don’t want to accept about ourselves (the Gestalt term is “own”). For the most part, these projected qualities are ones we perceive as negative, but can also be attributes we admire (and therefore perceive in others but not in ourselves). For integration and wholeness, it is essential we “re-own” these projected items.

In Enneagram terms, each ennea-type projects qualities onto others that do not conform to their self-concept and always labels these as negative. Jerry Wagner, in his new book “Nine Lenses on the World,” does a comprehensive job of identifying these type-based projections. For example, Twos perceive themselves as “the loving person,” so they project selfishness onto others, but the problem is Twos end up believing that “self-care,” which they dearly need, is “selfish.” Nines project “pushiness” onto others and then hinder their own assertiveness and leadership ability in the process.

Each Enneagram style also becomes an easy target for certain kinds of projections by others, akin to a fly to flypaper. For example, Ones get projected on as a critical parent, Fours get overly-emotional projections, and Eights get projections of power. Groups also get projections from others. Women get projections that are different from men, even though many women and men do not fit these stereotypes. The same is true for racial groups. We call this stereotyping -- they are fundamentally group-level projections.

Now to social orders, psychological affinity groups, and spiritual or religious orders; how many times do we hear this: We are good; they are bad. We are going to heaven, and the rest will go elsewhere. We are the true school of the Enneagram (or any psychological or spiritual school), while the others teach falsehoods. With all projections – whether individual to individual or group to group – the projection hurts the target of the projection, which is either the intention of the projection or an unintended, but predictable, consequence. Ultimately, however, the projection hurts the projector even more than the target, keeping them from the truth about themselves.

Gema de la Rosa, my colleague and friend from Spain, sent me this quote from Richard Rohr on the projection of evil:

"Once you have learned to discern the disguised nature of evil, you will be able to recognize that both perfection and imperfection are everywhere—everything is broken and fallen: weak and poor, you and me, your marriage, your children... Now you can start accepting things in their broken, faulty state. You will not be so constantly disappointed, and think people have let you down because they are not perfect. Nor do you have to wait for things to be perfect to fall in love with them.... When you see things non-dually, in their wholeness, and do not split between the false "totally good" and “totally bad,” you will grow up spiritually and begin to live honestly and wisely in this world."
– Richard Rohr

My Experience Part 2 | Claudio Naranjo’s Ennea-type Symposium 2012 | Brazil

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:08:00 +0000

I’m writing from the conference itself on day 5 of a 5-day conference, wanting as best I can to give those of you reading this a sense of the experience. First, the location, event structure, and participant mix.

The location, Brasilia, is a city I still know nothing about and have not seen because the conference site is 30+ minutes from the city in a residential conference center where everyone (350+ people) eat, sleep, and attend large sessions and small group events. The food is quite plentiful and good, the rooms have balconies, and it is quite warm here. Most people are room sharing (4-5 people per room), but I requested my own (and am paying extra) because I am noise sensitive and can’t sleep when anyone snores. What I didn’t consider is that this is a very social group that talks a great deal, likes to party, and stays up late. So at night, the noise carries from both the music outside (party time) and the central congregation area of the site. All this ceases between 1 and 2 AM. Needless to say, I am sleep-deprived, but still going.

The conference structure (and there is one) is, as they say here, “flexible and fluid.” Others might describe it as non-visible, constantly changing, and hard to decipher. The mornings start at 10:00 AM, except when they start earlier. Lunch is sometimes after the morning sessions end (which is really in the afternoon, somewhere between 1:30 and 2:30), and the afternoon sessions start somewhere between 3:30 and 4:00 and end somewhere between 7:30 and 8:30. Sometimes there are evening sessions that start at 10 PM, but sometimes they start earlier.

Claudio is here all the time – he always leads the not-so early morning sessions, first with a meditation (I love his meditations) and then with some information or by calling subtype groups to the stage and getting reports from them regarding their “therapy sessions” that have been occurring 2 to 3 times per day. These “therapy” sessions are always in subtype groups led by a therapist versed in the Enneagram, Gestalt, and often family constellations work, but sometimes these therapy groups are really discussion groups, with a topic given by Claudio. When these therapy sessions are indeed “therapy” sessions, a person volunteers and the therapist works with that person, enlisting others as needed. Most people go to some of these. While Claudio is around all the time, we are almost always in groups, so we have very little time learning directly from him. In general, he seems pretty content.

During other session times (and sometimes during “therapy” session time), we get several choices of workshops. These other sessions (and the food) have been my favorite part of being here. One session I attended was a movement/mask experience in which we learned how to embody various mask personas using masks created by master craftspeople. With expert instruction, a superb design, and exercises reminiscent of theater games, we were transformed. The value? It is about completely owning parts of ourselves, using masks, energy, and movement as the vehicle.

My other favorite session was led by Rafael Ruiz y Garcia from Mexico City on Gurdjieff dance. Although it is called “dance” (probably because it involves movement and music), it is really more a sequence of physical body positions, one for each type, that create an extreme physical experience of the character of each type. But there is more. The process makes you have undivided, focused attention among several elements simultaneously. For example, you have to count in a non-sequential order at the same time as you stay completely aligned and center, all the while moving sequentially from one type position to the next. And while all this is occurring, the leader is shouting irrelevant distractions at everyone to, well, distract you (which you are not supposed to be). It is really hard to do, but so worthwhile.

If you could follow the above two paragraphs, this next one will be easy. Of the 350+ participants, 99.9% are SAT graduates or current participants who have not completed their SAT work. SAT is the name of Claudio’s lengthy, intensive sessions that occur in 4 sequential parts. Maybe three of us (including me) have never been through SAT. Most speak Portuguese (we are, after all, in Brazil), many speak Spanish (participants from Spain but also Mexico, as well as Central and South America). There is also a large Italian contingent here. Then, there are 5-6 native English speakers.

Many participants who speak Portuguese also speak Spanish, but not Italian or English. Many Spanish speakers speak neither Portuguese nor Italian, but do speak some English. A few of the Italians speak English (sort of), some speak Spanish, and few speak Portuguese. Of the native English speakers, two speak Spanish (sort of); one speaks Portuguese fluently, and then there’s Louise from Australia who speaks Australian English. Although she’s 26 years younger than I am, the age difference doesn’t seem to matter very much. We hang out together and are enjoying it.

As you can imagine, given the semi-structure (which I sort of like in some ways), combined with the lack of many people fluent in English, I feel like I’m always trying to find out what time something starts, where I’m supposed to be, and whether I can find someone to translate for me. Matthias, a young man fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, English, Italian, and German, has been given the role of English translator, but he is also coordinating many other things, and I feel constantly guilty always asking him what to do and where to go. In general, he is patient, but he is very tired now.

Now that the context and more has been covered in the blog, I will turn to my own challenges covered in the first blog written before I left for the symposium, starting in the reverse order from my first blog.

Challenge 3 | what to wear

Oddly, I put very little time and energy into what to pack (really, what to wear), and what I’ve worn has been fine. Almost everything I brought has been well utilized, fine for the weather and personal comfort, and I do not stick out as if mis-dressed for the occasion. Most people are wearing, shorts, tank tops, sandals, long skirts, and lightweight pants. There is one woman (a 1-1 Four) who wears the most beautiful and tasteful pants and tops. Other than her, fashion and style do not seem to be very important in this subculture.

Challenge 2 | going it alone

I have been alone quite a bit (in a sleeping room alone, at breaks or lunch sometimes, not having people to converse with due to language). On the other hand, many people have been very friendly, several have tried to speak English with me, and I have had some rewarding conversations/interactions with multiple people who are new to me. In particular, there have been two young male (26-29) business consultants who have been delightful, two different women my age who have been great fun, and the lovely Four mentioned earlier. These are all in addition to Louise from Australia and several great women and men from my social subtype Two group. One of them is so lovely that even though she speaks English, she began a very long conversation with me in pure Portuguese, forgetting completely that I speak no Portuguese whatsoever. I took this as a compliment. Over time, I am understanding both Spanish and Italian much better, having studied them both years ago, but Portuguese is a big challenge.

Challenge 1| the session(s)

My sessions were the most perplexing part of the conference (and the most illuminating). My big session for all 350+ people was done on day 3. I had 1.5 hours, was fully prepared, and the topic was exactly what Claudio requested from me: how the Enneagram is being used in organizations and with what results. I chose (with Claudio’s approval) to share the 2011 Best Practices Report results because it covered 20 countries (so it wasn’t US-based only), 72 companies from a wide array of industries, and it gave a clear “how to” in terms of strategies to use and applications to suggest to clients. Even more, it went far beyond just my work alone, which was very important to me.

With a few power points (5 in all in 4 languages) and an easy-to-read handout, also in 4 languages, I was ready. While presenting, I felt calm, centered, energetic, warm, and very present. I also used stories and anecdotes. All was good, really good, until the first question from the audience, which was something like this (and this is a paraphrase, but close): Since all corporations are evil, and the people who lead them are also evil, why should we be doing any work in organizations at all?

I was really surprised by this question, which was really a statement. What I was thinking was this: Wow!?! Do you really think that all organizations are evil as well as their leaders? And even if you don’t like for-profit organizations, didn’t you hear me say in the beginning to think of this report as about organizations, not just for-profits – for example, non-profits, schools, religious institutions, and any congregation of places where people do ongoing, work together? What about when Claudio spoke about the importance of moving the Enneagram outward to increase global consciousness? What about when I said that organizations are the places where people meet and so it is an excellent way to help “distribute” the Enneagram?

But what I answered was something like this: Well, there are all kinds of organizations; some do some bad things; some do some great things; and there are organizations in between. But the ones that are open to the Enneagram need our help in being more conscious, as do the people in them. Then I talked a little more about making sure that when we do the Enneagram work, we ourselves to it with the highest integrity, etc. And then the time was up.

The net result was complex, to say the least: on one hand, all 50 copies of the full report I had brought were gobbled up like candy and many, many people wanted more, so I referred them to my website for downloading. About 20 people climbed onto the stage to ask me questions and look at my books and training tools.

On the other hand, I could feel very strongly that many, many people there really believed exactly what the questioner had asked and took it a step further: that organizations are evil, that the leaders in them are also bad if not evil, and that anyone who consults to an organization, especially with the Enneagram, is also an evil doer. It was such a strong vibe from many (not all) that this was a big challenge for me: to not take it personally, to not get defensive, to not withdraw (since I am sensitive to negative energy thrust my way), and to not get mad (as in “I came all this way and did all this work to be told directly and indirectly that the work I am doing is evil and I am evil). I am not making this up! Later that day and in the days after, multiple people – people in the conference who are leaders, coaches, consultants or who want to bring more consciousness to business – came up to me asking for much more information on very specific how to’s, but also mentioned (and in a way apologized) for the “evil” attribution to the organizational Enneagram and to me as its messenger.

What I learned thus far, directly from people here who wanted to talk about it (and there is certainly more coming), is that the idea that organizations are the evil empire is a subtext in the system. The fact that I am an American was a minor theme (the stereotype that we’re all into money), particularly in the Brazilian culture. In Brazil, I was later told, they like small stories, very personal. They might have liked a story about how one person in a business setting was transformed. I gave the big story of transforming systems, given with smaller real examples. I was also told (by men) that it would have been worse had I been male (as in macho competition) and the fact that I had such easy stage presence made it very attractive to some, but may have been threatening to others.

What about my 2^nd session, the one on the Enneagram and conflict that Claudio wanted and said to the conference coordinator to make sure to schedule the afternoon of my general session? It never happened. This is the session I also asked the coordinator about multiple times: where and when would it occur. Well, I knew from the start she would not schedule it. She said she just kept forgetting to tell people or didn’t know she was supposed to, then eventually said I could do it at 8 AM the following morning. That was not going to work for me: there was no time to announce it or post it and these early morning events are supposed to be stretching and long meditation-type sessions. In addition, I had been unable to fall asleep before 2 AM each night due to the noise. So I let it go.

On night 4, when Claudio and I had a short chat about my general presentation, he said he was really unhappy that my smaller session had never been scheduled because he had asked the coordinator multiple times to do so. He also said he really liked the information I shared in the general session, mentioning that while he didn’t have great hopes for mega-corporations to change, my session gave him more hope in the change potential for the less-than-large ones.

And for the evil empire that is the Enneagram’s use in organizations, he said he hoped I could “steal” some of his people to do this work. I told him that I’m working on it. Many of these wonderful people have already approached me about what they are doing, how they can learn more, and who they can connect with in different languages to bring the Enneagram more into the word of organizations.

My trip wasn’t really what I had hoped or expected given the deep and widespread resistance to using the Enneagram in organizations, particularly the attributions of evil. One woman told me that prior to my session, she had surrounded herself with incense and candles to protect her from this evil. But once she was exposed to my session and discovered that I was a Gestalt-trained person and seemed ethical, she totally relaxed and wanted more.

It was a challenge for me as a Two to be in the midst of and be the target for the negativity, but I did manage to stay engaged and present. And I had some lovely conversations with Claudio, met some people with whom I will stay in touch. I had the experience I was supposed to have.

Insight | Being Enough

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Fri, 04 May 2012 20:34:00 +0000

Gerry Fathauer, a Senior Member of the Enneagram in Business Network (EIBN), wrote the following Insight Activity on Being Enough – something each of us deal with in 9 different ways.

Being enough – or not – is a uniquely human condition. Our preoccupation with being enough impacts nearly every aspect of our lives. Curiously, no other species on earth gets to be concerned about being enough or not. Yet, for human beings, our preoccupation with being enough can determine our self-worth, our choice of profession, even our life partner. Whether we believe we are enough – or not – may not even be a conscious awareness. Even an unconscious concern about being enough can compromise our life force.

Take a moment to come inside your body. Imagine every cell vibrating with knowing you are enough just as you are. Relax into this awareness of being enough. What is this sensate awareness like for you? Can you imagine yourself living from this place of being enough?

Memorize the sensate awareness of being enough. The next time you act from a sense of lack, practice returning to this awareness of being enough. Continue to practice this when you experience any sense of not being enough and open to any qualitative shift in your actions.

It is in our true nature to be enough. Knowing we are enough and living this reality is life-affirming and in service to all.

*********

Feeling we are enough or Being Enough is directly related to the central paradox that goes with each enneatype. Essentially, what we most strive for (to feel we are enough) we can never really achieve because our Enneagram-based behavior gets in our way. To understand this concept more fully, this blog first covers the concept of paradoxes and then reviews the central paradox for each Enneagram style.

Paradoxes
Paradoxes are apparent contradictions that pose simultaneously frustrating and motivating dilemmas for each of us. An Enneagram-based paradox is this: You truly want something and believe that your behavior is designed to achieve that result. However, more often than not, your own behavior – particularly your behavior that results from your Enneagram character structure – is the primary impediment to the achievement of the desired goal. To work with your paradox, you first have to perceive it and name it – that is, to articulate what you most deeply want and then to understand how your own behavior actually gets in the way of that. Then, you have to figure out how to resolve this dilemma on your own.

Paradoxes for each Enneagram Style
Ones want to be accepted and valued without criticism, reservations, or conditions; however, they act so critically toward others that they push others away, and they are so self-critical that they would not really believe that someone else would value them without also judging them.

If you are a One, stay with this idea, then allow yourself to contemplate how you can resolve this dilemma.

Twos want to have their own desires materialize – for example, their desire to be appreciated and supported, to get rest, and to follow their own dream. However, they spend so much of their time and energy helping other people that they are often either unaware of what their own needs truly are or else downplay their desires, giving little indication to others that they, too, want something.
If you are a Two, stay with this idea, then allow yourself to contemplate how you can resolve this dilemma.

Threes want to be valued for who they are rather than just for what they do; however, because they try to create a positive image and share only what they achieve, no one really knows the person behind the persona.
If you are a Three, stay with this idea, then allow yourself to contemplate how you can resolve this dilemma.

Fours want to have deep and lasting connections with others, but their behavior frequently reflects their desire to feel different, unique, and separate. Fours engage in push-pull behavior when others get too close, and they often pull away entirely when they feel disappointed or rejected. All of these behaviors then cause others to pull away from them.
If you are a Four, stay with this idea, then allow yourself to contemplate how you can resolve this dilemma.

Fives want to experience life fully and to genuinely connect with other people; however, their stance of observing life from afar and their disconnection from their own feelings prevent them from fully engaging in life and developing deep connections with others.
If you are a Five, stay with this idea, then allow yourself to contemplate how you can resolve this dilemma.

Sixes want to have faith in themselves and to trust other people; however, they continually second-guess themselves, project their own concerns and suspicions onto others, and then behave in guarded and accusatory ways. This causes Sixes to distrust themselves and others, and it also causes others to become suspicious and guarded with the Six in return.
If you are a Six, stay with this idea, then allow yourself to contemplate how you can resolve this dilemma.

Sevens want to feel whole, complete, and totally okay about themselves; however, they avoid the behaviors that would ultimately make them feel settled, fully satisfied, and completely self-accepting – for example, staying focused on a task until it is complete, delving into feelings and thoughts in greater depth, and accepting pain as well as pleasure.
If you are a Seven, stay with this idea, then allow yourself to contemplate how you can resolve this dilemma.

Eights want to be accepted and supported completely for who they are, including their vulnerabilities. However, they act so strong, independent, and in charge that very few people ever see their softer, more vulnerable sides or their need for nurturance and affirmation.
If you are an Eight, stay with this idea, then allow yourself to contemplate how you can resolve this dilemma.

Nines want to be acknowledged and taken seriously; however, they act so easygoing and accede so readily to what others want that they don’t assert themselves, and others then discount what they have to say.

If you are a Nine, stay with this idea, then allow yourself to contemplate how you can resolve this dilemma.

Additional Information

More in-depth information on the paradoxes of each Enneagram style and how to work with this can be found in Ginger’s book, Bringing Out the Best in Everyone You Coach (McGraw-Hill 2009).

Thanks to Frank Early, an Enneagrammer and manager at Genentech/Roche, for this wonderful graphic!

