The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive

archive of this journal is available at

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0262-1711.htm

JMD
22,4 The enneagram system for
enhancing workplace
308
spirituality
Sudhir H. Kale and Samir Shrivastava
Received May 2002 School of Business, Bond University, Gold Coast,
Revised July 2002 Queensland, Australia
Accepted July 2002

Keywords Personality, Harmonization, Working conditions

Abstract The notion of “spirituality in the workplace” continues to receive growing attention in
practitioner as well as academic circles. Realizing that a spiritual workplace is not just a more
harmonious workplace but a more profitable workplace as well, companies are looking at means
and methods to fulfill spiritual needs of their workforce. This paper makes a case for using the
enneagram as a tool for enhancing spirituality in the workplace.

Introduction
Suddenly, or so it seems, the concern with spirituality has become all
pervasive and ubiquitous. Social researchers Ray and Anderson (2001)
observe that in the USA alone, over 50 million people now subscribe to new
values and ways of relating when it comes to work, success, and spirituality.
Similar numbers have been reported in countries constituting the European
Union. These developments have led management scholars to embrace “new
paradigm thinking”, an orientation which focuses on intangibles and on
identifying and guiding how we can develop and contribute to the current
state of affairs in a sustainable and holistic manner (see Giacalone and
Eylon, 2000).
Between 1999 and 2001, over 200 articles on spirituality have made their
way into management journals. While these articles have contributed much
toward preliminary theoretical development in this vital area, few actually
discuss specific ways in which spirituality can be inculcated in the work
environment.
This paper makes a case for using the enneagram as an actionable
framework for connecting with one’s spirituality. Toward this end, this paper
has three main objectives:
(1) to provide a generally acceptable working definition of spirituality;
Journal of Management Development
(2) to introduce the enneagram for the benefit of readers who may be
Vol. 22 No. 4, 2003 unfamiliar with the tool; and
pp. 308-328
q MCB UP Limited
0262-1711
(3) to suggest an approach for harnessing the enneagram for spiritual
DOI 10.1108/02621710310467596 unfoldment.
What is spirituality? Enneagram and
The American Heritage Dictionary defines human spirit as: workplace
. . . the vital principle, the animating force traditionally believed to be within and the essential spirituality
nature of every human being.
The word spirituality comes from the Latin root spiritus, meaning breath – the
breath of life. In discourses relating spirituality to management, the notion of 309
spirituality has proved somewhat unwieldy to define and operationalize.
McCormick (1994) attributes this to the fact that most early articles and books
about spirituality and management were popular works with little theory or
empirical backing. However, even then there was some consensus: a majority of
authors characterized spirituality as an experience that involved feelings of
awe, amazement and wonder, and as an experience of love and connection to
the world, and to others.
In the early years of the movement to bring spirituality to the
workplace, scholars addressed the notion of spirituality espousing a
religious orientation. Hawley (1993) promoted the Hindu approach; Ibrahim
et al. (1991), Cowan (1993), Chappell (1993), Fox (1994), and others adopted
the Christian perspective; Boldt (1991) and Low (1976) used the Zen
Buddhist approach, while Tauber (1990) offered a Jewish perspective on
spirituality.
In one of the first empirical studies on spirituality and management,
Mitroff and Denton (1999a) offered some very constructive observations: the
respondents in this study differentiated strongly between spirituality and
religion. While they viewed religion as a highly inappropriate topic of
discourse in the workplace, they saw spirituality as an entirely acceptable
subject of discussion. Respondents viewed spirituality as “the basic feeling of
being connected with one’s complete self, others, and the entire universe”.
Similar observations were echoed in the work of Roof (1993). Roof’s
interviewees felt that religion had an institutional connotation as manifested
in the practice of rituals, adhering to dogmas, attending services, and the like.
Spirituality, on the other hand, dealt with life’s deeper motivations and an
emotional connection to God. Anne Patrick, in categorizing American
spirituality, compares it with two vast river systems: the classical spiritual
traditions we have come to associate with institutional religion, and the
second principal system linked with the love of nature, art, and beauty; with
the concern for ecology, justice, and peace. Under this second system, says
Anne Patrick, goes everything designated as “new age” (Roof et al., 1999).
Mirvis (1997, p. 197) makes an interesting distinction between spirituality and
religion when he says, “religion is about answers (and) spirituality is about
questions”. Another simple and generally acceptable definition of spirituality
was provided by Eckersley (2000, p. 5), “spirituality is a deeply intuitive sense
of relatedness or interconnectedness to the world and the universe in which
we live”.
JMD Ashmos and Duchon (2000) operationalized spirituality in the context of
22,4 workplace as having three components:
(1) an inner life;
(2) meaningful work; and
(3) community.
310
An assessment of this and other studies suggests that a comprehensive
definition of spirituality needs to incorporate three overarching ideas: a sense of
inner self, the notion of interconnectedness, and a concept of the beyond (or
God).
The idea of an inner life or self, discussed in many articles on spirituality, is
somewhat problematic to conceptualize. Zukav (1989) characterizes it as the
“invisible realm” in which the origins of our deeper understandings are located.
It involves a sense of one’s being or consciousness, and how that being relates
to other beings (Bartunek and Moch, 1994; McDonald, 1997). For example,
McDonald (1997, p. 22) writes:
Each of us has a core from which our most valuable thoughts and feelings originate. When
we’re in touch with that center and use it to guide our behavior, we act as genuinely as we can.
Walsh (2001), a highly respected scientist, philosopher, and anthropologist, in
comparing a person’s life, comprising an outer self and an inner-self to that of
an amphibian’s life says:
We have a part of our life and being in this world we see and touch, but in a deeper part at the
core of our being, at the center of our minds, at the center of our awareness, we experience this
other sacred realm, and we partake of it, and we are it.
The term “connectedness” or its correlates have been used in almost all
descriptions of spirituality (Ashmos and Duchon, 2000; Bullis and Glaser, 1992;
Mitroff and Denton, 1999a; Eckersley, 2000; Neck and Millman, 1994;
O’Murchu, 1998). For example, Sass (2000) observes that spirituality,
throughout the literature, has been depicted as an emphasis on connection
and integration rather than separation. Connectedness has often been
portrayed as recognition of the ultimate unity of all being; a sense that there
exists an energy that transcends the categories and concepts governing
mundane material realm. Mitroff and Denton (1999b) underscore the notion of
connectedness when they define spirituality as the basic desire to find ultimate
meaning and purpose in one’s life and to live an integrated life.
Inherent in most definitions of spirituality dwells the basic underlying belief
that there is a supreme power, a being, or a force that provides a purpose for
everything and everyone. It is in connection with this “beyond” that spiritual
experience occurs. An authentic spiritual experience has often been described
as one accompanying a sense of awe, wonder, amazement, and joy. As Dawkins
(1998) puts it in his book Unweaving the Rainbow, we have an “appetite for
wonder”, an appetite for evoking the positive emotional states that are linked to
our deepest existential questions. It is in the realm of the “beyond” that we seek Enneagram and
answers to life’s vexing existential questions. workplace
The notion of “beyond” probably presents the greatest conceptual challenge spirituality
to defining spirituality. For many, this “beyond” is a higher power, God, or
universal spirit or consciousness (McCormick, 1994; Mitroff and Denton, 1999a;
Sass, 2000). Notwithstanding the myriad and sometimes subjective meanings
given to “beyond,” we too believe that this concept is indispensable to any
311
definition of spirituality. We thus define spirituality as “the experiencing of an
individual’s inner-self and the integration of that self with the known world and
beyond”. This definition somewhat parallels Clark’s (1958) concept of a
religious experience, which he characterized as “the inner experience of the
individual when he senses a beyond”.

