Self – Awareness | Supporting Your Team With Awareness [part 3 of 3]

Now that you are more familiar with the Enneagram, a great tool for creating a culture of self-awareness in your workplace, let’s dive more into how to support each member of your teamwith awareness. (If you missed our last blog post on this, here’s a quick refresher).Each enneagram type is different, and responds to various forms of encouragement and motivation efforts in different ways. An Enneagram 5 on your team is opposite to an Enneagram 7 in the sense that they thrive on privacy to do their work, whereas an Enneagram 7 will thrive on socialization to do their work. As a leader, you will have to support these team members in different ways if you want them to thrive. Let’s look at the Do’s and Don’ts of each type:

●Enneagram 1-

Do: Clearly explain how and when you want a project done, and a One will meet those needs more exactly than any other type.

Don’t:Call out a One in a group. Pull them aside to correct them, as they take corrections to their work very seriously and to heart.

Do: Often share how much you appreciate a Two. Twos will beam and be motivated by this.

Don’t: Take advantage of them. As they are service-oriented, a Two will have a hard time saying no to any request.

Do: Offer rewards, incentives, and advancement for a Three’s good work. Celebrate their wins with them. This motivates a Three.

Don’t: Let Threes run coworkers over or cut corners to get to their goal line.

Do: Help Fours find ways they can incorporate their creativity, emotional depth, and style in their work. They have a unique ability of setting the tone, so pick their brain before your next presentation.

Don’t: Compare a Four’s work with another person’s, or minimize their feelings. It is important to a four to feel like you genuinely care about them, and they can sniff out any inauthenticity.

Do: Give a Five predictability, and long leash. Fives need to know the demands expected of them and they can thrive, as well as room to accomplish a task without micro-management. Give this to a Five and they will make you proud. Also, give them privacy (like that office space farthest from the central points of socialization at your workspace)

Don’t: Throw a spontaneous assignment to a Five. They thrive with time to prepare.

Do: Be patient with Sixes as they ask questions about new moves the team is making, and listen well. They are security-conscious.

Don’t: Gaslight Sixes when they point out issues in your plan – a great leader needs a keen eye for what could go wrong.

Do: Leverage a Seven’s ability to bring energy and enthusiasm to a space. Take their advice on how to engage with a new client in an exciting new way.

Don’t: Let Sevens get off track, as they can be easily distracted.

Do: Be completely honest and truthful with an Eight; especially when things are in a bad state. They will lose respect for you if you are not upfront with them.

Don’t: Let Eights jump to action without taking a moment to consider consequences. Eights are action-oriented, and feel like they are accomplishing things when they take action. But they need dialogue and consideration as well.

Do: Support Nines when they endeavor to express opinions of their own. It is easy for Nines to fall into a pattern of mirroring. While this can create cohesive teamwork, remind them it is necessary and good to express their own opinions.

Don’t: Let Nines sell themselves short. Nines are humble, but have significant skills. They won’t be the first to offer their talents, but often should be.

Here’s a quick tip: Introduce the Enneagram to your workplace and have a dialogue about it. Have a small, meaningful indicator on each team member’s desk or slack profile to remind the team which Enneagram type they relate to. That way, coworkers can take a brief moment of self-awareness before engaging with that person, to see how to best communicate with them. Cheers to more self-awareness in your workplace!