My Journey Part 1 | Claudio Naranjo’s Ennea-type Symposium 2012 | Brazil

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:15:00 +0000

More than a few people have mentioned that they like reading my travel-related newsletters and blogs because, as one recently said, “I feel I am getting to ‘see’ the world through your words.” So with that in mind, I decided to write a 3-part blog series on my experience going to Brazil in April to be part of Claudio Naranjo’s International Symposium on the Psychology of Ennea-types. Part 1 covers my pre-journey experience; Part 2 will be written while I’m in Brasilia where the conference is being held; and Part 3 will be a summation of the journey: reflections on homecoming. Rather than just reporting the chronology of events, I will give the context and texture of what the experience is really like in as candid a way possible.

How I got invited
Last August (2011), while I was at the IEA conference in Fort Lauderdale, a totally unexpected email appeared from Camile at ennea-sat: “I´m coordinating the organization of “III Simposium of Enneatypes Psychology” with Naranjo in Brasil - april 2012 - and I would like to have Ginger’s contact to invite her as a Naranjo’s indication.”

All I knew was that I was being invited to something and that I was going, although I had no idea when, where exactly, or what I was being asked to do. And I didn’t care. My heart was racing with excitement; Claudio wanted me there, and I was stunned by my own reaction. It was as if I had always wanted this, had no idea I had wanted it, and didn’t quite know why or how it had happened. Although my normal reaction to most everything is typically more tempered and measured, the thrill I felt took me over.

Because I was in the hotel lobby when this happened, I ended up running into a few people I know fairly well and told them. Their reaction was more shocking than the email: “Oh” was all they said.

I also ran into some people I knew slightly who said, “You look really happy.” When I told them why, a different reaction emerged: “That’s so wonderful. You must feel so honored. I hope to hear all about it!”

I am still processing this differentiated response. Do my “quasi-friends” not wish me this level of something (happiness, honor, etc.), IEA old-timers most of them? Was I telling the tale in a different way to people who I knew less well, telling it with more feeling? I am still pondering this. My closest friends, however, really did wish me well on this and were very excited for the Enneagram and for me.

My history with Claudio
Some people think I’ve “trained” with Claudio, and this is not true. I did participate in his IEA-based programs in 2003 and 2004, then went to his 7-day Enneagram Subtypes program in Germany in 2010 (along with 180 other people). That, to me, is not having been (technically-speaking) trained by him. I was trained by Helen Palmer and David Daniels, then influenced by several others, Claudio especially.

I do have a special feeling for Claudio. I liked him a lot the first time I met him (2003) and still do; we have a very warm and truthful relationship (when we talk, which is rare); and he did endorse my first book, which shocked me about as much as the invitation to his symposium (Claudio doesn’t endorse Enneagram books in general and isn’t a big fan of business, which I do understand, since some – perhaps too many – businesses are not conscious places).

There’s just something about him that I deeply respect, both as a person and for what he has contributed to the world of the Enneagram. Some people who have been to my programs and have trained with Claudio assume that I have trained with him because I do some exercises that he also does; they also say I explain things similar to the way he does. But I didn’t get the activities from him, so all I can conjecture is that because I’m trained as a Gestalt therapist (hardly of the same stature as Claudio), I have this as a framework from which I work.

But, he seems to like me and respect my work (I assume this from his friendliness and the invitation); this, however, is speculation on my part.

Content preparation for Brazil
So what am I going to do there? After a series of emails with Camile, it appears that Claudio wants me to do something on “Enneagram in business: methods and results.” So that is what I will do, using the 2011 EIBN Benchmark Study (created by a team from the Enneagram in Business Network) as the basis. In addition, I’m doing an interactive session on the Enneagram and conflict using the pinch-crunch model as an ode to Claudio (this was his favorite part of my first book).

But then the challenge began: 380 participants, the majority of whom speak Portuguese (the conference is in Brazil), then Spanish, then Italian. And I am the only English-speaking presenter; I may be the only native English person there. How to present in these multiple languages? And, of course, I am an outsider (a non-SAT person), and an American at that. Some people from some countries don’t like Americans very much, and I understand this (I think). But I am an American, so some may not like me very much because of my nationality. And some may not even like the idea of business applications of the Enneagram! And some may not like an outsider being invited inside. What is a Two like me to do about this? Nothing, except see it, laugh about it if I can, and do my own internal work so I don’t get in the way.

My design decision was to create a Benchmark powerpoint and a handout for everyone in 4 languages. There will be a translator (several), but what good is an English powerpoint if only I understand what’s on it? And even though the Benchmark Study is translated into Portuguese and Spanish (but not Italian), I can’t bring enough copies for everyone. The group is large, I don’t know how many people speak which languages, and the reports are in color, not black and white. They are too expensive to produce in color, and I’d never get through Brazilian customs with such a heavy suitcase. The way of resolving this: powerpoints in 4 languages and a 4-page summary handout that has all 4 languages on it, plus information that shows them where to get the full report (as a pdf) from my website.

To do the powerpoints and this 4-page creation, I had the opportunity to have my Twoness challenged once again. In general, I do not feel comfortable asking people to do things for me, but I had to ask people to translate. I usually only ask people I really like; otherwise, I feel really uncomfortable. Still, I hate to be disappointed by a “no” or by a “yes” that is not fulfilled. But, everyone I asked said yes, and they delivered excellent products on very short notice. Gema de la Rosa did Spanish translations; Nicolai Cursino translated into Portuguese. Nicoletta Colombo did an enormous amount of Italian translation. Andres Agudelo provided some graphics and tools in Spanish; likewise Uranio Paes in Portuguese because they carry my training tools in Spanish and Portuguese, respectively.

Above all, Lauren Cullen in my office somehow is doing the powerpoints and the handout. Lauren and I laugh now; if we had realized how hard it is to do these in 4 languages (especially when Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian are so similar looking), we might have taken a different path. Or would we? Right in the middle of the language challenge – too far along to turn back but far enough along to still be mired in the difficulties, an email came from Claudio via Camile saying, “…it is wonderful that she has prepared a multi-lingual power-point.” At that moment, I realized how important it was that I am doing the presentation in this way. Time consuming to prepare? Yes! Difficult to format so it looks good? Absolutely! Worth doing? In the end, it just seems fundamentally respectful.

Self-preparation for Brazil
Challenge 1 | the session(s)
Now that the materials are ready, I am refining the actual session structure (even though I don’t know when I am presenting or for how long). Claudio wants me to present in the evening, but he likes things fluid, so I don’t know which night or even if, when I get there, he might change his mind and not find time for this business-Enneagram session. Can I be OK with that? With all the time getting prepared, being excited, and the time getting there (16+ hours from LA) and the cost of travel, what if the session never happens?!

Challenge 2 | going it alone
Although I travel alone all the time, I often know people at the destination point. For this trip to Brazil, I don’t think I will know anyone other than Claudio. 5-days there, knowing no one, and most people will not be speaking English at all. Some likely speak some English, but I won’t know who right away. When I went to Germany for the Subtypes workshop, there were only 4-7 people who were native English speakers out of 180. Although there were others who spoke English as a 2^nd or 3^rd language, it was not obvious who they were until the last few days, and most who did speak English didn’t really want to be bothered speaking it. It is tiring to not speak in your own language; they get resentful that English speakers rarely speak another language fluently (especially Americans), so that they are always the ones who have to speak English.

In my worst-case scenario, I spend almost all of the 5 days talking to myself, have no one to pair off with for exercises, stick out like a sore thumb (no matter how I dress, I always look American), and feel very awkward internally. Then I remember that in Germany, people did talk to me after a while and were willing to make the effort. In addition, being so obviously alone in a big crowd generated a lot of growth in me. I could be in a large group for an extended number of days in comfort and without having to go back to my room hide from it all. I have to remember this: I can be alone in a crowd or group of people I don’t know and who want no engagement and do this with comfort, not anxiety.

In my best-case scenario, I get there, am still in some degree of solitude, but…there are some others who either speak English or are willing to speak with me (if need be, I can pull out my rusty Italian and Spanish). I run into some of the people I met at either the 2004 IEA conference (where he brought 27 assistants and I particularly liked several of the Italians) or at the German Subtypes workshop. And maybe I’ll meet some interesting new people.

Challenge 3 | what to wear
For years, I have rarely felt anxious or excited about presenting or doing a session, but I actually do at some level. Most typically, I focus on what to wear. What do I wear for the climate? What are the cultural norms about what to wear? Casual, formal, or in between? Dark colors or light; color or neutrals? In China, everyone seems to wear dark colors, no matter the season, and nice slacks are fine for women; in Colombia, dresses, skirts and high heels are the dress for women, and color is good.

I really dislike bringing the wrong clothes when presenting, sticking out like an alien in a strange land. This is very Two of me; I don’t want my clothing to offend, distract, or push people away. So what to do? I’ve done a weather check on my iPhone for Brasilia. I say to myself: Forget about what to wear! It’s not worth the energy! It is very clear to me that this attention to clothing is deeply connected to my Enneagram style Two: wanting to look pleasing enough; not wanting to draw too much or negative attention to myself based on my clothing; but also being comfortable enough in terms of temperature, dress code, and more so I’m not thinking about what I’m wearing.

What doesn’t help is that when I go outside the US, I often get unsolicited comments from people on what I wear. For example, in China I was told, “Your clothes are very nice, but they are not formal enough.” In Korea I was told, “Your clothes are nice, but why don’t you wear designer labels?” Before I went to Italy I was told, “I hope you’re going to look well-dressed: American women always look like they’re wearing pajamas!” In South Africa, no one said anything about my clothing (most likely because Cape Town is very much like Santa Monica – semi-stylish beach communities – and while in Johannesburg, the location was outside the city and no one cared). In Mexico, no one said anything, but I’ve been to Mexico so many times that I know what to bring. Other than Italy, no one in Europe comments on my clothing (to me at least), so I am either doing it right or they think something but don’t say it.

Long ago, I realized that I put anxiety I might be feeling into focusing on what to wear. The more I focus on what to wear, the more I realize I am anxious/excited about something. Fortunately, I know what to bring to Brazil (I think), but I never know for sure until I pack. If it takes me more than 20 minutes, I sit down and ask myself this: OK, what are you really anxious about?

Next 2 blogs
While in Brasilia, I will be writing daily about my actual, real-time experience there. These will then be put into the 2^nd blog of this series and posted directly upon my return to the US. The 3^rd and final blog will follow a week later, giving me time to really reflect on my experience there, what I learned about self, the Enneagram, Claudio, his programs and people, and more.

Inspiration Part 3 – Mental Center Styles

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:18:00 +0000

Gerry Fathauer, a Senior Member of the Enneagram in Business Network (EIBN), wrote the following Insight Activity on Inspiration and inspired me to explore this topic in depth for each enneatype over a 3-part series.

The word inspiration is derived from the word in as in breathe in and the root word spire, as in spirit. The very act of breathing is expansive. When we breathe deeply from our diaphragm, our body expands to take in breath, to fill us with life.

Inspiration avails us of spirit within, and spirit is that which brings us alive. Key to inspiration is seeing anew: the beauty in nature, a pet at play, an authentic masterpiece, even an intricate machine when viewed from a place of awe and wonder has the capacity to inspire.

The fuel for inspiration can be found in the ordinary when viewed with fresh eyes. If you have ever lapsed into total absorption in the explorations of a child, or in the antics of squirrels at play, you’ve momentarily stepped aside to experience the world anew. Yet inspiration is not an outside job, though the seeds for inspiration may originate elsewhere. Inspiration arises, as the word suggests, from inside.

The inside job of inspiration requires awareness. Where does your awareness of inspiration arise? Is it in your Enneagram type’s Center of Intelligence – the Center from which your Enneagram type is formed – or is it another Center? Inspiration is an asset when coaching clients and becomes an asset that most clients covet for themselves. How might you support your clients in being inspired?

Allowing spirit within is a simple act of awareness. Imagine the possibilities in a world open to inspiration as a way of life!

In this 3^rd blog based on Gerry’s insights about how to become more inspired, the focus is on the three Mental Center styles – Five, Six, and Seven – and how they can use one of the Centers of Intelligence for enhanced inspiration. In reality, we can each use all three Centers of Intelligence to do this; however, I’ve selected one Center for each style just to give a sense of how to do this.

Mental Center Enneagram Styles: Five, Six, and Seven

Fives: Using Their Heart Center for Inspiration

Using the Heart Center of Intelligence for inspiration is an obvious choice for Fives, many of whom have pure hearts but don’t feel that comfortable in their Heart Center area. They often vacate their Heart Center by not breathing into their hearts (or their bodies either, for that matter). They vacate their hearts by devaluing emotional life because they find it unpredictable, illogical, and overwhelming. They may also vacate their hearts by staying separated from people, even those they love. So here are three suggestions for Fives to become more at ease in their hearts and to use their hearts for inspiration.

Suggestion 1: Breathe into your heart area. This may sound extremely foreign if you are used to only breathing into your head area, but head breathing keeps you out of touch with your heart and emotions and, in a sense, not attuned to all of your inner self and the wisdom of the heart. So breathe more deeply into your heart (think of it as breathing through your neck into your chest), going slowly at first, then less slowly as you get more comfortable with breathing in this way. Breath provides energy, fuel, and life force wherever you send it. Once you have re-discovered your Heart Center by way of your breath, you can use this energy to inspire you. Maybe you’ll even write love songs!

Suggestion 2: Use your body sensations to re-discover your heart. Almost every emotion has a corresponding physical sensation, although not every physical sensation corresponds to a feeling. For example, the feeling of anxiety or fear might be preceded or accompanied with movement in the stomach area (flutters, tightening, or pangs); thus, these stomach cues are clues to feelings once you start making the association. Of course, a stomach pang could simply be a stomachache, with no feeling whatever attached to it. But because of this connection between body and emotion, it is important that you notice each and every physical sensation you experience and ask yourself this: Am I feeling something now? If so, what? Over time, this creates your own booklet for emotional literacy; from emotional literacy comes inspiration. You might even write a play!

Suggestion 3: Tell people how you feel. Start actually telling people with whom you interact how you feel about something relevant between the two of you. When you do this, you can keep it simple. For example, if you go to the grocery store and the clerk is especially helpful, tell him or her that you liked the service. With someone close to you at home or work, if you liked or disliked something, mention what you feel in real time. If you only figure out later how you felt, then approach the person and say what’s on your mind and in your heart. Practice, practice, practice makes it much easier.

Sixes: Using Their Body Center for Inspiration

Sixes are on a search for what is solid, true, meaningful, and certain. In some respects, nothing is; in other ways, Sixes can find this in their Body Centers. Why? Well, they haven’t found it in their Mental Centers yet, the mind that keeps spinning with multiple questions and various scenarios. The heart is also uncertain, as it responds to the vicissitudes of the mind. But the body is more solid and stabilizes the mind and heart of the Six. Here are some suggestions for using the body:

Suggestion 1: Recognize that you really do have a body by taking care of it. Get enough sleep, eat healthy food, and get some form of exercise on a regular basis.

Suggestion 2: Take daily walks just to enjoy yourself and calm your heart and mind. Don’t think (too much), don’t reflect on your emotional reactions, just engage in the walking process. In addition, when you feel like you are spinning with solutions to a problem, go for a walk and don’t think. Don’t even think about not thinking. Get solid in your body; inspiration will flow.

Suggestion 3: Take some form of martial arts: akido, karate, tae kwon do, or even yoga (or power yoga). These build strength, flexibility, and even more, they develop physical balance in every way. From this place of solid, balanced strength comes true inspiration to just know what to do.

Sevens: Using Their Mental Center for Inspiration

Why use the Mental Center for inspiration when it is the Mental Center that is so dynamic (and uncontrolled) in Sevens? Wouldn’t it be better to use the Heart Center – to get Sevens in touch with their deepest sense of feeling for inspiration – or to use the Body Center for grounding and anchoring, given that Sevens can appear to be ungrounded as if always walking above ground-level? The answer is that any of us can use any of our Centers for more inspiration, so here are some Mental Center-based suggestions for Sevens.

Suggestion 1: Focus your mind on your interior world, rather than being stimulated primarily by ideas or external stimulation. In other words, use your mind to explore your heart’s reactions and your interior physical sensations. Imagine you are on a treasure hunt and the treasure is inside yourself; what you will find is just as fascinating (and possibly even more stimulating) than what you can create in your mind alone. Simply choose to go inside your heart area and explore the sensations you experience, probing those that are new to you. You don’t need to understand them yet, just experience them. Do the same with your physical sensations all throughout your body. Again, don’t try to understand or analyze them. Simply just experience them. After 2 weeks of doing this daily activity – start with 5 minutes, 3 times per day and then keep adding one more minute once you feel comfortable doing it – continue with the activity, but each time you find a sensation in your heart or somewhere in your body, ask yourself: What is this? You will have an answer. Get inspired by the wonder inside!

Suggestion 2: Draw a picture of your mind as it currently operates. Use colors, shapes, and whatever else helps you express the way your mind works. Then draw another picture, a picture of how your mind looks (or would look) when it is fully inspired by one important thing, something that really interests you and holds your attention. Put that picture in a place in your office or home where it can inspire you to focus your mind and be inspired.

Suggestion 3: Become more discerning. Learn the difference between flights of mental fancy and inspiration. Learn the difference between a stimulated mind and an inspired mind. Experience the distinction between an unfocused mind and a clear mind. From clarity comes inspiration.

Inspiration Part 2 - Heart Center Styles

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:19:00 +0000

Allowing spirit within is a simple act of awareness. Imagine the possibilities in a world open to inspiration as a way of life!

In this 2^nd blog based on Gerry’s insights about how to become more inspired, the focus is on the three Heart Center styles – Two, Three, and Four – and how they can use one of the Centers of Intelligence for enhanced inspiration. In reality, we can each use all three Centers of Intelligence to do this; however, I’ve selected one Center for each style just to give a sense of how to do this.