Salience of spirituality
If attention in popular media is anything to go by, spiritual pursuits across all
walks of life seem to have become an all-pervasive phenomenon. Oprah
Winfrey, the popular American talk-show host, helps millions of viewers
“remember their spirit” on a daily basis. A USA Weekend poll conducted in July
1998 revealed that 47 percent of Americans viewed spirituality as the most
important element of their happiness.
In 1996 Paul Ray, the respected market researcher, uncovered trends that
would ignite the passions of several “new paradigm” thinkers (Ray, 1996).
What Ray found was a huge group of people, over 50 million in the USA alone,
subscribing to new values and ways of relating when it comes to work, success,
consumption, and spirituality. He calls this segment “cultural creatives”, a
group spread across the largest cities and the smallest towns, spanning all
income and socioeconomic strata (Ray and Anderson, 2001).
The cultural creatives share values revolving around spiritual
transformation, ecological sustainability, and a sense of community. In
contrast to the X-generation, they seem to reject hedonism, cynicism, and
materialism. The “cultural creatives” sub-culture eagerly embraces altruism
and self-actualization, thus forging a new sense of the sacred that incorporates
personal growth psychology, the spiritual realm, and service to others.
The aging of population in western societies, coupled with a high level of
affluence, now accords both consumers as well as businesses the privilege of
seeking and providing more meaning in life (Brandt, 1996). Nowhere is this
more evident than in the effort devoted to bringing spirituality in the
workplace. On the “Mother Jones” Web site, Maskowitz (1997) writes about a
high-profile group calling itself the Conscious Business Alliance, which has
been set up in Minneapolis. Its mission: to explore the myriad ways in which
the business community can enrich and be enriched by the human spirit. A
similar organization has been established in Australia with the acronym
JMD “SlaM” (Spirituality, Leadership, and Management). The SlaM Network
22,4 preamble states:
Our premise is that most of the wealth of corporations and institutions consists of their
human element – what is sometimes called “human capital” – not simply intellectual
property, not only human knowledge and skills, but human spirit as well. To nurture and
value the human spirit is an integral part of leadership and of the management of one’s own
312 life or an organization. Teamwork, motivation, loyalty, cooperation, and trust are partly
spiritual concerns (www.slam.net.au).
Roddick (2001, p. 20) forcefully expresses these same sentiments in her new
book, Business As Unusual:
Corporations must start showing more developed emotions than fear and greed, and we have
to find ways to halt the economic growth that alienates non-economic values . . . There is a
spiritual dimension to life that, for me, is the real bottom-line. It underpins everything and I
suggest should be incorporated into global management education if it is to be truly
worthwhile. Spirituality, to me, is a very simple attitude that has nothing to do with organized
religion; it means that life is sacred and awe-inspiring.
Statistics from the Gallup Organization in New York supports the claims made
in relation to the omnipresent quest for spirituality in the workplace. In 1998,
when Gallup asked 800 Americans whether their jobs had influenced their
spiritual lives, 33 per cent credited work with “greatly improving” or
“improving” their spirituality (Boston Globe, 2001). One of the first empirical
studies on the subject of workplace spirituality also reached similar
conclusions. In this study, Mitroff and Denton (1999a) asked respondents to
rank, in order of importance, the factors resulting in job satisfaction. “The
ability to realize my full potential as a person” emerged as the most important
factor, followed by “Being associated with a good or ethical organization.”.
“Making money” ranked fourth among the seven factors investigated. The
study also found that employees who saw their organizations as spiritual also
viewed their organizations as being better than their less spiritual counterparts
on almost every dimension. Respondents working for companies perceived as
spiritual reported that they were able to bring more of their “complete” selves
to work. They felt they could deploy more of their creativity, emotions, and
intelligence in the workplace. Mitroff and Denton (1999a) go on to assert that
modern civilization might have gone too far in separating spirituality from
other elements of life.
A short visit to Amazon.com reveals an upsurge in the number of books on
spirituality in the workplace. According to the Boston Globe (2001), this
explosion has created a $2.2 billion niche market. Available at Amazon, among
a plethora of interesting titles, is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Spirituality in
the Workplace. Most of the books on spirituality exemplify serious and
systematic attempts at probing what is an important and universal
phenomenon. Today, more and more companies are turning to published
sources as well as spiritual consultants to help bridge the gap between their
corporate goals and the spiritual needs of their employees. We believe the Enneagram and
enneagram is a system that will help companies accomplish just that. workplace
spirituality
A quick primer on the enneagram
The enneagram (pronounced any-a-gram) is a circle enclosing nine equidistant
points connected by nine intersecting lines (see Figure 1). Ennea is Greek for
nine and gram means drawing. The enneagram pictorially conveys a system of
313
type classification. As the figure suggests, individuals can be classified as
possessing one of the nine personality types or fixations. Key characteristics of
these nine types have been highlighted in Table I.
The enneagram has its roots in ancient spiritual practices of the East. Its
actual origins are shrouded in mystery. References in various spiritual texts
indicate that enneagram has been in use for over 2,500 years. Untold
generations of spiritual seekers in secret brotherhoods are believed to have
developed this classification system to accelerate the spiritual liberation of their
wards. The technique was considered so powerful that its knowledge was
zealously guarded lest it fell into wrong hands.
The credit for introducing the enneagram to the West in the first half of the
twentieth century goes to George Gurdjieff, the Armenian philosopher and
spiritual teacher. Since then various other teaching “traditions” begun by Jesuit
priests, and by psychologists like Ichazo (1982) have gained wide currency.
More recently, scholarly works by Naranjo (1990) and Riso and Hudson (1996)
have made some useful contributions to the enneagram theory. Despite a
number of publications on the enneagram, confusion exists about whether the
enneagram is primarily a psychological system or a spiritual one. To us, this
psychological versus spiritual debate seems misdirected. As Riso (1990, p. 14)
points out:
Knowing ourselves so that we can transcend ourselves and attain balance and integration is
what psychology is about – while transcending ourselves to make room for the divine is what
spirituality is about. Both go together and are not at odds with each other.
Over the last 20 years, scores of books and hundreds of executive development
seminars on the enneagram have found their way onto the marketplace. Most

