Our Instincts and the Enneagram

Type + Instinct = Sub-type Source: Integrative9 Enneagram

Life-long learning

I did a weeklong course on Deep Transformational Work with the Enneagram with Uranio Paes. I had no idea what I was letting myself in for and thought it would be an intellectual exercise, learning from one of the pre-eminent enneagram gurus. I didn't realise that it was practical work and we were the guinea pigs! The result was an incredibly rich experience that deepened my knowledge of the enneagram and myself.

Our instinctual response creates a unique sub-type

Uranio's speciality is in how our instinctual responses (3), blend with our type (9), to create a unique enneagram sub-type (27). These three instinctual responses are all wired in to help us survive in different ways - Self Preservation (SP), Social (SO) and Sexual (SX). But when they become too dominant, they drive us rather than help us, blocking us from growing. If we are supressed in one of the instincts it means we are missing some of our potential to be fully human.

Viktor Frankel

"Between stimulus and response there is a space.

In that space is our power to choose our response.

In our response lies our growth and our freedom."

Personal development

My personal growth came from understanding how my own instinctual response was formed, and how it had helped me, but now hinders me. One of the reasons these personality patterns are so strongly entrenched is that they served a purpose - we just need to check if that purpose is still useful. The instincts of a three-year-old child might not be appropriate for a fifty-year-old CEO.

Change is hard

I am keen to use some of these insights in my executive coaching to increase its impact. However, that course was hard. It required trust and vulnerability to recognise the issue, and change will require bravery and commitment.