Heart Center Enneagram Styles: Two, Three, and Four

Twos: Using Their Mental Center for Inspiration

It’s been said by many Enneagram teachers (including me) that Twos do not have direct access to their Mental Centers on the Enneagram (this is true) by virtue of their wings (points 1 and 3) or their arrows (points 8 and 4). For this reason, Twos may not come across as “intellectual” as some of the other Enneagram styles, but it would be misleading to then say that Twos are not intellectually oriented. Social subtype Twos (I am a social Two) are known as the “intellectual” Twos, and Twos of the other two subtypes can also be intellectual. For example, Bea Chestnut is a self-preservation Two, yet she is a thought leader in the Enneagram and is quite intellectual. Just talk to her, and you’ll see this for yourself.

So what is “intelligence” and being “intellectual?”

Intelligence: the ability to reason, learn, retain, plan, problem solve, comprehend complex ideas; learn quickly, adapt to one’s environment, to ‘catch on’ quickly; derives from the Latin verb intelligere which means to “discern.” Of course, this definition is a Mental Center-based definition, and there are really multiple intelligences (emotional, physical, musical, etc). But for the purpose of this blog, the focus is on the Mental Center variety of intelligence.

Intellectual: a person who uses his or her intellect in a profession or personal capacity, particularly the capacity to reason and think; the three forms of being an intellectual: (1) involved with abstract, erudite ideas and theories; (2) being in a profession that involves the creation and dissemination of idea; and/or (3) possessing notable expertise such that this knowledge or intellectual authority grants the person intellectual authority in public discourse.

By the above definitions, many Twos are already both intelligent and intellectual. To become more inspired, however, it can be really helpful for Twos to more fully “own” their intellectual capacity – that is, to recognize, acknowledge, and truly honor their mental capabilities – and to also learn to use their Mental Center in more ways than they may normally. Here’s how Twos can do this:

Suggestion 1: Think about how smart you really are. Be objective. Think about what you actually know really well. Think about your innate curiosity about how things work. Think about how annoying you find people who are intellectually arrogant, then recognize that you can really “own” your intelligence and intellectuality without becoming arrogant about it. The two – intelligence and arrogance – do not necessarily go together!

Suggestion 2: Breathe into your Head Center for 5 minutes three times per day, and do this while sitting down so you don’t get dizzy! After a few days, do this same activity, but do it while walking. Then continue this activity on a daily basis, even doing it more and more often as you feel comfortable. Why do this? Twos often breathe directly into their heart area (and sometimes into their gut areas), but they often bypass their Head Center. Breath is fuel and energy for enlivening the Centers.

Suggestion 3: Tell people what you know, and do so without either apology or arrogance (Twos rarely do this!). Many Twos do hold back their thoughts and analyses until they feel they can no longer do so (often when someone else says something they strongly disagree with or that is not based on experience or logic). Just say what you think, and say it early and clearly.

Threes: Using Their Heart Center for Inspiration

One of the most frequently asked question I am asked about Threes is this: If Threes are a Heart Center style, why don’t they seem as emotional or sensitive to others as Twos or Fours?The answer is straightforward: Threes generally use their Heart Center functioning to read their audience and then adjust their own behavior (performance) for a positive effect; Twos, by contrast, use their heart to tune into the feelings of others (aka sensitivity), and Fours use their hearts to tune into their own feelings.

Because Threes do not spend very much time or attention focusing on their own feelings, it becomes difficult for them to know what they really want and desire or what inspires them. The answer to these questions comes from the Heart Center. In fact, to ask Threes what they really want and aspire to (other than what they have aspired to based on social expectations) is to usually send Threes into some inner confusion! They have just not focused on what they truly and deeply desire from, as Gerry points out, the inside. Going more deeply into their Heart Center can thus be their basic source of inspiration.

Suggestion 1: Breathe, but breathe into your Heart Center. Many Threes breathe into their shoulder area, but not deeply into the heart area. When you do breathe more deeply into your heart, make sure you do so gently so that you don’t startle yourself or cause yourself to feel anxious. Simply practice heart breathing, going more and more fully into your heart chamber area. This will awaken your feelings, allowing them to be increasingly available to you. Without knowing how you feel, it is near impossible to know what you really want or to feel inspired.

Suggestion 2: Once you have more access to your Heart Center via the breathing technique above or some other approach, ask yourself this: What do I really want? What matters to me? What will make me truly happy? What inspires me at a deep level? After you ask yourself each question, wait for the answer. Ask yourself these questions at least 2 to 3 times per day. Keep a journal of your answers if you like. Every week, look through your answers and notice the patterns that emerge. The more you ask, the more answer you will receive.

Suggestion 3: Give yourself permission to do what you deeply desire rather than believing that you must calibrate your desires based on your interpretation of what success and confidence look like. If you don’t know what you want, then it’s easier to follow social expectations. In addition, following social norms keeps you from exploring your deepest desires. But once you know what you want, you need to say this to yourself: It’s really OK to do what I love! And a hint, as you explore what you want, you may find it easier to articulate what you don’t want. In this case, simply ask yourself this: If this is what I don’t want, then what do I want instead?

Fours: Using Their Body Center for Inspiration

Why did I select the Body Center as a way for Fours to become more inspired? And aren’t Fours already inspired; after all, they are usually creative, going along with their own inner aspirations rather than following convention?

The answer to the first question is that many Fours have a “collusional” relationship between their Heart Centers (emotions) and mental Centers (thinking). In other words, Fours may experience a variety of emotions (often tumultuous) and then use their thinking function to analyze and even over analyze what they are feeling. They want to figure out what they are feeling, so they go through a list of A through Zs: “it could be this!” “It could be that!” “Is this it?” Because of this interwoven Heart-Head Center functioning, the Body Center can be an excellent way to stand steady and be the source of truer inspiration. The answer to the second question is that there is a difference between being creative and being truly inspired.

Suggestion 1: Engage in a body-based grounding practice on a daily basis. Stand up, breathe throughout your body, and feel your breath going right down your legs through your feet and into the floor. Although you can do this sitting down, it is easier to penetrate your entire physical body when you stand. Do this several times each day; it will be easier and easier. Once you fully inhabit your body, knowing what really inspires you and then taking action upon it becomes much easier.

Suggestion 2: When you have feelings, especially ones that are confusing to you – that is, you don’t know what the feeling is or you are feeling several emotions simultaneously – find the place in your body that has the sensation you associate with your emotional response. Focus on the sensation, not the feeling. After you have located the physical sensation and focused on it so you feel familiar and accepting of it, then ask yourself: What do I really feel?From this more pure feeling state, you can then ask yourself: Given this feeling, what do I want? What do I feel inspired to do?

Suggestion 3: Based on what you truly and deeply feel (using the above suggestions to determine this), take deliberate action. Many Fours frustrate themselves by not manifesting into action that which truly inspires them. Is this because, at some level, most Fours do not believe that they will get their needs and desires met? If so, Fours need to challenge themselves on this assumption. Why do others seem to be able to manifest their desires, but not Fours? That is a good question, but what is the answer? Is it because Fours have so many complex ideas that they don’t know which ones to manifest? If so, get to the core of the idea by going deeper and simplifying the truer aspiration (see the first two suggestions) and then take action. Is it because Fours prefer to create and dream than to manifest? If so, ask why?

The next and final blog in this series will focus on the Mental Center styles: Five, Six, and Seven.

Mental Center Enneagram Styles: Five, Six, and Seven

Fives: Using Their Heart Center for Inspiration

Sixes: Using Their Body Center for Inspiration

Sevens: Using Their Mental Center for Inspiration

Inspiration Part 1 - Body Center Styles

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 22:02:00 +0000

Gerry Fathauer, a Senior Member of the Enneagram in Business Network (EIBN), wrote the following Insight Activity on Inspiration and inspired me to explore this topic in depth for each enneatype over a 3-part series.

Allowing spirit within is a simple act of awareness. Imagine the possibilities in a world open to inspiration as a way of life!

In this blog, based on Gerry’s insights above, I’m going to explore how each enneatype can use one of their three Centers of Intelligence to draw out the ability to become more inspired. I do believe that each of us can enhance and accelerate our ability to be inspired from all three of our Centers; however, for this blog, I’ve selected one Center for each enneatype. And because the blog topic is more complex than simple, I’ve divided the blog into a 3-part series, starting with the Body Center styles Eight, Nine, and One.

Body Center Enneagram Styles: Eight, Nine, and One

Eights: Using Their Mental Center for Inspiration

Eights almost always have strong access to the Body Center (although they often over-use it and/or use it in partial ways), and many Eights have fairly easy access to their Heart Centers (particularly, the 1-1 and social subtype Eights). However, it is the Mental Center that many Eights underutilize or under-acknowledge (with the exception of the few Eights, who in fits of grandiosity, act as if they are super-smart because they want to be perceived as highly intellectual). The Eight’s superb Mental Center gift is in their understanding of the complex dynamics of systems and how the parts interconnect. This is what helps Eights be so strategic.

However, my experience is that if you ask most Eights if they think they are smart (intelligent, intellectual, etc.), they more often than not look startled in response to this question. Even when these individuals are highly regarded at work or among their peers and family for being highly intelligent, Eights tend to say something like this: “I’ve gotten where I am by pure tenacity and will.” Then, when confronted (yes, it feels like a confrontation to them) with the idea that others perceive them as extremely smart, Eights often get really embarrassed. I’ve even seen Eight men cry at the thought that smart is something they really are. Here are some suggestions for how Eights can gain more pure access to their Mental Centers:

Suggestion 1: Eights may already use their Mental Center to justify what their guts instinctively tell them, but this is not an optimal use of the Mental Center. To further develop their Mental Centers, it can be helpful to separate the “collusion” between the Gut Center and the Mental Center; in other words, allow the Mental Center to have its own life and functioning apart from the Body, then integrate these two Centers when both are fully independent and highly functioning. Just knowing this helps.

Suggestion 2: Those Eights (and they are by no means the majority of Eights) who use their intellectual prowess as a way to be big or to overpower those who disagree with them need to recognize how they are (mis)using their Mental Center in this way, stop themselves when they are about to do so, and ask themselves this question: How am I feeling right now; what’s behind my need to be big mentally, to use my Head Center as a gun or a shield?

Suggestion 3: All Eights can learn to use their minds to identify the multi-truths of the situations they are in. In other words, don’t rely so heavily on your gut to give the instantaneous answer to the question, What is the truth here? Relying on your Body Center to such an extent can make your reactions too quick, overly strong, and totally or partially inaccurate. Think of this as your having a 3-legged stool on which to sit, but one leg is over-built and the other two legs are wobbly. Real strength comes from all three Centers of Intelligence, as does true inspiration.

Nines: Using Their Body Center for Inspiration

Nines are often referred to as having “anger that went to sleep.” Another way of expressing this is that Nines stuff their feelings of anger and discontent far below their awareness by removing themselves from their body awareness of physical sensation. As a result, Nines put a high percentage of their bodies to sleep; how does the body know which sensations and feelings are OK to allow closer to the surface and which are not!

For this reason, awakening the Body Center is central to the Nines’ awakening and without this, deeply fueled inspiration suffers. To wake up in this way requires the courage to experience oneself fully. When Nines do this, they come to learn a number of important lessons, ones they likely know cognitively (at least to some degree); however, this mental knowledge has not infiltrated the rest of them. Lesson 1: expressing needs, desires, and preferences is their human right; Lesson 2: self-expression does not necessarily lead to conflict; it can lead to intimacy and is, in fact, intimacy’s key ingredient; Lesson 3: they can handle every reaction that comes their way, including disagreements; Lesson 4: many other sensations and emotions, including pleasurable ones, are based in physical experience; as a result, awakening their Body Center enables them to engage fully in life.

How do Nines develop more access to and more comfort being more fully in their Body Center?

Suggestion 1: Breathe fully into your stomach area (but don’t bypass your Heart Center when doing this) and allow your breath to invigorate your belly area. Do this as a daily practice until you are doing it without even trying.

Suggestion 2: When you feel sensations in you body (think of these as physical stirrings), you may not recognize what they mean at first, but that’s OK. For each physical stirring, keep breathing into that area, identify where that sensation is located, and allow your feelings to emerge. Then ask yourself: What am I feeling, experiencing, and/or wanting right now?

Suggestion 3: Recognize that being more awake (aware of) what is occurring within you does not mean you must express this. It is really your choice what to do. The reason it is important to recognize this choice is simple. When you do not allow yourself to be more awake, you have no real choice. When you are more awake to yourself, you have the choice to express yourself (including how, when and to whom) or to not. Having a real choice then gives you both permission and control over your external behavior without your over-controlling yourself by keeping your deeper responses so subliminal that even you don’t know what they are. From awakeness comes inspiration.

Ones: Using Their Heart Center for Inspiration

I have noticed that many Ones, when given feedback that they are not warm enough, become quite hurt by the idea that someone else would perceive them this way. When I observe this reaction in Ones, I feel very saddened for them because I do believe that most Ones have very deep feelings; at the same time, these interior experiences may not be felt or sensed by others. Just to be clear, some Ones do come across as very warm, often those with a strong Two wing or strong access to their arrow line at 4, as well as Ones who have done a great deal of self-development work so that their inner critic is less intense (on themselves, especially). This allows their heartfulness to become more apparent to others.

But how can all Ones use their Heart Centers for more inspiration? Ones, like Eights, usually have a “collusional” relationship between the Body Center and Mental Center. However, while Eights might misuse their Head Centers to “be big,” Ones can misuse their Head Centers to “be right,” justifying their gut reactions through a mental formulation (aka an opinion). How can Ones separate these two Centers so that each has more autonomy (and can, therefore, provide more inspiration)? The answer is through the Heart Center, because the One’s Heart Center is usually its own entity rather than being in non-differentiated collusion with the other two Centers.

So how do Ones access and amplify openness in their Heart Center? This is really a good question for us all, no matter what our Enneagram style. Here are some suggestions for Ones:

Suggestion 1: When you get a strong body-based reaction to something, instead of going to your Head Center for a justification, move into your Heart Center and ask: What am I feeling right now? Then stay with this feeling and ask yourself: What else am I feeling?

Suggestion 2: Breathe. Breathe into your Heart and Body Centers simultaneously. Do this as a daily practice until it becomes your everyday way of breathing. This will open up your Heart Center.

Suggestion 3: Do things you love. Dance, sing, paint, write. Do whatever brings you joy, and do these with an entirely open heart!

The next blog will focus on how the Heart Center styles – Two, Three, and Four – can become more inspired, while the final blog in this series will do the same for the Head Center styles, Five, Six and Seven.

Part 2 Heart Center Enneagram Styles: Two, Three, and Four

Two: Mental Center

Three: Heart Center

Four: Body Center

Part 3 Mental Center Enneagram Styles: Five, Six, and Seven

Five: Heart Center

Sixes: Body Center

Seven: Mental Center

Enneagram Sevens: Antelope

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:03:00 +0000

Why did I select the antelope to represent Enneagram style Seven? There are many reasons, but I primarily did so because they are elegant, fast, and most are graceful yet elusive. In this blog, there are three pictures of antelope, not just one, because antelope can look so different from one another, yet also look so similar. Here are more reasons why antelope are a great animal to represent Sevens.

It’s all in the name

The English word "antelope" first appears in 1417 and is derived from the Old French antelop, itself derived from Medieval Latin ant(h)alopus, which in turn comes from the Byzantine Greek word anthólops, first attested in Eustathius of Antioch (c.336), according to whom it was a “fabulous animal haunting the banks of the Euphrates, very savage, hard to catch and having long saw-like horns capable of cutting down trees.”

It may also derive from the Greek word anthos(flower) and ops (eye), perhaps meaning "beautiful eye," alluding to the animal’s long eyelashes.

Enneagram Commentary: There are so many ways in which the derivation of the word antelope describes Enneagram Sevens. Sevens are wild and fabulous, wild because they refuse to be constricted in any way and fabulous because they are so mentally agile (too agile?). The idea that the name may come from a reference to the antelope’s long eyelashes can be taken as a metaphor for the seven’s charming demeanor (as in batting one’s eyelashes as a flirtation) and not to be missed is the fact that Narcissism is the psychological characteristic that is often associated with Sevens, although narcissism is not exclusive to Sevens.

Physical characteristics

There are 91 species, most of which are native to Africa. There are eland, red hartebeest, kudu, nyala, sable, gerenuk, klipspringer, impalas, and more, plus antelope come in a variety of sizes.

Not surprisingly for animals with long, slender yet powerful legs, many antelopes have long strides and can run fast. Their ability to run swiftly has also led to their association with the wind.

All antelope species have horns, although in some species they are only found on the males. The horns are made of a bony core, encased in a hard material made largely of keratin. They are permanently attached – not like a deer’s antlers, which are shed each year. Antelope use their horns in defense against predators, and males – and sometimes females – also use them to establish their position in a herd or to fight rivals.

Their eyes are placed on the sides of their heads, giving them a broad radius of vision with minimal binocular vision. The fact that most species have their pupils elongated horizontally also helps in this respect. Acute senses of smell and hearing, give antelope the ability to perceive danger at night out in the open (when predators are often on the prowl). Like many other herbivores, antelopes rely on keen senses to avoid predators.

Enneagram Commentary: Just like antelope, Sevens come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Also similar to antelopes, Sevens run fast (metaphorically); their minds race in quick associational patterns, and they reframe negative so quickly as they run away from painful or uncomfortable experiences. In addition, there is an “airy” quality to most Sevens, very much like the wind rather than the earth. And like antelope, Sevens usually have highly acute sensory functioning that helps them be highly alert to stimuli in their environment.

Communication

These same senses play an important role in contact between individuals of the same species: markings on head, ears, legs, and rumps are used in such communication – many species "flash" such markings, as well as their tails; vocal communications include loud barks, whistles, "moos" and trumpeting; many species also use scent marking to define their territories or simply to maintain contact with their relatives and neighbors.