Figure 1.
The enneagram
 types
22,4

314
JMD

Table I.
The nine enneagram
Type Characteristics Managerial orientation Strengths Weaknesses
One: Reformer, Wise realist, Reasonable, By the book, Leads by example, Idealism, Intolerance,
Perfectionist, A principled teacher High standards Reasonableness, Obsessiveness,
Idealist Objectivity Punitiveness
Two: Helper, Giver, Disinterested altruist, Caring,
Cheerleader, Appreciators, Disinterestedness, Manipulation, Coercion,
Mentor Nurturing, Helper Management by encouraging Empathy, Generosity Feeling victimized
others
Three: Motivator, Authentic, Self-assured person, Task oriented, Belief in Inner-directed, Opportunism, Duplicity,
Performer, Producer Outstanding paragon meritocracy, High profile, Adaptability, Vindictiveness
Autocratic Ambitious
Four: Artist, Inspired creator, Self-aware, Intuitive, Bold, uncompromising Creativity, Self- Self-inhibition, Self-
Romantic, Innovator Intuitive, Self-revealing awareness, torment, Self-
Individualist destructiveness
Five: Thinker, Pioneering visionary, Philosophical, Well-informed, Understanding, Rejection, Distortion,
Observer, Sage Perceptive, Knowledgeable Detached Involvement, Expertise Derangement
Six: Loyalist, Self-affirming, Engaging, Reckless, Protective of inner circle, Self-affirmation, Inferiority, Over-reaction,
Trooper, Partner Committed loyalist Ally Engagement, Masochism
Cooperation
Seven: Generalist, Ecstatic appreciator, Management by juggling, Gratitude, Enthusiasm, Dissipation,
Visionary, Futurist Enthusiastic, Accomplished Walking around and networking Productiveness Compulsiveness, Gluttony
generalist
Eight: Leader, Magnanimous hero, Self- Autocratic, Blunt, Confrontational Self-restraint, Self- Ruthlessness,
Advocate, Boss confident, Constructive confidence, Influential Recklessness,
Destructiveness
Nine: Peacemaker, Self-possessed, Receptive, Participatory, Inclusive, Sharing- Autonomy, Non- Neglect, Dissociation,
Mediator, Diplomat Supportive peacemaker orientation aggressiveness, Self-abandonment
Supportive
conceptualize the enneagram as a tool of understanding human personality and Enneagram and
go on to relate these so-called personality characteristics to dos and don’ts in workplace
the work environment. While every book alludes to the spiritual origins of the spirituality
enneagram, there is hardly any comprehensive attempt to suggest how this
powerful tool can be utilized to facilitate a person’s spiritual quest in the
workplace. While a full exposition of this complex topic is clearly beyond the
scope of any one paper, we make a start in this direction by offering
315
suggestions and exploratory guidelines as to how organizations can effectively
use the enneagram as a tool to facilitate the spiritual needs of their members.
To accomplish this objective, it is important for the reader to have some idea of
the nine personality types described in the enneagram. Brief descriptions of the
nine types appear in Table I and in the Appendix.