Enneagram Commentary: I know one Seven (highly extroverted) who does not stop talking all day. Once I spent a full day (18 hours) with him and don’t think I ever had a chance to say anything, so much so that I asked him if he talked in his sleep. He thought this was very funny and told me that he did talk to himself during the night. I also know another Seven (highly introverted) who rarely talks at all. I asked him what he did with all those thoughts racing in his mind, to which he replied, “I am very busy internally and never bored!” In either case, Sevens are extensive communicators verbally and non-verbally. They often “flash” their eyes when excited, “bark” when angry (often in public venues), “whistle” when they want us to listen (which is often), and ”trumpet” when we are not addressing their ideas (and there are many of them).

Responses to fear

Antelope pursue a number of defense strategies, often dictated by their morphology. Large antelope that gather in large herds rely on numbers and running speed for protection. In some species, adults will circle around the offspring, protecting them from predators when threatened. Many forest antelope rely on coloring and good hearing to avoid predators. Forest antelope often have very large ears and a dark or striped coloration. Small antelope evade predation by jumping into dense bush where the predator cannot pursue. Open grassland species have nowhere to hide from predators so they tend to be fast runners.

Antelope calves have two survival strategies: either they hide out to avoid predators, or they start traveling right after birth so they can join the protection of the herd.

Enneagram Commentary: Although most antelope appear satisfied and peaceful, their fear lurks right behind this exterior, just like Enneagram Sevens. And like antelope, Sevens have a variety of defensive coping strategies to deal with their fear. First, is positive possibility thinking. If that doesn’t work, Sevens engage in reframing something negative into a positive. If that fails, Sevens resort to blaming. If that doesn’t succeed, Sevens will self-implode and/or hide – for example, not showing up for appointments, quitting a job precipitously, or other forms of moving as far away as possible from that which scares them.

Domestication: "Don’t Fence Me In"

Domestication of animals requires certain traits in the animal that antelope do not typically display. Most antelope are difficult to contain in any closed in space due to the territoriality of males. In some cases, antelope display an aggressive disposition that can easily kill a human. Because many have extremely good jumping abilities, providing adequate fencing is a challenge. Also, antelope will consistently display a fear response to perceived predators, such as humans, making them very difficult to herd or handle.

Enneagram Commentary: Have you ever tried to domesticate a Seven? It rarely works – Sevens, like antelopes, do not like to be fenced in, cornered or anything else that restricts their freedom. From the Seven point of view, all of their options must be available to them and only they themselves have the right to institute restrictions, which they rarely do.

An underestimated animal
Most people tend to underrate antelopes, in comparison with other bigger or stronger animals. But the bushman who is so well attuned to the rhythms of the natural world has discerned subtle qualities in the eland – the largest of Africa's antelopes. This animal has a special place in his spiritual life and he indeed believes it can connect him to God. It is taken as an animal endowing peace, well-being, healing and prosperity. The eland is almost invariably represented in bushman rock art throughout southern Africa.

Enneagram Commentary: Many Sevens have a very strong spiritual capacity, a trait overlooked by many of the rest of us. Most Sevens live in a world of infinite possibility, which is not nearly so realistic as it is perpetually optimistic. Why not dream? And in the world of dreams and possibilities is also the world of spiritual capability. But like antelope, Sevens get underestimated, and this is just one way this underestimation occurs.

Steve Jobs Was an Unusual 7-8 Binary Type

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:49:00 +0000

Ginger’s Introduction

I’ve invited additional blogs that speculate on Steve Jobs’ Enneagram style to encourage a productive and open dialogue about typing and famous people. Peter Zappel offered to write one with a different twist on Jobs and his type. In this blog, Peter suggests that Jobs is not a pure type but a combination 7 and 8, which he calls a binary type. I’m going to have to really ponder this concept (as it doesn’t fit with how I learned and know the Enneagram), but I will say that I have met a few (not too many) very aware people who were so close to two types (often wings of one another) that discerning their core type from the wing has been a challenge for them. I’ve seen this more with type 5 and 6 than any other, but also with a few other combinations (including a few people having confusion among their arrows, especially the 3-6-9). So I think you will find this blog a good read, well thought-through, and perhaps Jobs was a binary 7-8, perhaps a 7w8 or an 8w7, or even something else. Thanks for your effort in writing this, Peter! Does anyone else want to write a well-researched blog on Steve Jobs as another enneatype? Thus far, we have type 4, now a binary 7-8.

Peter’s Blog

A great deal of controversy exists in the Enneagram community regarding the late Steve Jobs, one of the greatest entrepreneurs in American history. The confusion stems from the fact that he possessed a combination of distinct characteristics which are closely associated with several Enneagram Types, most notably 7, 8, 1, 4 and 5: visionary, strong, perfectionist, artist and thinker all wrapped into one. What has baffled many Jobs' watchers is that a fairly strong case can be made for each of these types (type 5 being least likely, although he had several distinctly 5ish tendencies too). But, most interestingly, when these five types are blended, we seem to get the “real” Jobs, a hybrid, a composite seemingly defying any single enneatype.

Indeed, in fact, I believe he was a rare hybrid. In this blog, I will suggest that when Jobs is looked at carefully, as an unusual 7-8 binary type (equal parts type 7 and 8), that this explains his confusing (at least to us) presentation, especially when the connecting types to 7 and 8 are considered. Although the binary type is not an officially recognized category in Enneagram theory as it stands today, I believe that there is no theoretical reason why a person could not possess equal parts of two adjacent types. And in the case of Jobs, this hypothesis seems to fit and is supported by strong evidence. Furthermore, notice how types 7 and 8 are connected to type 5, while type 7 is also connected to type 1, which then connects to type 4. Looking at these connections, I believe, explains his anomalous personality.

An overview of the "Jobs persona" is a good starting point. The following descriptors come to mind and have been thoroughly documented in numerous books, articles, interviews, documentaries, movies, biographies and stories about Jobs from those who knew him best: brilliant, inventive, perceptive, intelligent, idealistic, perfectionist, up-tight, focused, practical, uncompromising, progressive, visionary, convincing, charismatic, arrogant, narcissistic, elitist, megalomaniacal, Machiavellian, charming, inspiring, deceptive, opportunistic, aesthetic, unique, driven, relentless, dominating, brutally honest, merciless, unfair, critical, blunt, rude, pushy, selfish, excessive, expansive, lecturing, argumentative, dictatorial, combative, pitiless, workaholic, moody, unpredictable, melancholy... loner. From this list, one thing is clear, Jobs was an incredibly complicated man leaving many people scratching their heads... especially Enneagrammers.

Some in the Enneagram community are convinced that Jobs was a type 1 perfectionist and point to his unwillingness to compromise on his idealistic vision. Jobs believed, like most 1s, that any small flaw diminishes the whole (when it came to his creations) and should not be tolerated. Those who worked for him understood that he would not back down from his idea of what the finished product should do, look like and feel like in the hands of users. Good was never good enough for Jobs, who always demanded excellence. Any employee falling short of Jobs’ standard of perfection was in for harsh treatment, a nasty lecture… and possible firing, often publicly. Most who worked for Jobs lived in constant fear. It has been said that prior to any formal or informal meeting with Jobs, everyone held their breath…wondering what his mood would be.

Although perfectionism, hard work and idealism were big parts of his makeup, type 1 doesn’t actually fit him for several reasons. First, Jobs had a reputation as a "bad boy," rebellious, contrarian... distinctly non-compliant. As one of the “compliant types," along with types 2 and 6, the 1 strives to be “inline” with some external standard or authority. Jobs was a rebel. His ideas were revolutionary, not improved "me too" products more typical of type 1 entrepreneurs. Also, 1s want to be "good," while Jobs obviously didn’t seem to care whatsoever about being "good" personally, except to the degree that his ego was a reflection of his "good products." His reputation for bad behavior was legendary. His trampling on people was commonplace. Jobs answered to nobody and followed only the rules and regulations which suited him. He was an enterprising, confrontational, visionary, maverick and an inspiring bully, hardly a compliant 1. Also, if Jobs were a 1, he would have had either a 9 wing (highly unlikely) or a 2 wing (not likely, although he knew how to groom and mentor talent).

In the early Apple days, he often went barefoot, unkempt and distinctly needing a bath, according to many who worked for him (nobody, it appears, really worked "with" him). Again, this does not fit the 1 profile. Furthermore, 1s, more than any of the other types, tend to control their anger, which they feel is not "right" and reflects poorly upon them. 1s also value self-control, and Jobs was often totally out of control. Jobs' anger and rage surfaced suddenly and frequently and, most often, inappropriately. He didn’t seem to care who he hurt or what anybody thought of him. Many people found him to be unbearable, oppressive, combative, and downright terrifying. And although, yes, he was a humorless perfectionistic task master, I don’t believe 1 fits. His perfectionism was not a general personality pattern, but only an orientation to his creations (his idealized ego-self). All of the types can be "perfectionistic" in certain (often unusual) ways.

Some Enneagrammers type Jobs as a 4 because of his great concern for aesthetics, beauty, design and functionality. They also are quick to point out that Jobs felt, and openly boasted, that he was an incredibly "special" person destined for greatness. Further, they note that he was moody, melancholy, isolated and totally self-absorbed, like many 4s. And they say his narcissism was boosted by his supposed 3 wing, as were his vanity, charm and deception. The Riso/Hudson moniker for the 4w3 is the "elitist," which definitely fits. However, although the word elitism does describe Jobs, I don’t see Jobs as a 4.

First, 4s are rarely openly loud, aggressive and confrontational (although sexual subtype 4s can be very passionate). Even the most extroverted and dramatic 4s are not relentless, domineering task-masters. A brilliant, but stressed, 4 will introject problems and become somewhat detached, depressed and solicitous of people, as they move to their arrow line at 2, seeking a "re-connection" rather than a confrontation. This is the opposite of Jobs' pattern of direct confrontation and demand for quick resolution. This direct-demand orientation suggests the desire of enneatypes 7 and 8 to resolve issues quickly and to move forward.

In addition, the 4’s speech style is often indirect, symbolic, referential, and aimed at drawing out information from another which might reveal deeper meaning. Jobs’ speech style was always direct, goal oriented, specific and motivational (or threatening). Stressed 4s usually seek resolution through reconnection, healing wounds and rekindling lost intimacy… or uncommunicative bridge burning. Stressed 7s and 8s seek resolution through concrete actions, revised plans and re-framed beginnings… or firings. Throughout his life Jobs consistently "planned" experiences with drugs, travels, meetings with gurus, revolutionary products, companies, strategies, moves, comebacks, revenge, victory and ultimate glory. This was his whole orientation to life, 7 planning for ultimate 8 glory, marketplace domination and supremacy, and proof of worth – for example, his statements to his parents about the mistake they made in giving him up for adoption some psychologists suggest.

I see Jobs as a combination of incredible vision and optimism about his personal unlimited potential at type 7, combined equally with the strength of will and determination to see it through at type 8. Under stress, he moved to type 1, and this resulted in the lecturing, correcting and single-mindedness. His ambition, bluntness, opportunism and objectification were all indications of his equally powerful 8 aspect. Stressed-out 7s become demanding and critical at type 1. Stressed 8s go into hiding at type 5. His movement to type 5 was either during times of focusing on new comeback plans from the stressed 8 position, but also in his quiet times of introspection and when he was engaged in imagination and the generation of new ideas (the way in which many 7s use their arrow line at type 5). In addition, in times of security the 8 moves to 2, helping, mentoring and charming new talent, like Jobs did. And in security, 7 moves to focused innovation at 5, the source of his brilliant revolutionary ideas.

Diagnosis: Enneatype 7-8 binary, Enneafield 3 (Enneafield is the dominant external field influence flavoring enneatype).

Peter Zappel is an entrepreneur and freelance writer/photographer who has been both published in numerous major US and European magazines and exhibited widely in galleries and museums. As a co-founder of three Silicon Valley startups, he has been an avid “Jobs watcher” for a very long time. In addition, he has published nearly a dozen articles about the Enneagram. www.peterzappelimages.com

What to Get Your Enneagram Friends for St. Patrick’s Day

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:26:00 +0000

We don’t normally get presents for our friends on St. Patrick’s Day, but why not? Here are some ideas for people of each Enneagram style:

Ones
Here is the perfect, practical present for those perfect and practical Ones. It’s a bouquet of edible treats (all in perfect shades of green)!

Twos
Twos like to share their resources with others, and this gift offers the opportunity to acknowledge your Two friend (always a good idea, especially when it is not expected). The cupcakes can be shared and the Two can eat the whole cake or if the Two is watching his or her weight, one cupcake for the two and the rest for everyone else!

Threes
What could be better than these green Adidas running shoes for your Three friend on the run. They can be used for sports activities (competitive ones, of course) or for running to the grocery store. Plus, they are a name brand shoe!

Fours
Nothing ordinary for your Four friend on St. Patrick’s Day. Try green sushi! Even if your friend doesn’t like Sushi, he or she will appreciate the crazy uniqueness of the idea, not to mention the effort you put in trying to find this.

Fives
Do Fives like beer? That’s hard to know, but they might enjoy a non-pressured invitation to go out with you for a social evening of relaxation and no pressure. Even when Fives act like they don’t care about social interaction, many of them secretly thirst for it!

Sixes
Here are two present suggestions, one for your more phobic Six friends and the other for those who are more counter-phobic. They are different, but both are friendly. Think of these as lapel pins.

The phobic Six gift
For some reason, many phobic Sixes find the Peanuts’ characters inviting and reassuring, so here’s Linus.

The counter-phobic Six gift
Even though he’s got his dukes (fists) up ready for a fight, what a great friendly smile on his face!

Sevens
You want to delight your Seven friends, so here are two different suggestions, depending on whether your friend is on the younger side or the older.

The young Seven gift: the hat

The older Seven gift: everything – the hat, ears, umbrella, bow-tie, and especially the glasses

Sometimes it takes a little more to delight an older Seven since they have already been so delighted in their lives.

Eights
This is the Shrine of St. Patrick’s Bell Tower. Your Eight friend might just enjoy this picture. Many Eights have a real and deep interest in history, so they will be amazed you even knew about this.

Nines
Now this may be the strangest gift of all: Charles and Camilla in their St. Patrick’s Day attire, plus the pose! Many Nines have very quirky senses of humor, and this might make them laugh! But don’t buy either outfit for them, as your Nine friend would never wear it (except, perhaps, to a costume party).

What Type is Steve Jobs?

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:36:00 +0000

Ginger’s Introduction

I wrote an earlier blog questioning whether or not Steve Jobs was an Enneagram Seven, since this was then a surprisingly common assumption. My early consulting experience at Apple suggested he was not a Seven, as did my reading of his sister’s (Mona Simpson) eulogy and my reading of Isaacson’s book. More important to me than “nailing” his type (which was not at all compelling) was to engage in data-based inquiry rather than stereotypes. Too often I had heard others say: “Jobs was a Seven because he was an innovator.” From my perspective, this runs the risk of basing type on unwarranted assumptions: are all innovators Sevens?

I was going to write a blog after I finished reading Isaacson’s book, but then something great happened. Barry Ahern, an Enneagram teacher from Ireland (a Four himself), wrote me that, based on the book, he (Barry) thought Jobs could be a sexual subtype Four. More than that, Barry had well-thought-through facts and a real insider understanding of these from the Four perspective. As a result, I invited Barry to write this blog, and you can read it below.

Mario Sikora has also written a recent blog on Jobs as a Four, and Mario uses some similar and different data points, yet comes to the same conclusion as Barry. Are Barry and Mario both correct? Who knows, but they both have solid reasoning behind their conclusions. I think a good case could be made for Jobs as a counter-phobic Six with a Seven wing, or even an Eight or a One. So I would invite other blogs (well-conceived and data-based) about Jobs’ Enneagram type, and would be happy to publish them to encourage the dialogue.

Barry’s Blog

I’ve been very resistant to typing public figures. Why does it matter? While many of us might do it privately, going public needs care. In one sense there is certain arrogance about it. This is especially true where there isn’t much evidence to back it up. It’s so easy to label someone using superficial evidence. For instance, just because people might have a reputation for perfectionism doesn’t necessarily follow that they’re Ones.

Over the years I’ve seen very experienced Enneagram practitioners completely mistype people, including my wife, who had known her type for years, while she was attending an Enneagram conference some years ago. I know several people whose type still eludes me. One of them has identified herself as an Eight, yet her adult children see her as a type Seven. One of her best friends, a Seven, can’t see her as that type. However, the best clues are often found in the subtype. In the end we don’t need to know someone’s type to have good and productive relationships with them. So, it’s worth asking the question why we do it? Is it just for ego satisfaction?

My initial reactions to Jobs (as I read Walter Isaacson’s recent biography) were quite negative. He comes across as a very driven man who was ruthless in making demands on others. There is a volatility of temperament that runs though all his relationships. He often lacks empathy in dealing with friends, employees and lovers. He could quite readily verbally abuse his staff for work he considered inferior, whether it was warranted or not. Interestingly, his former girlfriend, Tina Redse, his first true love, thought Jobs suffered from Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

While Isaacson’s biography is excellently researched, I’d still love to have been given the opportunity to talk to his family and his closest work colleagues. I’ve used sources in addition to the biography, in particular many video clips of Jobs speaking, interviews by the author and anecdotal evidence from those who worked in the movie industry during his time at Pixar etc.

Two former CEO’s of Apple, John Sculley and Joe Amelio, described their first impressions of Jobs. Sculley observed that, “He seemed more a showman than a businessman. Every move seemed calculated, as if it were rehearsed, to create an occasion of the moment.” Amelio saw him, “rather like a boxer, aggressive and elusively graceful, or like an elegant jungle cat ready to spring at its prey.”

As I was about two thirds of the way through the biography, I began to notice a pattern emerge around three areas: a) his great capacity to envisage the wonderful possibilities of technology; b) his desire for perfection; c) his insistence on the aesthetics - even hidden elements of the devices were to be aesthetically balanced. Those who didn’t reach the high standards or buy into his vision were given short shrift. This seemed to mirror possibilities around the 1-4-7 inner triangle. You can see all of these at play on YouTube during his presentation at the launch of the iPhone in 2007.

However, when I began to reread some of the early passages, everything began to fit so clearly into the woven fabric of the book that I was quite surprised at how I had missed the clues all along.

By the end of the exploration, I had warmed considerably to Jobs and began to admire his achievements and his struggle to become a more rounded human being.

Throughout his professional life Jobs seemed driven to achieve something that could transcend what had gone before. He wanted to bridge the gap between technology and the humanities. In one of the early retreats while setting up his new company Next, at age 31, he reflected on his motivation for setting up Apple:

“One of the things that made Apple great was in the early days it was built from the heart…we didn’t always use our heads…one of my largest wishes (sic) is that we build Next from the heart and the people who are thinking of coming to work for us or who are buying products or who want to sell us things feel that. That we are doing this because we’ve a passion about it.”

In a Playboy interview with Jobs (when he turned thirty), he referred to himself several times as being an artist. He spoke about wanting “...to live your life in a creative way, as an artist.”

Isaacson says, “Jobs was more intuitive and romantic (than Gates)…had a passion for perfection, which made him fiercely demanding, and he managed by charisma and scattershot intensity.” He noted he “craved control and indulged in the uncompromising temperament of an artist.”

In many ways Jobs’ management style reminded me of the opera composer Richard Wagner. Wagner was a major figure in the operatic world. Just as Jobs revolutionised the power of technology combined with the liberal arts, Wagner’s musical language overturned all the accepted concepts of harmony, and his work is without a doubt one of the pillars on which Western music rests. He, like Jobs, wanted total control of his product as both of them knew they were breaking new boundaries and opening up new frontiers, and they became totally frustrated with others who were unwilling or unable to participate with them on the journey. Just as Jobs demanded that all parts of his technology should be perfect and aesthetically pleasing, both the seen and unseen parts, Wagner sought to build an environment where his works could be performed to their maximum potential. The Bayreuth theatre in southern Germany has a singular world status, beginning with the fact that it is the only theatre built from the ground up to the strict specifications and whims of one creative talent; it was erected to present exclusively the handful of works of this composer. Jobs, too, micromanaged the aesthetics as much as the technology and stipulated that Apple products should be closed to other systems so that their integrity could be preserved. Wagner was possibly a Four. If you listen receptively to the prelude to Tristan and Isolde, you’ll get a sense of the ecstatic longing and melancholy that Fours inhabit. In Jobs’ case, I came to the conclusion that he was a sexual subtype Four.

I want to say at the outset that this is purely a hypothesis. Typing others should enable us to gain a sense of compassion and appreciation of the person being discussed, while providing insights into type behaviours then the exercise might be worthwhile. But it is always conjecture, and here’s mine:

Beauty

Fours constantly search for what is aesthetically pleasing – whether it’s in the arts, technology, sport etc. Jobs was continuously striving to create a product that was beautiful. At his Stanford Commencement Address in 2005, he reflected back on the time he spent as a student at Reed College and his discovery of calligraphy. He talks about how “every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed... It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating…ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me… It was the first computer with beautiful typography.”

When it came to designing the logo for Next, he hired Paul Rand and fought with him regularly over the aesthetics. Many of the volatile sessions with his colleagues, during which he often stormed out, were around issues of colour and design. He was concerned that the unseen parts of the product should be crafted beautifully. He was constantly developing the décor and furnishings of the new offices. He held back on his home furnishings as he felt the craftsmanship wasn’t up to his standard. He was also a master at making the presentation at product launches dramatic and hired theatrical producers to help with this.

Mona Simpson, Jobs’ sister, made constant references in her eulogy to his quest for what was beautiful: “Novelty was not Steve’s highest value. Beauty was.” “His philosophy of aesthetics reminds me of a quote that went something like this: ‘Fashion is what seems beautiful now but looks ugly later; art can be ugly at first but it becomes beautiful later’. Steve always aspired to make beautiful later. Once, when referring to a new computer project, he told her he was ‘making something that was going to be insanely beautiful.’“

The Driving Force: Envy

A key element when looking at type is try to understand the driving force, usually called the passion or the vice, and to see how this relates to particular type behaviours. In the case of the Four, the essential energy of envy is depressive; it’s a kind of suffering that comes from a feeling of loss, of being unlovable and empty. I’ve heard Fours say they don’t feel they’re wired the same as others.

The sexual Four tries to compensate for this by seeking to connect with others so they can unite in their quest for something that will fill this gap and become fulfilled. They can be aggressive towards those who oppose them, even hateful, and also be extremely competitive. They crave something that can transcend the ordinary and the mundane, which they seek to avoid. The thought of someone else sabotaging their vision of what they perceive to be special or unique is an anathema to them. When Steve Wozniak, a co-founder of Apple and one of Jobs’ close friends, wanted to leave Apple and start a project of his own, Jobs flew into a rage when he saw the designs Wozniak was working on. Jobs recalled telling the design company, “that working with Woz wouldn’t be acceptable to us.” The Wall Street Journal at the time quoted Woz as saying, “Steve Jobs has a hate for me…” Claudio Naranjo sees the sexual Four as the most vindictive of all the types.

This subtype can ooze a seductive charm that seeks to dominate in an arrogant and overpowering manner. They can have a vampirish quality that seeks to seduce you into co-operating with them. They can be very charismatic and hold you in thrall as they try to transport you with their visionary ideas that can create a lot of intense excitement.

Throughout the biography, people refer to how Jobs used to almost mesmerize people with his stare, one that held them captive as he held forth. The Four can feel elated and likewise the recipient. Others can also feel drained or overwhelmed by the experience. Joe Amelio noted a “…phone call with Steve was like inhaling the flavours of a great bottle of vintage wine.” However, “victims” can be discarded when Fours have achieved their goals. The photo of Jobs on the cover of the biography (see the photo on this blog) captures this determined, aggressive expression. Note, too, the underlying expression of sadness in the eyes.

The aggressiveness of the sexual Four can also make them look like Eights. And, like Eights, you have to learn how to stand up to them. Jobs’ colleagues had to learn to do this.

People who worked with Jobs regularly talked about his “reality distortion field,” through which Jobs persuaded others to enter his world and work with him towards the achievement of his goals. After publication, Isaacson gave a video interview in which he said, “Steve Jobs is able to be very persuasive and people at Apple used to call it his reality distortion field. He’d say we have to finish this project by the end of next month. They’d all say ‘no way’ and he’d say ‘yes it can be done’ and lo and behold they would do it.”

Drama and the Push Pull

Fours can move towards something they desire and sabotage themselves by pulling away from it because they fear being isolated and abandoned if it doesn’t work out. This comes from the perception of a false poverty which can result in being mean towards someone they really like. Those at the receiving end can feel confused as they don’t know if they are in or out of favour. Finding a balance in between is hard to locate.

Isaacson recounts the time Jobs was dating Joan Baez which illustrates this push pull effect. Joan Baez and Jobs were dating for a while. She found this behaviour perplexing and recounted how one evening, he talked about a beautiful red dress he saw in a store that would be perfect for her. When they got to the store, he went on to buy shirts for himself and told her that she should buy the dress. She told him she couldn’t afford it. He didn’t respond and they left the shop. Likewise, when he bought her flowers, he always told her they were leftovers from an office event. Baez summarised this behaviour as wanting to be “romantic and afraid to be romantic.”

The push pull dynamic can be very self-sabotaging. Fours deny themselves what they want, yet can manifest a seething resentment towards others because they project the notion that they’ve been deprived of an idea or a relationship, etc. Because the need for connection still remains, the Four might resort to deception, manipulation, sarcasm, vindictiveness and more in order to avoid the fear of being abandoned.

John Sculley was the president of Pepsi Cola when he and Jobs first met. Sculley later became CEO at Apple which led to Jobs’ departure from the company. The two men had an intense period of getting to know each other during which they bonded firmly, and the feeling was mutual. “Steve and I became soul mates, near constant companions,” said Scully. However, when Jobs began to see Sculley’s shortcomings, in particular that he had different views on people (especially when it came to talented people which Jobs was particularly good at), things began to fall apart. Jobs became very controlling and insistent on having his way, especially when “his aesthetic passions and controlling nature kicked into high gear.” When Fours become overly attached to a project and then lose control, events can turn very nasty.

Jobs began to manipulate his relationship with Sculley by leading him to believe that he (Sculley) was more exceptional that he was. They ultimately had a showdown at the board level. Jobs was forced to leave Apple because of his erratic and micromanaging behaviour with management. The sexual Four can become very attached to every aspect of whatever project they’re engaged in and will manipulate others to bring them on board. Jobs tried to organise a coup against Sculley, which ultimately failed. In the end, people demanded that Sculley take control and the board asked Jobs to leave.

Sculley felt Jobs’ mercurial personality illustrated his inability to hold back or filter his feelings and that the big mood swings – ones that ranged from ecstasy one minute to depression in the next – was a reflection of a mild bipolarity. Sculley’s wife described the expression in Jobs’ unblinking stare as “...a bottomless pit, an empty hole, a dead zone.”

The biographer noted this cycle of embrace and abandonment included his relationship with his estranged daughter, Lisa, whom he didn’t acknowledge for a number of years to those with whom he worked. Indeed at the launch of Next, the company he formed after his exit from Apple in the 1980s, Jobs poked fun at his own foibles: “A word that’s sometimes used to describe me is ‘mercurial’. …characterized by unpredictable changeableness of mood…’ which was much more satisfying than the antonym which is ‘saturnine’.“

Connection

Fours search for a connection with people and/or projects that are deeply meaningful to them. When this happens, Fours can become overwhelmed by the experience – a huge sense of longing takes over and the heart feels deeply moved by the desire to connect with a source that is beyond the self. The drive to create a sense of the authentic and the unique in everything they do can arise from this. A lot of time can be spent internally pondering the possibility of being inspired or awakened.

In her eulogy, Mona Simpson, Jobs’ sister, described the romantic in him. “Steve was like a girl in the amount of time he spent talking about love. Love was his supreme virtue, his god of gods. He tracked and worried about the romantic lives of the people working with him.” She saw him as “an intensely emotional man.”

Throughout the book there are many instances of Jobs being moved to tears. When he moved back to Apple, he spent a lot of time clearing the decks and bringing in his own team. In July 1997 he called Lee Chow, the creative director at Chiat/Day with whom he had worked before, and even years later his memory of this time moved Jobs to tears: “It choked me up, and it still makes me cry to think about it… Lee cared so much… Every time I find myself in the presence of purity – purity of spirit and love – and I always cry. It always just reaches in and grabs me. That was one of those moments. There was a purity about that I will never forget. I cried in my office as he was showing me the idea, and I still cry when I think about it.”

Jobs’ deepest professional creative connection was with Jonny Ive whom he described as his “spiritual partner at Apple.” They both shared a fundamental understanding about what they were trying to create. Ive summed it up: “Simplicity…involves digging through the depth of the complexity. To be truly simple, you have to go deep. You have to deeply understand the essence of a product in order to be able to get rid of the parts that are not essential.”

Some would say Fours are the idealists of the Enneagram. Ive observed that Jobs had “a remarkable sensitivity.” Ive believed “that there was a gravity, almost a sense of civic responsibility to care beyond any sort of functional imperative.” He described Jobs’ legacy as a “victory for beauty, for simplicity and for giving a damn.”

Being with people they can’t connect with at important moments of their lives could be unbearable for Fours. As Jobs faced his own passing, his sister Mona noted, “Even ill, his taste, his discrimination and his judgment held. He went through 67 nurses before finding kindred spirits and then he completely trusted the three who stayed with him to the end.”

As he lay on his deathbed unconscious, she noted: “…he had a stern, still handsome profile, the profile of an absolutist, a romantic.”

Barry Ahern lives in Ireland and loves using the Enneagram with businesses and community organizations. He also contributes modules on the Enneagram to educational institutes up to and including post-graduate level. www.enneagram.ie

Enneagram Styles and Curiosity

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:57:00 +0000

What if we could all regain our childlike, innate curiosity?

Gerry Fathauer has written the following provocative Insight Activity on Curiosity. Gerry is a Senior Member of the Enneagram in Business Network (EIBN) and has a natural curiosity for all things aesthetic, psychological, and spiritual!

Have you ever watched a young child explore her world? One of the characteristics of children is their endearing sense of curiosity. Curiosity opens them to discoveries of nature, of the physical world, and of relating to others. So, too, can curiosity open those of us long out of childhood to revelations in our lives, both at work and home.

Curiosity creates a transformational shift in reality. There is an opening to new awareness that occurs when curiosity is present. It’s almost a sensate awareness that, rather than being stuck in the same old experience, an “ah-ha” moment is about to arise. Have you ever taken a side road, just out of curiosity? Perhaps it led to a beautiful new vista or just a dead end. Either way, curiosity leads us to a place that is different and expanding.

We open to creation when we get curious. Curiosity is a doorway in to intuiting coaching approaches and client solutions. Have you ever noticed what happens when you are curious? The next time you are uncertain of the next step with a client, get curious, and open to what arises. Here’s another practice, a personal one: Get curious about what limits and what serves you. Curiosity opens us to discovery and to new ways of perceiving our own barriers.

Without a good dose of curiosity now and then, we risk becoming stale and limiting, both to ourselves and to others. Curiosity is always available, just waiting for us to open to it and to a qualitative shift in our way of being.

In the following blog based on Gerry’s Insight Activity above, I decided to write about how each of us can increase our innate ability to be in a state of curiosity using the three Centers of Intelligence. My thinking derives from some of the object-relations work from psychologist and Enneagram teacher, Beatrice Chestnut.

To provide context, Bea describes and analyzes the child development theories and concludes (and these are my words, not Bea’s, for she does a more scholarly job in her explanations) that all very young children are posed with fundamental challenges: (1) to feel “held” and supported (think of very young children who need to be securely wrapped and held so they don’t feel they’ll be dropped); (2) to feel mirrored (that is, their caregiver makes direct, loving, face-to-face and eye-to-eye contact with them and the young child feels “seen” for who they are; and (3) to not feel fear (obviously, that they will be protected from whatever frightens them). These three challenges then get mirrored as disturbances that relate to our Enneagram styles by Center of Intelligence, but in a very interesting way.

Body Center Styles (Eight, Nine, and One)

The three Enneagram styles formed from the Body Center (Eight, Nine, and One) deal with anxiety about being “held” in three different ways: Eights try to “hold” everything and everyone by taking charge; Nines “hold” by engaging in repetitive processes that soothe them (narcotization); and Ones “hold” by being self-controlled and trying to control or structure every aspect of their direct environments.

Body Center Styles and Reigniting Curiosity

If the above description is accurate, then Eights and Ones would be well-served to gradually relinquish the specific ways in which they try to control as a substitute for the disturbance in their formative “holding” experience. Eights, for example, need to let go of asserting control over others and events, allowing whatever happens to occur, and dealing with their own intrinsic vulnerability. Nines, by contrast, need to pay close attention at times when they revert to repetitive soothing behavior (whatever form theirs takes) and tune into what is going on inside them, rather than dazing off through self-soothing. Finally, Ones need to let go (gradually) of their need to get it right, be right, or get others to do things correctly. Fundamentally, relaxing their self-control (not eliminating it entirely!) can be very useful to Ones becoming more and more deeply curious.

Heart Center Styles (Two, Three, and Four)

The three Enneagram styles formed from the Heart Center (Two, Three, and Four) deal with challenges in how they were mirrored by creating an image or persona as a substitute: Twos create an image of being a thoughtful and considerate person (so others will respond favorably to such a selfless personal who only thinks of others); Threes create an image of being a confident, successful person (so others will respond with respect to such a competent, achieving individual); and Fours create an image of being a unique person, different from everyone else (so others will at least think they are special rather than lost or deficient).

Heart Center Styles and Reigniting Curiosity

When you don’t really know who you are because you have created a (false) image of self as a substitute for effective early mirroring, it is very difficult to be naturally curious about yourself, others, and life. You are just too busy maintaining and watching what you do so it conforms with that image. To deal with this challenge, Twos need to spend time in honest solitude discovering what they really need and want, identifying what they value, and assessing their real worth apart from their reliance on the affirmation of others. Threes need to spend time in solitude, reflecting on who they are aside from their goals and accomplishments, but just as important, what they really want and value out of their lives. Finally, Fours need to spend time probing their deeper emotions that lie underneath their more obvious and shifting emotions, to discover that beneath the surface is that answer to “who am I.”

Head Center Styles (Five, Six, and Seven)

The three Enneagram styles formed in the Head Center represent three different ways of responding to fear: Fives respond to fear by moving away from anything that cause them fear and retreat into their solitary, private worlds where they need only rely on themselves; Sixes create anticipatory scenarios and/or act fearless as a way of coping wit the ever-present fear in life; and Sevens try to avoid fear entirely by distracting themselves through positive possibility planning.

Head Center Styles and Reigniting Curiosity

How does one get rid of fear? The answer is that fear can be useful, unless it drives you, and you have to be able to separate fear that is real from fear that is self-created. The idea is that when fear drives almost everything you do, it is very hard to be open to innate curiosity for all things that appear. In particular, Fives need to engage more in life (rather than leading a retracted life to avoid fear) as a way to integrate enjoyment and pleasure through engagement. Sixes need to relax their self-doubt, their reliance on external authority and rules, and their instantaneous reactions to either withdraw or fight. Finally, Sevens need to stay still, rather than running away from what scares them. Then they might find that what scares them isn’t so frightening after all.

Enneagram Six: Cape Buffalo

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:34:00 +0000

Selecting a South African animal to represent Enneagram Sixes was the biggest challenge of all because Sixes are so complex, phobic Sixes are so different from counter-phobic Sixes and most of all, I have a Six brother to whom I am accountable for all things Six I write. Given this dilemma, I am happy to say that I found an animal that I think represents some of the most salient characteristics of Sixes, no matter how the Six deals with fear or how complex he or she is. My nomination is the Cape Buffalo.

General characteristics

Owing to its unpredictable nature that makes it highly dangerous to humans, it has not been domesticated, unlike its Asian counterpart, the domestic Asian water buffalo. They are unpredictable and can be particularly dangerous if cornered or wounded. Though they have been known to ambush men and are often accused of deliberate savagery, they are usually placid if left alone.