Essence, personality, and fixation

The enneagram is often seen as a vital link between the psyche and the spirit.
Inherent within the enneagram system is recognition of the interconnectedness
between psychological aspects and spirituality. According to the theory of
enneagram, there is an almost dichotomous distinction between our
“personality” and our “essence”. Personality is that which appears as our
type traits, determining our automatic or unconscious behaviors. Personality is
our conditioned being, with which we readily identify. In many ways, the self
presented by personality is as false as wearing a “persona”. Essence is that
aspect of our being that transcends personality, carries a universal quality, and
comprises the realm of our spiritual self. It is our “true” face. Naranjo (1990)
cautions us that, rather than speaking of essence as a thing, we should think of
it as a process, an ego-less, unobscured, and free manner of functioning of the
integrated human wholeness. In moving toward essence, he contends, we are
striving to become a living manifestation of the divinity that lies dormant
within each of us.
Jaxon-Bear (1994) most eloquently presented the distinction between
essence, fixation, and personality in his keynote speech at the Enneagram
Conference at Stanford University in August 1994. Jaxon-Bear (1994) asks us to
visualize three concentric circles (see Figure 2). The outermost ring or layer
represents one’s personality. This comprises traits, habits, and behavior
patterns. The layer below personality, that which makes the manifestation of
personality possible, is known as character fixation. Spiritually speaking, what
the enneagram so accurately describes, is not so much of one’s personality, but
one’s character fixation. Character fixation is deeper than personality. It arises
out of ego and it makes us identify with someone other than who we really are.
One’s soul and essence get deflected in character fixation. Soul and essence
constitute the innermost ring in Jaxon-Bear’s (1994) model. True character
resides at the level of the soul. The difference between soul and essence is that,
while essence is limitless and unbounded, the soul, while possessing the same
JMD
22,4

316

Figure 2.
The nature of ego

qualities as essence, is bounded by individual consciousness. One can glimpse

the essence, only when one gives up the compulsion of living out one’s character
fixation. The qualities of essence are described in the Sufi system of subtle
latifas. For instance, “one” exemplifies perfection, “two” personifies love, and
“three” typifies creation in their purest form. But even the latifas do not describe
the truth of existence, which is completely empty of all forms. The inward
journey then is to traverse from personality to the realm of truth. It is this travel
that characterizes authentic spirituality. To quote Jaxon-Bear (1994) again:
As the momentum of character fixation is confronted by an unwillingness to act out the old
patterns of veiling, fixation burns and true essence shines forth.
In order to use the enneagram as a spiritual map, we need to understand how
character fixation comes into being. In the postscript to Personality Types, Riso
and Hudson (1996, p. 455) write:
To face the world and the terrifying insecurity of human existence naked and defenseless
seems like an overwhelming situation for anyone to be in. Each person’s ego attempts to
buffer itself from the full realization of the insecurity of its existence in different ways. Each
type adopts different strategies for inflating the ego as a defense against being insecure and
alone.
In other words, when confronted with fear, pain, or anxiety, every individual
seeks to cope with this emergency through a corresponding emergency
response that becomes a fixation, or, to use Freud’s language, a repetition
compulsion (Naranjo, 1990). It is this fixation that eventually leads to a loss of
contact with one’s essence. By providing an understanding of the basic fears,
motivations, passions, and defense system of personality types (or, more Enneagram and
accurately, character fixations), the enneagram can help liberate individuals workplace
from the tyranny of their respective numbers. Naranjo (1990, p. 154) writes: spirituality
When one practices the pursuit of self-knowledge in an attitude of prayerful aspiration and
objective recognition of one’s aberration, and yet at the same time seems to make space in
one’s mind for such present imperfections as are unavoidable as a consequence of the
imprints of past experience and the inevitable duration of the self-realization process, one 317
comes to discover that self understanding is sufficient to itself.
Enneagram theory asserts that “part contains the whole”. A personality
number is but a partial expression of a person’s essential self that contains all
numbers. Though a person may have one dominant number as determined by
the characteristics highlighted in Table I, each individual possesses an essence
that includes the qualities of all the nine numbers. The challenge for all
spiritual aspirants is to get in touch with their essence; to be all that they
potentially can be.
By providing us with the gift of self-awareness, the enneagram at work has
the potential to redefine the tapestry of the workplace and the workforce –
woven by the warps and wefts of love, a truer sense of self, and meaningful
relationships. The enneagram, in uncovering our essence, can connect each of
us with providence as defined by us. As Palmer (2001) observed in a recent
radio interview, “type is the fact that’s in the way of having a spiritual
experience. And what stands between me and a spiritual experience is me. . .”
The Web site of the International Enneagram Association concurs that the
enneagram system provides us with an incredibly accurate map of “I-
formation”, and thus serves the sacred agenda of transcending the “I” and
being one with all beings (www.intl-enneagram-assn.org).