The front hooves of the buffalo are wider than the rear, which is associated with the need to support the weight of the front part of the body, which is more powerful than the back. A characteristic feature of them is the fact that the adult bull's horns have fused bases, forming a continuous bone shield referred to as a "boss," which cannot always be penetrated even by a rifle bullet. Sight and hearing are both rather poor, but scent is well developed in buffaloes.

Cape Buffalo are susceptible to many diseases including Bovine tuberculosis, Corrider disease, and Foot and Mouth disease. As with many diseases, these problems will remain dormant within a population as long as the health of the animals is good.

Enneagram Commentary: Unpredictable, potentially dangerous, very strong in the front but a little weaker from behind, and susceptible to disease; all of these characteristics describe Sixes. A highly reactive style, Enneagram Sixes are unpredictable in their reactions and behavior; often, the predictable aspect of Sixes is that they will have a reaction. Sixes don’t necessarily perceive themselves as unpredictable, but I suggest they might ask others near them what they think! And sometimes their reactions are so strong, they can feel a bit dangerous. In addition, many Sixes appear strong upfront, but more wobbly from behind or underneath their shows of strength. Finally, I have noticed that many Sixes (of course, not all) do tend to worry a lot about their own health issues and, as we all know, stress, which many Sixes experience as a result of their more chronic anxiety, makes us more susceptible to illness.

Communication

African buffalo make various vocalizations. Many calls are similar to those of domestic cattle, but are generally of a lower pitch. Buffalo emit low-pitched 2-4 seconds calls repeated at 3-6 second intervals to signal the herd to move. To signal to the herd to change direction, leaders will emit "gritty,” "creaking gate" sounds.Extended maaa calls are made by one to a few individuals up to 20 times a minute before and during movements to drinking places.

When being aggressive, buffalo make explosive grunts that may be extended into a sequence or become a rumbling growl. Cows emit croaking calls when looking for their calves. Calves will make a similar call of a higher pitch when in distress. When threatened by predators, buffalo make drawn out waaaa calls. Dominant individuals make calls to announce their presence and location. A more intense version of the same call is emitted as a warning to an encroaching animal.When grazing, buffalo will make various sounds such as brief bellows, grunts, honks and croaks.

Enneagram Commentary: Look at the picture of those sweet, docile looking Cape Buffalo. While on safari, we heard very few sounds coming from them, but the ones we did hear sounded like sweet cow-sounds, and Sixes can be very sweet. Their other vocalizations sound like distress calls, and this is also Six-like. Most Sixes have rather kind voices – as if they would cause no harm – and the other vocalizations from Sixes are primarily in the area of stress and distress, as they express their concerns and anxieties.

Social behavior

The herd is vital to the Cape Buffalo, and herd size is highly variable. Buffaloes can live in herds of a few hundred, but have been known to congregate in thousands. The basic herd consists of related females and their offspring, in an almost linear dominance hierarchy, but also includes sub-herds of subordinate males, high-ranking males and females and old or invalid animals. The young males keep their distance from the dominant bull, who is recognizable by the thickness of his horns. Without the protection of the herd, many of these lone bulls fall prey to lions.

When chased by predators, a herd will stick close together and make it hard for the predators to pick off one member. Calves are gathered in the middle. A buffalo herd will respond to the distress call of a captured member and try to rescue it. A calf's distress call will get the attention of not only the mother but also the entire herd.

Remarkably, there are few scuffles between herd members, perhaps the large males with their strong curved horns realize they could seriously injure one another in a brawl. Males will fight for dominance, but the battles are brief. Adult bulls will spar in play, dominance interactions or actual fights. A bull will approach another lowing with his horns down and wait for the other bull to do the same thing.

During the wet season, the younger bulls rejoin a herd to mate with the females. They stay with them throughout the season to protect the calves. Some older bulls cease to rejoin the herd, as they can no longer compete with the younger, more aggressive males. Males have a linear dominance hierarchy that is based on age and size. Since a buffalo is safer when a herd is larger, dominant bulls may rely on subordinate bulls and sometimes tolerate their copulation.

African buffalo are notable for their apparent altruism: an animal sacrifices its own well-being for the benefit of another animal or the group. Female buffalo appear to exhibit some sort of "voting behavior". During resting time, the females will stand up shuffle around and sit back down again. They will sit in the direction they think that they should move. After an hour of more shuffling, the females will travel in the direction they decide on. This decision is communal and not based on hierarchy or dominance.

Enneagram Commentary: What could be more Six-like than the protection of the herd, even to the extent where a dominant male will tolerate the copulation of a less-dominant male. Now, that is true loyalty to the group, putting protection above ego. And many Sixes will do that as well – that is, putting loyalty higher on the value chain than ego-gratification. Then there’s the aspect of Cape Buffalo that has to do with altruism. Self-sacrifice on behalf of another member of the tribe is also quite common in Sixes.

Finally, there is the communality and vigilance of Cape Buffalo herds. When we were on safari, whether day or night, they were in humongous herds and always hyper-alert to where our open-air land vehicle was in relation to them (and there were a lot of them). Whenever we were closer than their comfort, the entire herd would suddenly move all at once, mobilizing as a group to a safer location. As an aside, we were warned in safari camp that almost every animal we might encounter on the path would stop if we stood still, did not make direct eye contact and if possible, slowly moved under a building or roof area. However, with the Cape Buffalo, we were warned to get out of there as soon and quickly as possible, because they would charge us no matter what or where. My experience with Sixes is that when they become really angry, they are much scarier than any Eight!

Enneagram Valentines

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:55:00 +0000

In honor of Valentine’s Day, here are 9 versions of love through quotes and symbols.

One Love

You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. ~ Sam Keen

Two Love
True love begins when nothing is looked for in return. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Three Love

Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love. ~ Rumi

Four Love

At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet. ~ Plato

Five Love

Of all fires love is the only inexhaustible one. ~ Pablo Neruda

Six Love

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. ~ Lao Tzu

Seven Love

You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. ~ Dr. Seuss

Eight Love

Love is not love until love's vulnerable. ~Theodore Roethke

Nine Love

Harmony is pure love, for love is a concerto. ~ Lope de Vega

Enneagram Five: Leopard

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:14:00 +0000

Like Enneagram Fives, leopards are naturally solitary and stealthy creatures, secretive and proud, and full of surprises. Here is more information about this mysterious animal. (Am I referring to leopards, Fives, or both!?)

Physical characteristics
The leopard is the smallest of the four “big cats” in the genus panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard’s head and body length is between 37 and 65 inches (95 and 165 cm), its tail reaches from 24 to 43 inches (60 to 110 cm), and it has a shoulder height between 18 to 31 inches (45 to 80 cm). Powerful and graceful, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull – they are able to take down large prey due to their massive skulls that facilitate powerful jaw muscles.

Leopards are elusive and largely nocturnal. The most secretive and mysterious of the large carnivores, the leopard is also the shrewdest. Leopards demonstrate incredible strength and athleticism, being able to run in bursts up to 36 miles an hour (58 kilometers per hour), leap 20 feet (6 meters) forward in a single bound, and jump ten feet (3 meters) straight up.

Leopards come in a wide variety of coat colors, from a light buff or tawny in warmer, dryer areas to a dark shade in deep forests. The spots, or rosettes, are circular in East African leopards, but square in southern African leopards.

Unlike other cats, leopards are strong swimmers and are one of the few cats that like water; in fact, they even eat fish or crabs.

Enneagram Commentary: Although Fives come in various sizes (heights, weights, body types, for example), they tend to keep themselves smaller than they actually are by taking up less physical space than others, not emitting a great deal of external energy, and more. Not only are Fives like leopards in this way, Fives are also elusive and mysterious, primarily because they keep themselves to themselves, sharing their verbal and non-verbal reactions less than almost any other Enneagram style. Their more withdrawn nature makes them seem mysterious to others.

Finally, many Fives have hidden talents and attributes that few others know about because Fives don’t share that much information and are reluctant to discuss their hidden talents. Who would guess a leopard could swim!?

Social behavior
There seems to be little or no overlap in territory among males, although overlap exists between the sexes. Each individual has a home range that overlaps with its neighbors; the male's range is much larger and generally overlaps with those of several females. Leopards continually move about their territory, seldom staying in an area for more than two or three days at a time.

Ranges are marked with urine and claw marks, and leopards announce their presence to other leopards with a rasping cough. Leopards do vocalize, but only with a limited repertoire of verbalized possibilities; they growl, grunt, meow, purr, and roar when they have to.

They have a good sense of smell and also leave claw marks on trees to warn other leopards to stay away. Leopards continually move about their home ranges, seldom staying in an area for more than two or three days at a time. With marking and calling, they usually know one another's whereabouts. A leopard usually does not tolerate intrusion into its own range except to mate. Unexpected encounters between leopards can lead to fights.

Female leopards can give birth at any time of the year. They usually have two grayish cubs with barely visible spots. The mother hides her cubs and moves them from one safe location to the next until they are old enough to begin playing and learning to hunt. Cubs live with their mothers for about two years; otherwise, leopards are solitary animals.

Enneagram Commentary: Like leopards, Fives guard their own territory quite closely (they don’t like intrusions on their physical space), and most Fives live isolated lives, even to the point of being nomads (a way in which they express their detachment from people, things, and places). Like Fives, leopards keep others away (leopards with claw marks; Fives with non-verbal messages), and Fives like to know exactly where others are in physical relation to them. I know many Fives who insist on sitting at a restaurant table where they can have their back to the wall, so they can observe who might be approaching them.

Predatory behavior
The leopard is a cunning, stealthy hunter, and its prey ranges from strong-scented carrion, fish, reptiles, and birds to mammals such as rodents, hares, hyraxes, warthogs, antelopes, monkeys, and baboons.

Leopards are agile, stalking their prey silently, then pouncing on it at the last minute and strangling its throat with a quick bite. Pound for pound, it is the strongest climber of the large cats and capable of killing prey larger than itself. Leopards can also hunt from trees, where their spotted coats allow them to blend with the leaves until they spring with a deadly pounce.

The leopard is so strong and comfortable in trees that it often hauls its kill into the branches. A leopard can climb as high as 50 feet (15 meters) up a tree holding a dead animal in its mouth, even one larger and heavier than itself! They stash food up high so other predators, such as lions or hyenas, can’t get it. Then, leopards can return and eat more. One leopard was spotted dragging a 220-pound (100-kilogram) young giraffe into heavy brush to hide it.

Enneagram Commentary: Fives are not exactly predatory in the same sense as leopards that prey on animals in order to eat, but Fives in no way want to be another’s prey (organizationally, psychologically, interpersonally). When Fives feel threatened (whether this is an imaginary or real threat), they take precise and carefully planned precautions, and these can include aggressive behaviors toward others, even though the Five perceives this as a defensive rather than an offensive action.

In addition, the strength of Fives is often underestimated. They may keep to themselves and not display all their agility, skills, and intellectual prowess, but Fives are highly resourced and can access these when needed.

Leopard joke
Question: How does a leopard change his spots?
Answer: When it gets tired of one spot, it just moves to another.

Enneagram Commentary: Fives do this. When they want to not deal with someone or something, their first impulse is to move. They move inside themselves, leave a conversation, or sever a relationship.

Enneagram Styles and Holding On

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:37:00 +0000

Gerry Fathauer has written a compelling Insight Activity on Holding On. Gerry is a Senior Member of the Enneagram in Business Network (EIBN) and has remarkable insight into the process of using the Enneagram for self-development and healing.

When we hold on to anything, energy cannot move through us. We get stuck in our preferences and our ideas of what we think we want and the ideals we think we must live by. Holding on, consciously or unconsciously, stops our energy and assures a limited perspective.

Holding on to what we want is something we all do, whether it’s a house, our stuff in that house, a desired business outcome, or the hunt for the ideal partner. Holding on can permeate every aspect of our lives, almost without our awareness, yet doing so colors our perspective, limits our options, and may even sow seeds of disappointment.

How freeing it would be, if each time we’re aware of holding on, we simply add “or not”! This single, simple pivot of awareness, the suggestion of “or not,” frees us energetically. Musing about “or not” opens us to new possibilities.

Think about something you hold on to, a desired outcome, perhaps, such as being awarded a contract. Does your holding on to the desired outcome of getting the contract serve you, or does it limit you? What happens if your awareness becomes “I must be awarded this contract, or not”? Once you become aware of something you hold on to, practice following that thought with “or not.” What happens when you do this?

Holding on to what we think we want stifles us energetically and invites dissatisfaction with life in the present moment.

So what is it we each, by Enneagram style, “hold on to,” why, and what do we need to do to “let go”? In this Blog, which I have written in response to Gerry’s Insight Activity, you can find out!

Enneagram Ones
Holding on to: being right, not making mistakes, being in control, maintaining their structured lives, and harboring built-up resentments
Why: to maintain their sense of self as the person who is righteous, responsible, and faultless
Letting go of: the belief that everything must be perfectly ordered and executed

Enneagram Twos
Holding on to: being thoughtful, responsive, unselfish, considerate, without need, and slights when others have wronged them in some way – i.e., taking them for granted, accused them of malintent, acted in disparaging ways
Why: to maintain their sense of self as a person who is so good that they consistently put others above themselves
Letting go of: the belief that their only value comes from how much they do for other people

Enneagram Threes
Holding on to: being competent, resourceful, goal-driven, effective, successful, and confident, but also under-expressed sadness, anxiety, and anger
Why: to maintain their sense of self as a person who can make whatever they want happen through their goal orientation, intense focus, and personal drive
Letting go of: the belief that they must follow societal (or social-referent group) standards of success to feel good about themselves

Enneagram Fours
Holding on to: being different from everyone, feeling slighted on a consistent basis, and identifying with their shifting emotional states, but also an idyllic “dream-world” in which everyone feels the deepest sense of beauty and interconnectivity
Why: to maintain their sense of self as person who is unique and separated from others because they have chosen to be that way, which makes them feel in control of their feelings of existential deficiency
Letting go of: the belief that there is something wrong with them that is not wrong with others

Enneagram Fives
Holding on to: being autonomous, needing very little privacy, and consuming limited space and resources, as well as under-explored feelings and needs
Why: to maintain their sense of self as a person who does not need to rely on anyone or anything other than themselves
Letting go of: the belief of false scarcity (of energy, resources, and more)

Enneagram Sixes
Holding on to: being the object of harm by the environment and/or others, having to be the person who raises difficult issues, and not being able to trust others, particularly those in positions of strong influence or authority
Why: to maintain their sense of self as a person who understands the risks and uncertainty involved with being in the world and who can overcome this through their minds
Letting go of: the belief that true authority resides outside themselves

Enneagram Sevens
Holding on to: being fun-loving, pleasure-oriented, completely free, and their unalterable right to avoid restrictions or painful experiences
Why: to maintain their sense of self as a person who lives in a world where anything is possible and there are no limits unless we create them
Letting go of: the belief that freedom means having no limits

Enneagram Eights
Holding on to: being in command and control, not showing weakness or vulnerability, avenging wrongs done by others, being so strong that they can protect anyone of their choosing, and can move mountains through their extraordinary will, energy, and power
Letting go of: the belief that they have to be strong and big at all times and under all circumstances

Enneagram Nines
Holding on to: being in positive resonance with others around them, not asserting or expressing themselves directly, and believing that they don’t really matter as much as others
Why: to maintain their sense of self as a person who can bring reconciliation to disruption, rapport to discord, and agreement where there is misunderstanding and/or disrespect
Letting go of: the belief that the way they matter is to not matter

Enneagram Fours: Giraffe

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:33:00 +0000

Why did I select the giraffe to represent Enneagram Fours? There are a number of reasons. First, each giraffe is unique, although to the uninformed eye, they may look like every other giraffe. Second, they are extremely awkward animals but, at the same time, graceful and elegant. Third, they tower as tall as the trees, in some way giving them a regal quality that allows them to look over their empires. These and more reasons are offered below.

The giraffe’s name

The name giraffe appears in English from the 16th century on, often in the italinate form giraffa. The species name camelopardalis(camelopard) is derived from its early Roman name, where it was described as having characteristics of both a camel and a leopard. The English word camelopard first appeared in the 14th century and survived in common usage well into the 19th century.

Enneagram Commentary: The poor giraffe, so regal and stately, doesn’t even have a name all it’s own. What a dilemma for the giraffe, potentially engaged in a lifelong search for its own identity, just like Enneagram Fours. If you didn’t have your own real name, wouldn’t you be in a continuous search for who you are? The giraffe is potentially destabilized at birth. Names matter!

Giraffe physiology

Giraffes are best known for their very long necks and the striking coat pattern of irregular brown patches on a lighter background. Each giraffe has a pattern of blotches that is unique to that individual, like a human fingerprint. Giraffes have horns unlike any other mammal. They are present at birth as cartilaginous knobs that rapidly ossify. They grow slowly throughout life and are covered with skin and hair.

In addition to these features, the giraffe is noted for its extremely long neck and legs. It stands 5-6 m (16–20 ft) tall and has an average weight of 1,200 kg (2,600 lb) for males and 830 kilograms (1,800 lb) for females. At first glance, giraffes seem ungainly. They are actually not only graceful, but fast and may gallop at 35 mph. Their more characteristic gait is the pace, where both legs on one side move simultaneously as they majestically roam the dry savannahs and open woodlands.

Compared with other ruminants, such as deer and cattle, the giraffe has proportionally larger eyes, with which it can locate food and distant predators from its great height. Giraffes also have color vision, enabling them to recognize each other.

Enneagram Commentary:Giraffes are so Four-like! They are both unique -- giraffes with their pattern of skin blotches and skin-covered horns, and Fours with their unique perspective on the world -- need to perceive themselves as different, and demonstrate particular ways of behavior in which they try to differentiate themselves. For example, some Fours say purposefully provocative things, others dress in differentiating ways – a streak of purple in the hair, exceedingly somber attire for the social subtype Fours or dramatic dress for the sexual subtype Fours – while still other Fours simply need to declare and hold onto how different they are from others.

Fours also try to catch our attention in some way, just like giraffes do with their height and majesty. Fours may do so by their regal bearing or unique presence or simply by calling out when they have not received the attention or acknowledgment they might want.

Finally, like giraffes, many Fours have highly attuned and refined perceptual capabilities. I’ve heard many Fours describe how they see events in full color: in dreams, in scenario building, and in creative endeavors. Many, many animals do not see in color, just like many of us (non-Fours) may not perceive the world in its full array of color, but rather in just a few colors without much nuance.

Giraffe behavior

While giraffes are usually found in groups, the composition of these groups is more fluid than in other social ungulates. They are a largely transient species with few strong social bonds and aggregations usually disband every few hours, although calving groups can last weeks to months.

Although generally quiet and non-vocal, giraffes have been heard to communicate with various sounds. Courting males will emit loud coughs. Females will call their young by whistling or bellowing. Calves will bleat, moo, or make mewing sounds. In addition, giraffes will grunt, snort, hiss, or make strange flute-like sounds.

Recent research has provided evidence that the giraffes produce infrasound, a sound that is lower in frequency than 20 Hz or cycles per second, which is far below the "normal" limit of human hearing. The study of such sound waves is sometimes referred to as infrasonics, covering sounds beneath 20 Hz down to 0.001 Hz. This frequency range is utilized for monitoring earthquakes, charting rock and petroleum formations below the earth, and more.

Giraffes are difficult and dangerous prey. They defend themselves with powerful kicks which, when well-placed, can kill a predator.

Enneagram Commentary: Like giraffes, Fours are essentially loners, although they do associate with groups, but at a distance, and their connections are often shorter than longer. Ironically, though Fours thirst for deep and lasting connectivity, fours are often the ones to break the connection. Why? Here are some starters: boredom, fear of abandonment (so they take the first strike), and a desire to not give up their autonomy.

Almost anyone who knows a Four will tell you they are easy to read, in a sense. We may not know exactly what they are feeling or thinking, but their facial expressions, growls and grunts, and even their retracted silence with intense non-audible sounds tells us something is going on.

Specialness

Arab prophets and poets considered the giraffe the "queen of beasts" for what they saw as its delicate features and fragile form. Eastern sultans prized them as special pets.

Enneagram Commentary: Giraffes may not know they are special, but they are treated as such. Similarly, Fours are, in many ways, delicate and sometimes fragile, a result of their super-sensitivity and tendency to introject negative information about themselves.

Giraffe joke

Question: What is a giraffe's favorite joke?
Answer: A tall story.

Enneagram Commentary: Fours do tell “tall” stories, ones that are self-referencing and dramatic.

Enneagram Three: Wildebeest (gnu)

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:46:00 +0000

Do you know what a wildebeest is? Do you know what it looks like? If you live in Africa (or specifically South Africa), you likely know the answers to these questions. They are actually a type of antelope, a hooved mammal that some of us know as gnus (pronounced ‘news’). But why, then, are they called wildebeests in Africa and why did I select them to symbolize Enneagram Threes?

Name
Wildebeest is Dutch for "wild beast" or "wild cattle" in Africaans (beest = cattle). Afrikaans is a West Germanic language spoken in South Africa and Namibia, a “daughter” language of Dutch that has also incorporated words from Malay, Portuguese, and several other African languages. The Afrikaaners thought that the “gnu” looked like a cattle in the wild.

Enneagram Commentary: Here’s a question often asked of Threes but also by Threes of themselves: Who are you? Just like the wildebeest (or is it gnu?), Threes confuse who they are with how others perceive them. A better way to say this is that Threes confuse who they are with how they want others to perceive them, but take their desired self-perception from their social context.

Physical characteristics

The wildebeest ranges in color from slate gray to dark brown, with a large black face, shaggy mane, long hairy tail, pointed beard, and body stripes. Clearly distinct are their sharp, curved horns. Color also varies depending on subspecies, gender, and season. They have an extremely sturdy body structure. They can reach 8 feet in length, stand 4.5 feet tall at the shoulders, and can weigh up to 600 pounds. Both males and females have horns. The front end of the body is heavily built, the hindquarters slender, and the legs spindly.

“It looks like it was assembled from spare parts – the forequarters could have come from an ox, the hindquarters from an antelope, and the mane and tail from a horse.”

Enneagram Commentary:Like the wildebeest, Threes become an amalgam of characteristics that may appear to go together but are drawn from a response to their social environment. Known as the chameleons of the Enneagram, Threes shape and then shift from one persona to another depending on their referent group. In addition, Threes are usually study characters, just like wildebeests, and put most of their energy and bulk into their front (upper bodies), similar to wildebeests. Finally, although male and female Threes obviously appear to be male or female, there are striking similarities between the genders in terms of body structure, facial expressions, and more. With other Enneagram styles – for example, Twos, Fours, Sixes, Sevens, and Eights – the physical gender differences are more apparent.

Wildebeest babies
Wildebeest females give birth to a single calf in the middle of the herd, not seeking a secluded place, as do many antelopes. Amazingly, about 80 percent of the calves are born within the same 2- to 3-week period, creating a glut for predators and thus enabling more calves to survive the crucial first few weeks. A calf can stand and run within minutes of birth and keep up with the herd within one week.

Enneagram Commentary: Just like Enneagram Threes, wildebeest babies are “born to run.” Enneagram Threes usually say that they were goal focused and success driven from the earliest age they can remember, almost as if they were born to be on a movement forward. Metaphorically, Enneagram Threes (even more introverted Threes) tend to be more in the public zone rather than away from the public scene from early ages as they strive for accomplishment and recognition of their capabilities.

Wildebeest adult behavior
Wildebeest are noisy, constantly emitting low moans and if disturbed, they snort explosively.

They are known for their annual migration to new pastures, usually beginning their migration in the months of May or June when drought forces them to do so. Continually on the move as they seek favorable supplies of grass and water (even when there is ample food where they are), wildebeest are active both day and night, most often in long single columns. They also cover long distances at a slow rocking gallop but can run fast when necessary.

Major predators feed on wildebeest – the lion, hyena, cheetah, leopard, and crocodile – but wildebeest are very strong and can inflict considerable injury to even a lion, and they have an apparent maximum running speed of around 64 km/h (40 mph).

Enneagram Commentary: Just like the wildebeest, Enneagram Threes let you know they are here, rarely fading into the wallpaper. And when Threes become disturbed – for example, when they believe their time is being wasted, when another is criticizing their work or becoming an obstacle to their goal attainment – Threes (like wildebeest) growl and bark at you. Finally, like the wildebeest, Threes move quickly and often as they search for greener pastures of opportunity. Generally speaking, the Three’s pace is fast and faster, just like the wildebeest.

Final comment
For all the Threes out there, I want to say that most Threes are much more attractive than the wildebeest. Wildebeest don’t seem to care what they look like!

Newt Gingrich: Is America Ready for a Leprechaun President?

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:58:00 +0000

As Newt Gingrich laments his descent from the highest polling of all the Republican presidential candidates, at least in Iowa, to 4^th place, the Enneagram has a great deal to offer in our understanding of the steep and slippery slope on which Newt glides. Rather than going into great detail about his biographic history, and his behavior over time and what this indicates about his probable type, many conservative columnists made revealing and remarkably consistent comments about his persona. And from the combination of these, it is fairly easy to make a convincing assessment of his ennea-type. What is remarkable is that these columnists, all conservatives like Gingrich, have such a dislike for him.

Here’s what the conservative journals and journalists say:

Peggy Noonan (journalist for the Wall Street Journal) calls Gingrich “a human hand grenade who walks around with his hand on the pin.”

David Brooks (columnist for the New York Times) describes Gingrich’s “narcissism, self-righteousness, self-indulgence and intemperance.”

Yuval Levin (National Review website) writes about Gingrich as having “a revolutionary disposition: he has great intensity and energy, no discipline whatsoever, can be almost unbelievably erratic and unfocused, and is un-ironically conceited.”

Michael Gerson(Washington Post columnist) says, “He is seized by temporary enthusiasms. He combines absolute certainty in any given moment with continual reinvention over time.”

Charles Krauthammer (Washington Post columnist) comments, "Gingrich has a self-regard so immense that it rivals Obama's – but, unlike Obama's, is untamed by self-discipline."

A National Review editorial raised issues about “his impulsiveness, his grandiosity, his weakness for half-baked (and not especially conservative) ideas; [and his] combined incendiary rhetoric with irresolute action.”

What Enneagram type is Gingrich? All of the above descriptions seem to indicate that he is an Enneagram Seven, likely functioning at a fairly low level of self-development whereby his ego trumps his wisdom and his impulses override discretion. Unpredictable, undisciplined, unfocused, impulsive, self-indulgent, narcissistic, irresolute, and more seem to describe lower functioning Sevens all too well. And when Sevens become stressed or anxious, they go into a fast downward spiral of their own making.

It is not a surprise that he rose and fell so rapidly; he was ill-prepared – even with his decades as a politician – for the assaults that would come his way or the tumult these would cause for his highly under-organized infrastructure he had not thought about needing to create.

What about his Enneagram subtype: is he a self-preserving Seven, a social, or a 1-1. The subtype – the specific way in which the passion associated with the type (for Sevens, the passion is gluttony) intersects with their dominant instinct – reveals a great deal about a person’s behavior and character.

In Gingrich’s case, my guess is that he is a self-preserving subtype Seven, and here is why. Self-preservation Sevens are the dealmakers, trying to take advantage of their opportunities (consider Gingrich’s lobbying endeavors once he left congress). According to Naranjo, self-preserving Sevens tend to be more round than the other two subtypes of Seven (a gluttony for food; one pundit said Gingrich would never be elected president because his body did not look good in a suit and this was a conservative political commentator) and also more jovial, as in trying to make others laugh (Gingrich certainly appears to be the jokester). Naranjo also says it’s the self-preserving Sevens, not the 1-1 Sevens, who have the most sexual relationships. Why? Because the 1-1 Seven lives in such a romantic dream that the dream is almost always better than the real thing. For the self-preserving Seven, you can never get too much, but you do have to keep switching partners to keep it interesting. In addition to Gingrich’s three marriages (the second two of which began as affairs with congressional staffers when he was still married to the prior wife), there are rampant testimonials about Newt’s other Capital Hill conquests!

It doesn’t appear that Iowa was Gingrich’s waterloo, and he appears to be absolutely full of fury that Romney (and Ron Paul) dared to inject such negativity into the campaign, bursting his bubble of possibilities when he was ahead in the polls: Shame on them for not caring enough about America to be positive!

We have not likely seen the last of Newt, but as my dear friend Donna said the other day, “I don’t think America is ready to elect a leprechaun as president.” Donna’s comment is more amazing not because she is bright and insightful and funny, but because she is a Republican.

Maybe you think I don’t like Gingrich, and that’s not true. I don’t like or dislike him, and I do find him more interesting than most politicians. This blog is more about how, if we don’t work on ourselves and when we pursue ego-gratification, we really don’t get what we truly want; we get the opposite. In Gingrich’s case, he may simply want to be taken seriously. Instead, he is looking the fool. Let’s see what happens in the New Hampshire Republican primary.

Enneagram Styles and Balance

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:57:00 +0000

Gerry Fathauer has written this beautiful Insight Activity on Balance as a way to begin the New Year. Gerry, a Senior Member of the Enneagram in Business Network (EIBN), has a gift of the “word,” as you can read in the Insight below.

Balance is essential to our well-being and to being at choice, yet it can be an elusive quality in our hurried lives. Finding our center – our ground of being – is essential to being balanced. When we are balanced, our way of seeing the world is on a more even keel. We are better able to cope and to be the person we want to be.

When our lives are balanced, we are better able to live in joy. Not just balance among family, spouse, work and play, but also balance in our perspective on life. Like the tightrope walker whose life depends on balance, so, too, our lives depend on our ability to maintain balance: to have a steady perspective. When the tightrope walker wavers, the horizon tilts dangerously, as does the tightrope walker’s perspective. Balance is essential to having an even-keeled perspective. Without balance, we lose track of the horizon – our fixed point of reference – and our perspective is easily distorted … adding additional distortion to that of ennea-type.

What causes you to lose balance? Do you have a practice that helps you regain your balance? Are you able to return to your ground of being in the very moment the tightrope sways out from under you and your perspective goes awry?

We have greater access to balance when we are centered in our ground of being. From this place, the world no longer shifts and turns; our perspective is steady and true. Our ability to choose is clean and clear. Your being in balance is a gift, not only to yourself, but also to others. What a great way to start the New Year!

How can we each fall off balance? Let us count the 9 different ways! You can read about this on the blog I have written, inspired by Gerry's Insight Activity.

How Ones can be thrown off balance

Feeling, fearing, perceiving a mistake has occurred or is looming
Not dealing with own anger and resentment, then becoming overly upset with someone who has done something minor (or not done anything at all), and feeling remorseful and guilty for becoming so angry at this person
Being criticized, either by oneself, another respected individual, or both

How Twos can be thrown off balance

Someone they care about (or want some sort of relationship with) moving away or avoiding them for reasons unknown
Putting themselves first, with the impact of not doing something for someone else, and experiencing angst and guilt as a result
Being in a social or business situation in which no one responds to them

How Threes can be thrown off balance

Having goals changed on them by an outside factor or individual
Not knowing what they want to do, thus being disoriented by virtue of having no goals
Being in a situation where they have to discuss their strong emotional reactions in depth

How Fours can be thrown off balance

Feeling strong, shifting emotions and not understanding them
Perceiving themselves as being rejected by anyone, but particularly someone who they care about
Wanting to manifest their dreams, but not knowing how to do so

How Fives can be thrown off balance

Someone standing too close for too long
Having to put out energy and effort while they are already feeling depleted
Being expected to share personal information when they are not clear why this matters or what will be done with it

How Sixes can be thrown off balance

An authority figure acting precipitously or in a way that could harm them, others they care about, or ideas/causes that matter to them
Perceived high-risk situations that take them by surprise
Any type of outside pressure to do something when they do not feel prepared to do so

How Sevens can be thrown off balance

Someone or something bursting their bubble of enthusiasm
Feeling trapped or cornered in any way
Someone treating them as if they should not be taken seriously

How Eights can be thrown off balance

Another standing up to them without any backing down
Feeling highly vulnerable and not being able to muster the strength to hide this
Feeling exhausted and depleted

How Nines can be thrown off balance

Pressure or a demand to do something, particularly something they don’t want to do
Having to be in the midst of irresolvable conflict among others for any extended period of time
Feeling angry but not being willing to express it

What Enneagram Type Is Santa Claus? The Definitive Answer!

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:53:00 +0000

Since so many people think they can accurately type public figures, I decided to take on one of the most important public figures of all – Santa Claus. If we can so effectively type everyone else, why not dear Santa?

Here’s what we know about Santa:

Physical Description: He’s a plump, older man with white hair, a white beard and a coordinating white handlebar mustache, who doesn’t seem to shave or get his hair cut very often. He also likes red; he is most often seen wearing a red coat, hat and trousers, all with white trim (someone else probably does his laundry), and a belt and boots, both black. Often, he has rosy cheeks, but this may be due to many factors: (1) his over-exerting himself to squeeze through all those chimneys in such a short period of time; (2) he may be oxygen deprived from living in the North Pole; or (3) he could be straining his heart severely because of his excessive weight. It’s also possible that too much brandy or rum in the eggnog may have something to do with it.

Enneagram Analysis: It’s not advisable to assess a person’s Enneagram type from his or her physical appearance alone, but there are some clues here. Santa obviously likes red, white and black, and he wears the same outfit every year. This consistency in dress-style suggests that he is somewhat conserving – that is, he likes tradition – but otherwise doesn’t pay a great deal of attention to his public image. This lack of concern about his physical persona suggests he is not likely one of the three image types: Enneagram Two, Three or Four. If he were, Santa would be far more likely to get shaves and haircuts before appearing in public, or at least he would do something to update his appearance every few years.

Interests: He likes to travel (Santa Claus is coming to town) and is keen on children and animals, especially reindeer. Children and reindeer like him so much, it’s possible he might be one of those sincere adults who likes both children and animals better than their adult counterparts. Santa seems to be an effective, facilitative leader. This conclusion is based on the fact that he organizes all of those elves throughout the year, and we’ve never heard one complaint about his leadership style, nor have there ever been rumors of conflict among the elves. There was one incident among the reindeer in which the reindeer picked on poor Rudolph because he was different (red-nosed), but Santa mediated that situation immediately (Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?). Santa Claus also likes the outdoors; otherwise, he would not ride in an open sleigh in the freezing cold (Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh).

Enneagram Analysis: Santa’s interests give us a great deal of useful information about what his Enneagram style might be. His liking of reindeer and children (especially “good” ones) may be an example of his tendency to merge with positive people and pleasant objects. If so, this suggests that Santa might be an Enneagram Nine. His facilitative leadership style and his adeptness in maintaining harmony (and mediating conflict when it does arise) are also traits common among Nines. In fact, Nines are often called The Mediator, and Santa certainly is that (Then all the reindeer loved him [Rudolph] as they shouted out with glee….)! In addition, many Nines love the outdoors – although most prefer warmer weather – because nature feels peaceful, even blissful to them.

Personality Traits: Santa is jolly, smiles a great deal, likes to eat (especially cookies and milk), and is a very likeable, accessible fellow. Anyone can write him at the North Pole through the local post office, and he sometimes responds with a return letter or just the present you asked for in your letter to Santa. He loves to give presents, but he seems to do better when you give him a list rather than having to figure out what you want on his own.

He laughs a great deal and is particularly fond of the words, “Ho, Ho, Ho.” We also know he is a good listener; millions of people sit on his lap every year, and Santa listens attentively to each and every one of them. Santa can also be a bit judgmental, looking for children who have been “nice” all year rather than “naughty” for his present giving (He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for heaven’s sake).