Applying the enneagram in spiritual odyssey

In one of their recent books on the enneagram, Riso and Hudson (2000, p. 380)
write:
The Enneagram guides us toward nothing less than learning how consciously to surrender
the ego self of personality to the greater Self so that we can become conscious participants in
the sacred mystery of life. In reality, it entails the surrender of nothing – our personality – in
order to receive the gift of everything – the life of the spirit.
Our suggestions for spiritual applications of the enneagram are influenced by
theory of action learning (see Argyris and Schon, 1974). We deem that “de-
layering” of personality through to essence or the greater self can only take
place if people are actually made to confront pain and anxiety and made aware
– in real-time as it were – of inherent human tendencies to succumb to fixations.
Familiarity with the basic enneagram concept is a natural precursor to its
utilization as a spiritual tool. To ensure maximum “buy in” within an
organization, we recommend that knowledge of the enneagram first be
disseminated to those interested in using this tradition of spiritual evolution. The
JMD best way to facilitate the transmission of the enneagram in the workplace is to
22,4 have 10-12 employees assigned to a mentor competent in enneagram theory and
application. The mentor would initially guide and inform, then coax and cajole,
and eventually confront his or her wards as they journey towards self-realization.
The process of utilizing the enneagram in the workplace may be arranged
into six broad and sometimes overlapping steps:
318
(1) introducing the enneagram theory;
(2) introducing people to their type;
(3) introducing the concepts of personality, fixations, and essence within the
context of the enneagram;
(4) self-discovery exercises;
(5) stress-point exercises; and
(6) contemplation.

Introducing the enneagram theory

The introduction or prologue phase should cover aspects that we have
discussed in the primer on the enneagram. In order for people to be initiated in
the enneagram system, it is useful to understand the origins and conceptual
underpinnings of the enneagram. Constraints of space preclude a discussion of
all the technical aspects of the enneagram at this juncture. However, those
serious about investigating the possibility of using the enneagram are directed
to www.best.com/‘asci4d/enneagram/refernc/htm for a comprehensive list of
Enneagram resources that deal with the more esoteric aspects of enneagram
theory. Some important aspects that should be covered in the introduction
phase include the triads constituting the enneagram, the wings, directions of
integration and disintegration[1], security and stress points, the three primary
intelligences directing humans and defense systems.

Introducing people to their type

This step involves administering the enneagram questionnaires or letting
individuals “see their type” by reading descriptions of the nine enneagram
types. Many different versions of “self-diagnosis” questionnaires can be found
in books as well as on the World Wide Web. The Riso-Hudson Enneagram
Type Indicator or the Stanford Enneagram Discovery Inventory and Guide are
both worth considering. We advise that at least two self-diagnosis tests be
administered. This will ensure that respondents are correctly classified across
the nine personality types. Records of the results should be maintained both by
the employee and the mentor.
After the students have determined their own type numbers, a discussion on
peculiar traits, motivations, fears, and desires of each number should take place.
While Table I provides a brief description, other more elaborate descriptions are
widely available in scores of enneagram books as well as Web sites.
Understanding the concepts: personality, fixations, and essence Enneagram and
This aspect has already been discussed earlier. According to enneagram workplace
theory, individuals can realize their full potential only when their essence gets spirituality
uncovered, i.e. when they shed off their persona, and are liberated from their
fixations and the attendant defense systems and conditioned responses.
Enneagram theory highlights our specific fixations and, in so doing, maps out
the path we need to follow toward repossessing our essence. In order for this to 319
happen, people must necessarily act in a manner that helps them touch base
with other numbers that lie dormant within them. Individuals cannot be
liberated, it should be emphasized, without suffering pain and attending to
negative emotions. In other words, people should actively seek experiences that
force them to touch base with their stress points. They should consider such
experiences as great opportunities for learning and evolving. As Naranjo (1990,
p. 157) points out:
Awareness of endarkenment is the deepest aspect of conscious suffering – yet burning in this
pain, for anyone who plunges into it, is the source of the most precious fuel for the work of
transformation.
Self-discovery exercises and stress-point exercises facilitate the
transformational journey.

Self-discovery exercises
Several enneagram scholars have suggested specific exercises that facilitate
self-discovery (Riso and Hudson, 1999; Palmer, 1995; Naranjo, 1990). We will
briefly note the exercises that we have personally used and can therefore attest
to. The exercises we recommend were originally suggested by Naranjo (1990)
and Palmer (1995).
The branch of knowledge called protoanalysis, as originated by Oscar
Ichazo, describes the human process towards enlightenment and freedom. In
this connection, Naranjo (1990) writes that truth about ourselves can free us, for
once we truly understand something about ourselves, that “something” will
change without any attempt to change it. According to him writing down
autobiographical notes – particularly the memories of painful situations and
experiences in early family life and how we coped with them – can give us
some insights of how we lose touch with our essence and how we come to
acquire a “persona”. Exchanging notes with close friends or colleagues can also
assist the self-discovery process, as can meditation and the yogic technique
called vipassana.
After nearly 20 years of experimentation, I have come to the conviction that the most suitable
background for Protoanalysis proper is that of vipassana, with particular emphasis on the
mindfulness of sensations and emotions, while the practice of samatha, with its emphasis on
tranquility, is the most appropriate. . . (Naranjo, 1990, p. 159).
Helen Palmer offers specific spiritual antidotes for each enneagram type on her
Web site: http://www.authenticenneagram.com She advocates various kinds of
JMD meditation depending on the individual’s enneagram type. In her workshops,
22,4 Buddhist exercises for combating desire (types two, three and four), aversion
(types five, six and seven), and self-forgetting (types eight, nine and one) are
framed in terms of specific benefits to the types. She also prescribes awareness
practices whereby individuals can decide on a specific facet of their type to
observe. Such self-observation at regular time intervals several times a day
320 enhances people’s understanding of their fixations. Self-discovery exercises –
unlike stress-point exercises – have no action agenda and are devoid of
judgment. Positive action often arises from awareness alone. Table II lists what
specific facets to observe for each type.

Stress-point exercises
Stress-point exercises involve a deliberate confrontation of an individual’s
basic fear and defense mechanism as identified by the enneagram type and
made salient through self-discovery exercises. The intent of these exercises is
twofold: to fully appreciate the enormous impact character fixation on
behavior, and to realize that it is within a person’s power to counteract the
impact of fixations. A word of caution is needed at this juncture. One needs to
guard against the unintended and negative consequences that stress point
exercises can have. Sometimes, they only strengthen the ego, thus making the
subsequent journey toward essence all the more difficult.
We strongly urge that only volunteers who fully understand the baggage
accompanying their personality numbers and who are also strongly motivated
toward spiritual development be subjected to this step. In stress-point exercises,
emotional turmoil is inevitable. The very intent of these exercises is to

Type Facets to observe in self-discovery exercise

One Mind going to error to correct what is wrong or imperfect, voice of the relentless inner
critic, constantly judging others and one’s own self
Two Attention and energy going to others’ needs, feeling of indispensability, and neglect of
own needs and desires
Three Search for recognition and undue attention to the projected image. Obsession to get
things accomplished and suppression of feelings
Four Longing for what is missing, emotional intensity as a way of dramatizing reality, and
idealizing what seems special or unique
Five Quick to withdraw from contact with others, detaching to observe, and limiting wants
and desires
Six Avoidance of threats and fearful events, conjuring up worst-case scenarios, and
incessant questioning, doubting, and testing
Seven Selective attention toward positive options and possibilities, forgetting the feelings or
needs of others, overlooking pain or distress
Eight Quick to anger and confrontation, actions without reflection, lack of attention to
Table II. impact of actions on others, overlooking self-vulnerability
Type-specific facets Nine Going along with the agenda of others, neglect of oneself, avoidance of resistance and
for self-discovery conflict, inattention to one’s own views
deliberately create painful states caused by the frustrations of the participants’ Enneagram and
passions. We recommend that specific exercises (pertaining either to the workplace
workplace or a real-life personal situation) be designed for specific personality spirituality
types with the sole aim of forcing individuals to abandon their strongly held
world views and embrace actions that they would ordinarily avoid.
For example, an exercise designed for “eights” should force them to rely and
depend on other people. Similarly an exercise for “threes” should make sure
321
that no matter how hard they try, they do not win. If need be, ground rules for
an exercise could be changed mid-way to ensure the desired outcome, i.e. to
ensure that the individual’s fixations do not get the upper hand. Space
constraints prevent us from discussing specific exercises for each type. As
must have become evident already, understanding the defense system of a
personality type and the attendant patterns of behavior and their movement
during stress is the key to designing such exercises.
The mentor and possibly an external enneagram expert should debrief
participants at the end of each exercise. This would entail an explanation of
how the participants’ defense system worked in the course of the exercise and
what qualities each participant exhibited under stress. If possible, the exercise
sessions should be videotaped, so that participants can revisit the scenarios
and reflect on them.
The intent of reflection is to bring into focus the hidden self. Stress-point
exercises will undoubtedly provide participants with a wealth of information
about their personalities and ego defenses. Post-exercise reflection would entail
an individual’s seeking answers to questions such as:
.
What am I really like?
.
Why do I say the things I say?
.
What within me makes me so difficult?
.
What is good for me?
.
What is bad for me?
.
What must I do to change?
.
What is needed for me to become whole – psychologically and
spiritually?
After sufficient deliberation, the questioning should make way for
contemplation.

Contemplation
As the German philosopher Nietzsche once said, “One’s own self is well hidden
from one’s own self: Of all mines of treasure, one’s own is the last to be mined”.
At the contemplation stage, the mentor steps back, and lets the students see
themselves in a new light, as provided by the exercises and enneagram theory.
JMD The mentor’s job now is that of a sounding board should the employees need
22,4 someone to share their feelings and insights.
At the root of contemplation lies the acknowledgement of both positive and
negative aspects of one’s type. It is only at this stage that a person can ponder on
what needs to be done to leave the trap of identification behind and discover one’s
true essence. The answer can never be general; it will be unique to each seeker.
322 Furthermore, the answer can only emerge if there is a burning desire to end the
suffering of living life as a fixation (Jaxon-Bear, 2000). With cessation of the mind,
the silent consciousness emerges. This consciousness is “untouched by the waves
of fixation that arise from silence and return to silence” (Jaxon-Bear, 2000).
We realize that few in the workplace will achieve the ideal state described by
Jaxon-Bear (2000). But this should not prevent us from wanting to do so. We
should also point out that the time taken to reach the ideal stage, for the very
few who do, can never be predicted. From the mentor’s perspective, guiding the
employees up to the stage of contemplation is all that matters. The rest is up to
the employees, and will be a function of their intensity of desire to live a
fixation-free life.