Enneagram Analysis: Santa’s strong affability also suggests he is an Enneagram Nine, as do his frequent smiles and excellent listening skills. Although Enneagram Twos like to give presents, most Twos neither need nor want a wish list from you. They simply know – or think they know – what you want. Nines, by contrast, often like doing things for others, but prefer that you tell them what you want or write down what it is so they can do it or get it for you. If Santa is a Nine, he might be a self-preservation Nine, a subtype of Nine known by the name “appetite.” Santa seems to have unquenchable taste or appetite for cookies and milk, hence his big belly.

Santa is a bit judgmental as he makes his present-giving decisions based on who is “naughty” and who is “nice.” Nines are not externally judgmental, even though they often do have strong options about people and events, so it is possible that Santa is a Nine with a One wing, because Ones are more critical of others and more vocal about these opinions than are Nines.

Some curious things about Santa:Santa Claus has several aliases, such as Saint Nicolas, Father Christmas, or Kris Kringle. Sometimes he simply goes by Santa.

It is also unclear as to whether Santa is married or not. There have been sightings of Mrs. Claus, although very few photographs exist of her. In addition, Santa has been known to be involved with many mothers (I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus). As a result, we don’t know if Santa is currently married or not. Perhaps he simply enjoys romance on the road.

Enneagram Analysis: Considering these odd Santa facts, it seems dear Santa may have some secrets. This might suggest that Santa could be an Enneagram Five who compartmentalizes his life, maintains his privacy, and keeps secrets. However, everyone knows all of Santa’s aliases, just as we all know he’s kissing a lot of “mommies,” so what may be questionable behavior is certainly not secret behavior. Maybe Santa just loves everyone (like the good Nine that he is) and needs to be in so many places simultaneously that there are actually multiple Santas, all Nines, out there doing all this good work during the holidays!

So Santa Claus (aka Kris Kringle) is absolutely, definitely, positively an Enneagram Nine. Or is he?

Thanks to my brother, Martin Snapp, for suggesting I write a blog about Santa and his type. Other than that, I take full responsibility for all the facts, opinions, and conclusions in this blog.

Wishing you purity of spirit from nine enneagram perspectives

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:38:00 +0000

Pure Acceptance | To accept ourselves and each other as we are

“Serenity comes from trading expectations for acceptance.” ~ Unknown

Pure Generosity | To give that which is not easy to offer, without expectation

“A person who does things that count does not stop to count them.” ~ Albert Einstein

Pure Flow | To allow ourselves to go with our natural flow and order

“To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.” ~ Aaron Copeland

Pure Compassion | To fully experience the suffering of others without absorbing it

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” ~ Dalai Lama

Pure Clarity | To know what is important from a clear mind, heart, and body

“Clarity of mind means clarity of passion, too; this is why a great and clear mind loves ardently and sees distinctly what [s]he loves.” ~ Blaise Pascal

Pure Potency | To recognize our power to change what needs to be changed

“The violinist is that peculiarly human phenomenon distilled to a rare potency – half tiger, half poet.” ~ Yehudi Menuhin

Pure Possibility | To honor the art and beauty of possibility that includes accepting our limits

“Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.” ~ Albert Einstein

Pure Openness | To open ourselves to all that is real, inside and out

“Now there’s a person with an open mind – you can feel the breeze from here! ~ Groucho Marx

Pure Awakening | To be alert and conscious to all things in all time

“The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.” ~ Lao Tzu

Enneagram Twos: Elephant

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:17:00 +0000

A Nine said recently, “Please don’t choose the elephant to represent Nines.” I think what she was thinking is that elephants are lumbering animals, kind of lumpy and sometimes slow. Besides the fact that I picked elephants to represent Enneagram style Twos, elephants are nothing like the above stereotype (and neither are Nines). To the contrary, rather than lions, it may be elephants who are kings and queens of the jungle! They actually have no natural predators (other than humans), although lions occasionally kill calves or weak individual elephants. And although a great deal of the elephant’s power is in its sheer size, the elephant has enormous power and versatility in its trunk, as well as highly attuned emotional sensitivity and concern for others.

Sensitivity and emotionality

Although most plant eaters (and the elephant is a herbivore) possess teeth adapted for cutting and tearing off plant materials if the desired food item is too high up, the elephant actually wraps its trunk around the tree or branch and either shake the food loose or simply knock the tree down altogether. The elephant's trunk is sensitive enough to pick up a single blade of grass, yet strong enough to rip the branches off a tree.

Elephants also cry, play, show anger, and laugh. They are so sensitive to their fellow animals that if a baby elephant complains, the entire family will rumble and go over to touch and caress it. Elephants have greeting ceremonies when a friend that has been away for some time returns to the group.

Enneagram Commentary: Like elephants, Twos are very clever in getting what they want for others or for themselves. If one way doesn’t work, they move to another using subtle strategy at first, a bigger and bolder one if necessary. Twos also display a variety of emotions, moving from one to another quite fluidly as they emerge. And with the reaching out to those in need, who can doubt that Twos are elephantesque?

Communication

Elephants can communicate over long distances by producing a sub-sonic rumble that can travel over the ground faster than sound through air. Other elephants receive the messages through the sensitive skin on their feet and trunks. It is believed that this is how potential mates and social groups communicate.

Elephants make a number of sounds when communicating. They are famous for their trumpet calls, which are made when the animal blows through its nostrils. Trumpeting is usually made during excitement. Its use varies from being startled to a cry of help to rage. Elephants also make rumbling growls when greeting each other. The growl becomes a bellow when the mouth is open and a bellow becomes a moan when prolonged. This can escalate with a roar when threatening another elephant or another animal.

Enneagram Commentary: Twos are also highly focused on communication, with an astute ability to read other people’s non-verbal cues. Otherwise, how would a Two know so readily what others need? Also interesting is the variation in elephant communication, from suggestive mating rumbles (maybe the sexual subtype Twos) to the threatening roar when needed. Have you ever seen an angry Two roaring? If not, Twos can make Eights seem like amateurs!

Sociability and protectiveness

The elephant’s trunk plays a key role in many social interactions. Familiar elephants will greet each other by entwining their trunks, much like a handshake. They also use them while play-wrestling, caressing during courtship and mother-child interactions, and for dominance displays; a raised trunk can be a warning or threat, while a lowered trunk can be a sign of submission. Elephants can defend themselves very well by flailing their trunks at unwanted intruders or by grasping and flinging them.

Elephants form deep family bonds and live in tight matriarchal family groups of related females called a herd. The herd is led by the oldest and often largest female in the herd (the matriarch). Herds consist of 8-100 individuals depending on terrain and family size. When a calf is born, it is raised and protected by the whole matriarchal herd. Males leave the family unit between the ages of 12-15 and may lead solitary lives or live temporarily with other males.

Enneagram Commentary: It is wise advice to never get between a Two and another person (particularly a child) whom they want to protect. Most Twos are also social animals, just like elephants, and they are also highly tactile. Twos often reach out to others physically with an embrace, a soft pat on the back, a warm hug (even if some others may not be ready for it). And many Twos are called “mother hens” of their clans, although “mother elephants” may be a more apt description.

Power

Despite their popularity in zoos, and portrayal as gentle giants in fiction, elephants are among the world's most dangerous animals. They can crush and kill any other land animal, even the rhinoceros. They can experience bouts of rage, and engage in actions that have been interpreted as vindictive.

Enneagram Commentary: Those sweet, adaptive Twos can also be fierce, so never underestimate their real power and the energy they can muster up when required. They may not sit on you and squash you, but Twos have a variety of strategic resources they use when needed. Many years ago when I did a large group workshop on Enneagram styles and their relationship to power, the only type group that had to report out on the topic was the Twos. When asked, they said, “We felt very uncomfortable discussing it.” When asked why, they answered (very honestly), we think about power, influence, and relationships all the time, but it is subtle and implicit. And we don’t like acknowledging that we do this, ‘good’ people that we are!”

Underestimated intelligence

Elephants are extremely intelligent animals and have memories that span many years. It is this memory that serves matriarchs well during dry seasons when they need to guide their herds, sometimes for tens of miles, to watering holes that they remember from the past.

The elephant's brain is similar to that of humans in terms of structure and complexity. With a mass just over 5 kg (11 lb), elephant brains are larger than those of any other land animal. A wide variety of behaviors associated with intelligence have been attributed to elephants, including feeling sensitivities, making music and art, altruism, surrogate mothering, use of tools, compassion, and self-awareness.

Enneagram Commentary: It is too often said that Twos are not intellectually oriented, and this always implies that Twos have a little less brain-power than people of other styles. Often what accompanies comments that negate the intellectual capabilities of Twos is this: “After all, Twos have no link to the Head Center of Intelligence through their wings or arrows.” Well, many Twos have highly developed cerebral functioning, with right and left brains that are active and even talk to each other. Their social intelligence integrates well with mental intelligence to make a strong, but underestimated, intellectual nature – just like elephants. Never underestimate the brain-power of a Two (or an elephant, for that matter} particularly when you are face-to-face with them!

Enneagram and Gratitude

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:51:00 +0000

Gerry Fathauer, a Senior Member of the Enneagram in Business Network, is now writing the Monthly Insights for 2012. Thanks to Gayle Hardie for doing this for 2011 and to Ruth Landis for 2010. All three of these Senior Members have an affinity for the transformational aspects of the Enneagram, so it is with great pleasure that I write the month’s first blog from these Insights.

Gerry has a vast background in arts management and currently works as a coach, trainer, and consultant whose work centers on actualizing organizations and individuals.

The holidays are upon us, and what an inviting time of year to be present to gratitude! Gratitude is a state of being. Being in gratitude provides an almost magical shift in perspective.

Gratitude has the capacity to transform our experiences, our attitude, and our self-perspective. When was the last time you experienced difficulty, perhaps with someone who challenges you? How might your experience have shifted if, in the moment, you felt gratitude for this individual? When we open to a state of gratitude, we experience a qualitative shift, even in the most difficult of conversations.

The state of gratitude also has the capacity to shift our perception of reality. Moments of disappointment, defeat, or mindless “shutting down,” when held in tandem with gratitude can be transformed to an awareness of self-acceptance and self-love. Your energy is qualitatively different, as is your perspective on life.

Can you open to gratitude when your attitude is affecting your day? Or in the midst of difficulty? When you do, are you aware of a shift in your perspective? Are you able to hold both the difficulty and a state of gratitude in your experience and open to a qualitative shift in your way of being?

What a gift this state of being we call gratitude is, to ourselves and to others.

Gerry’s Insight Activity demonstrates how all of us can shift our perspective to move into gratitude. In this blog, I’ll add some additional ideas for individuals of each Enneagram style.

Enneagram Ones
Obvious idea: Focus equally on what is wonderful and glorious about something that is not completely stellar as you do on what is wrong with it.

Non-obvious idea: Tell three different people who you care about what they really mean to you and the gratitude you have for them.

Enneagram Twos

Obvious idea: Think of a recent time when something didn’t go as you had hoped – for example, someone didn’t respond to you in an affirmative way or didn’t follow your advice and suffered – and yet you didn’t get deflated or feel unhappy about it. Allow yourself to feel gratitude for your growth and how you handled what might have been a deeply discouraging situation, one in which you might have felt angry, or engaged in self-recrimination.

Non-obvious idea: Write down three things about yourself that you feel deeply grateful for. Say these out loud and place them on your bathroom mirror where you can read them every day.

Enneagram Threes

Obvious idea: Think about what you actually have, not what you think you need to gain. Experience gratitude for what you actually have.

Non-obvious idea: Experience your deepest felt gratitude for allowing yourself to do something you really wanted to do, not for the sake of success or respect, but because you simply enjoyed the process of doing it, not the outcome.

Enneagram Fours

Obvious idea: Spend just as much time thinking about what is “present” as you do with what is missing. Enjoy feeling appreciative for what is right in front of you.

Non-obvious idea: Make a list of what you have to offer and then shorten this list to three items. Draw a picture, create a song, write a poem, or take a photograph that symbolizes each of these three items. Then put them someplace special in your home or at work so you can look at them every day.

Enneagram Fives

Obvious idea: Think of three things (objects, people, ideas, or events) that you feel extremely grateful for. Every day, add to this list and continue this activity for a full week.

Non-obvious idea: Make a list of everything in the world and your life that you like very much which is abundant and replenishes itself automatically. In other words, it never becomes depleted. Ponder this list for at least three days.

Enneagram Sixes

Obvious idea: Consider this idea: "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear" (Ambrose Redmoon). Express gratitude for the role that caution and concern play in your life.

Non-obvious idea: Ponder this idea: “It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare” (Mark Twain). Think of all the times you have shown moral courage and be grateful for your integrity.

Note: Ambrose Redmoon is the pseudonym used by James Neil Hollingworth (1933-1996); he was, according to Wikipedia, “a beatnik, hippie, writer and former manager of the psychedelic folk rock band Quicksilver Messenger Service.”

Enneagram Sevens

Obvious idea: Be in gratitude for all the times you have felt uncomfortable and stayed with this experience rather than avoiding it.

Non-obvious idea: Think of one thing in your life that you care about so deeply that your interest in it is self-sustaining. Be in gratitude for this one area for showing you that you can sustain your focus when you allow something to touch your heart.

Enneagram Eights

Obvious idea: Think of three things that someone else made happen (and you had no role in) that you feel in gratitude about. Sit with these in your mind, heart, and body for one half hour.

Non-obvious idea: Feel your vulnerability and experience gratitude for your openness, flexibility, and gentleness in allowing yourself to feel this. Do this daily for one month.

Enneagram Nines

Obvious idea: Express yourself honestly to three different people. Feel gratitude for your courage and directness.

Non-obvious idea: Write an advertisement for yourself, promoting all that you are, your accomplishments, and your capabilities. If you are artistic at all, make this into a visual advertisement and post it on your bathroom mirror.

Enneagram Ones: Zebra

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:11:00 +0000

I chose the zebra to represent Enneagram style One. The information and facts below support this idea, but I chose zebras primarily because they are so elegant and regal, yet at the same time, so sturdy and practical, just like most Ones. Ones above all else are pragmatic, with enormous stamina for doing whatever they do well and right. Many Ones are also quite regal in bearing and dress style. Here are more reasons why zebras are like Enneagram Ones:

How They Look

Zebras, with their familiar horse-like physique and their distinct black and white striping pattern, are among the most recognizable of all mammals.

No animal has a more distinctive coat than the zebra. Each animal's stripes are as unique as fingerprints – no two exactly alike – although each of the three zebra species has its own general pattern. It was previously believed that zebras were white animals with black stripes, since some zebras have white underbellies. Embryological evidence, however, shows that the animal's background color is black and the white stripes and bellies are additions.

Enneagram Commentary: Although it is hard to determine another’s type with accuracy just by looking at or listening to another person, who hasn’t thought that Ones are easier to recognize than some other types? With their upright regal physiques, their strong opinions readily vocalized, and their dress style more impeccable and well-matched than most, Ones dress somewhat like one another, yet each One puts his or her own taste or spin to the tailoring test. Zebra stripes look so perfect. And the fact that they are black and white stripes also fits Enneagram style Ones, metaphorically at least. Most Ones engage in black and white thinking – that is, right or wrong; correct or incorrect; accurate or inaccurate; and so forth. Yes, Ones are zebraesque!

Their Core Attributes

Zebra facts show that they have wonderful and accurate hearing and eyesight capabilities. It is believed that they can see in color [not all animals do]. Zebras have excellent hearing, and tend to have larger, rounder ears than horses. Like horses and other ungulates, zebra can turn their ears in almost any direction. In addition to eyesight and hearing, zebras have an acute sense of smell and taste.

Enneagram Commentary: If anything, Ones are alert, with acute sensing ability that serve as excellent discriminators. While it is not likely they can turn their ears in any direction, Ones are pretty outstanding in their attention to detail and nuance. Ones do seem zebra-like.

Their Basic Character

Attempts have been made to train zebras for riding, since they have better resistance than horses to African diseases. Most of these attempts failed, though, due to the zebra's more unpredictable nature and tendency to panic under stress.

Zebras communicate with each other with high-pitched barks and whinnying. Grevys zebras make mule-like brays. A zebra's ears signify its mood. When a zebra is in a calm, tense, or friendly mood, its ears stand erect. When it is frightened, its ears are pushed forward. When angry, the ears are pulled backward. When surveying an area for predators, zebras will stand in an alert posture – ears erect, head held high, and staring. When tense, they will also snort. When a predator is spotted or sensed, a zebra will bark (or bray) loudly.

Enneagram Commentary: The basic character of the zebra seems very closely aligned to Enneagram Ones. Although Ones appear highly civilized, have you ever tried to tame a One? Most Ones have a wild streak in them (One moving to arrow line Seven), and many Ones can be unpredictable and/or reactive. When Ones become resentful, don’t like something, or feel angry, their upper bodies – especially their heads – often seem to pull backward (seriously!). Under stress (when a big mistake is looming or they feel out of control or as if they are about to be severely critiqued), most Ones do panic quite readily. And Ones do have quite a bark when feeling defensive.

How They Behave

Like horses, zebras walk, trot, canter, and gallop. They are generally slower than horses, but their great stamina helps them outpace predators. When chased, a zebra will zig-zag from side to side, making it more difficult for the predator. When cornered, the zebra will rear up and kick or bite its attacker.

Zebras are social animals that spend time in herds. They graze together, primarily on grass, and even groom one another. Like most members of the horse family, zebras are highly social. Their social structure, however, depends on the species.

Enneagram Commentary: Like zebras, Ones are very clever in their maneuvers, quick in their responses, and they can side-step difficult situations if they want to. When cornered (often with a critique from another person), Ones do rear up and figuratively bite the perceived attacker with an attack of their own. Are Ones more social or solitary? That also depends on the One. Some Ones are very group oriented, while others prefer to go solo.

An Addendum

In South Africa (and likely other places), the word zebra is pronounced zehbra. In the US, it is pronounced zeebra. I think the South Africans have it right, but then they also pronounce Weber (as in a Weber barbeque grill) as Weeber, whereas in the US, we say Wehber. Consistency aside, which is correct?