Conclusion
This paper provides a time-tested and valuable option to businesses presently
grappling with various spiritual tools. Several companies already offer prayer
and meditation time to their employees. Executives at Hewlett-Packard, Cisco
Systems, and Advanced Micro Devices attend corporate seminars run by a
priest where they form circles, sing, dance, and learn meditation (McLaughlin,
1998). Phelps-Dodge, the Arizona-based copper company, has brought in
experts to teach yoga and meditation to its employees. While these and other
practices are certainly laudable, we believe that they are sometimes too general
and do not adequately cater to individual differences. Also, many such popular
practices do not go far enough to ensure true transformation.
This paper introduced the enneagram as a tool for spiritual development of
individuals within the workplace and also provides basic guidelines to harness
the enneagram’s potential towards the objective of liberating individuals from
their fixations. To some, the guidelines we provide may sound far too idealistic
and even impractical. Others may view them as unnecessarily time-consuming
or detracting in terms of an organization’s basic mission. This is certainly not
the case. To quote Holbrook (1999, p. 73):
If we merely aim toward the bottom line . . . we aim too low. Ultimately – as businesses will
some day learn when they pay as much attention to stakeholders concerned with ecology, or
social welfare, or morality as they do to those devoted to profits or a financial return on their
investment or net present value – we must aim higher than that. Figuratively and gloriously,
we must aim toward Heaven.
The enneagram is an intervention device of significant consequence in the
diagnostic stages of a person’s spiritual voyage. Furthermore, the enneagram
concepts can be employed in practical applications such as team building and Enneagram and
salesforce management, or they can be used, as we have shown, for self- workplace
discovery and spiritual evolution. We believe that using the enneagram within spirituality
an organization for pecuniary gains does not preclude it from being used for
spiritual development; rather the two application areas represent the lower and
upper rungs of the same ladder.
Pervasiveness of the spirituality phenomenon prompted the Journal of
323
Management Inquiry to devote a special section in its June 2000 issue to the
topic. The same recognition is reflected in the Academy of Management’s
special interest group: “Management, spirituality and religion”. At a time when
academics and practitioners are both seeking ways to pursue and explore
spirituality, the enneagram offers a rich repository of astute insights and
innately rewarding research possibilities.

Note
1. The arrows indicated in Figure 1 represent the direction of disintegration. Disintegration
occurs when the individual gets increasingly caught up in the fixation process and imbibes
negative qualities of the type indicated by the arrow. The direction of integration is the
opposite of the direction of disintegration. Conversely, here the individual internalizes
positive qualities of the number in its direction of integration.

References
Argyris, C. and Schon, D. (1974), Theory in Practice: Increasing Professional Effectiveness, Jossey
Bass, San Francisco, CA.
Ashmos, D. and Duchon, D. (2000), “Spirituality at work: a conceptualization and measure”,
Journal of Management Inquiry, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 134-45.
Bartunek, J.M. and Moch, M.K. (1994), “Third-order change and the Western mystical tradition”,
Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 24-41.
Boldt, L.G. (1991), Zen and the Art of Making a Living, Arkana/Penguin, New York, NY.
Boston Globe (2001), “Workplace spirituality moves up on agenda: some workers seek more than
just a job”, Boston Globe, 16 December, p. G-1.
Brandt, E. (1996), “Corporate pioneers explore spirituality”, HR Magazine, Vol. 41 No. 4, pp. 82-7.
Bullis, C. and Glaser, H. (1992), “Bureaucratic discourse and the goddess: towards a ecofeminist
critique and rearticulation”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 5 No. 2,
pp. 50-60.
Chappell, T. (1993), The Soul of a Business: Managing for Profit and the Common Good, Bantam,
New York, NY.
Clark, W.H. (1958), The Psychology of Religion, Macmillan, New York, NY.
Cowan, J. (1993), The Common Table: Reflections and Meditations on Community and Spirituality
in the Workplace, Harper Business, New York, NY.
Dawkins, R. (1998), Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion, and the Appetite for Wonder,
Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA.
Eckersley, R. (2000), “Spirituality, progress, meaning, and values”, paper presented at the
3rd Annual Conference on Spirituality, Leadership, and Management, Ballarat, 4 December.
JMD Fox, M. (1994), The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood for our Time, Harper
Collins, San Francisco, CA.
22,4 Giacalone, R. and Eylon, D. (2000), “The development of new paradigm values, thinkers and
business: initial frameworks for a changing worldview”, The American Behavioral
Scientist, Vol. 43 No. 8, pp. 1217-30.
Hawley, J. (1993), Reawakening the Spirit at Work: The Power of Dharmic Management, Berrett-
324 Koehler, San Francisco, CA.
Holbrook, M.B. (1999), “Higher than the bottom line: reflections on some recent macromarketing
literature”, Journal of Macromarketing, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 48-74.
Ibrahim, N.A., Rue, L.W., McDougall, P.P. and Greene, G.R. (1991), “Characteristics and practices
of ‘Christian-based’ companies”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 123-32.
Ichazo, O. (1982), Interviews with Oscar Ichazo, Arica Institute Press, New York, NY.
Jaxon-Bear, E. (1994), “The enneagram of character fixation”, keynote speech at the Enneagram
Conference, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, August.
Jaxon-Bear, E. (2000), “The enneagram: a vehicle for self-discovery”, available at:
www.leela.org/Text/Enneagram
Kale, S. and Shrivastava, S. (2001), “Guidelines for introducing the enneagram in the workplace”,
in Proceedings of the 4th Annual Conference on Spirituality, Leadership, and Management,
pp. 237-57.
Low, A. (1976), Zen and Creative Management, Charles E. Tuttle, Tokyo.
McCormick, D.W. (1994), “Spirituality and management”, Journal of Managerial Psychology,
Vol. 9, pp. 5-8.
McDonald, T. (1997), “Getting in the spirit”, Successful Meetings, Vol. 46 No. 7, p. 22.
McLaughlin, C. (1998), “Spirituality in the workplace”, available at: www.visionary.org
Maskowitz, M. (1997), “That’s the spirit”, Mother Jones, Vol. 22, No. 4, available at:
www.mojonescom/mother_jones/JA97/maskowitz.html
Mirvis, P.H. (1997), “‘Soul work’ in organizations”, Organization Science, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 193-206.
Mitroff, I.I. and Denton, E.A. (1999a), “A study of spirituality in the workplace”, Sloan
Management Review, Vol. 40 No. 4, pp. 83-92.
Mitroff, I.I. and Denton, E.A. (1999b), A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America: A Hard Look at
Spirituality, Religion, and Values in the Workplace, Jossey-Boss, San Francisco, CA.
Naranjo, C. (1990), Ennea-type Structures: Self-analysis for the Seeker, Gateways, Nevada City,
NV.
Neck, C.P. and Millman, J.F. (1994), “Thought self-leadership: finding spiritual fulfillment in
organization life”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 9 No. 6, pp. 9-16.
O’Murchu, D. (1998), Reclaiming Spirituality: A New Spiritual Framework for Today’s World,
Crossroad Publishing, New York, NY.
Palmer, H. (1995), The Enneagram in Love and Work, Harper Collins, New York, NY.
Palmer, H. (2001), interview, ABC Radio National, 2 September, available at:
www.abc.net.au/rn/relig/enc/stories/5357655.htm
Ray, P.H. (1996), “The rise of integral culture”, Noetic Sciences Review, Vol. 37 Spring, pp. 4-15.
Ray, P.H. and Anderson, S.R. (2001), The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing
the World, Three Rivers Press, New York, NY.
Riso, D.R. (1990), Understanding the Enneagram, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA.
Riso, D.R. and Hudson, R. (1996), Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-discovery,
Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA.
Riso, D.R. and Hudson, R. (1999), The Wisdom of the Enneagram, Bantam Books, New York, NY. Enneagram and
Riso, D.R. and Hudson, R. (2000), Understanding the Enneagram, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA. workplace
Roddick, A. (2001), Business as Unusual, Harper Collins, London. spirituality
Roof, W.C. (1993), A Generation of Seekers: The Spiritual Journeys of the Baby Boom Generation,
Harper Collins, San Francisco, CA.
Roof, W.C., Patrick, A., Grimes, R. and Leonard, W. (1999), “American Spirituality”, Religion and
American Culture, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 131-57. 325
Sass, J.S. (2000), “Characterizing organizational spirituality: an organizational communication
culture approach”, Communication Studies, Vol. 51 No. 3, pp. 195-217.
Tauber, R.E. (1990), I Shall Not Want: The Torah Outlook on Working for a Living, Shalheves,
Monsey.
Walsh, R. (2001), “The seven practices of essential spirituality”, Plenary talk at IONS Conference,
Spirit Rising: Taking the Next Step, Petaluma, 11-16, July.
Zukav, G. (1989), The Seat of the Soul, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.

Appendix. Description of the nine personality types

Type One – the perfectionist
Type One in the enneagram can be characterized as the rational idealistic individual. Ones live
life in a principled, purposeful, and self-controlled manner. The basic desire of the One type is to
do good to the world and live a balanced life. Ones possess a strong sense of right and wrong,
and solidly adhere to religious and moral values. These values often cause them to be dissatisfied
with reality. Such expression of dissatisfaction by Ones, leads others to perceive them as being
high-minded idealists or as being highly opinionated. Ones are very concerned about how others
perceive them. Overly sensitive to criticism from others, they manifest strong apprehensions of
being judged negatively. They are also quick to form opinions about other people. In judging
others, Ones look for evidence of ethical character as reflected in discipline, manners, appearance,
and showing respect. Preferring doing to feeling, Ones focus more on work than on relationships.
They dread being compromised by the mistakes of others. Extremely risk averse, Ones do not
believe in taking chances, as risks and chances lead to mistakes and doing the “wrong” thing.

Type Two – the helper

Type Two symbolizes the caring interpersonal type whose basic desire is to feel loved. Twos
exude a compassionate and empathetic persona that manifests in warmth, thoughtfulness, and
sensitivity toward others. Forever wanting to be close to others, they sometimes tend to become
“people pleasers”, engaging in seductive attention and flattery. Highly responsive to approval
and encouragement, Twos expend considerable effort seeking positive strokes from those
around them. They like to feel needed and even indispensable. This craving for people-approval
results in a lack of personal freedom. By overly focusing on others, Twos often tend to neglect
their own needs. Twos virtually tend to wear their emotions on their sleeves. Their exaggerated
emotional displays can sometimes mask their true feelings. “Over giving” on the part of Twos
often brings out their escapist tendencies and can lead to physical and emotional exhaustion.
Twos get very angry when their real needs are at odds with their habitual pleasing behaviors.
The people-centered approach makes them adept at relating to people and making friends.
Generous, caring, and warm, they intuitively know what others need and what will make the
lives of others better. Although outwardly unselfish, Twos do expect reciprocation for their good
deeds. They feel devastated, hurt, and angry if their good actions are not acknowledged by way
of cards, gifts, or other signs of appreciation.
JMD Type Three – the achiever
Threes can be described as self-confident, adaptable, energetic, and outgoing. Possessing high
22,4 self-esteem, they take a great deal of pride in themselves and their abilities. Striving for
excellence is the singular hallmark of Threes. This success-orientation drives them towards
becoming social climbers and careerists. Type Three comes closest to the “narcissistic
personality”, which usually goes hand in hand with exhibitionist and seductive behaviors.
Threes sometimes tend to employ opportunistic and exploitative means to preserve their
326 perception of self-superiority. Perennially in quest of the perfect public image, Threes crave
affirmation, always wanting to be the center of attention. The uncommonly strong desire for
achievement in Threes motivates them to acquire social sophistication and skill. Fiercely
competitive and highly efficient in their manner of living, Threes believe that “love comes from
what you produce, rather than from who you are”. Focused in their pursuit of success, Threes
shoot for well-defined goals and feel amply rewarded when their goals are achieved. This
reward-seeking impulse often blinds Threes to their intrinsic value sans their external
accomplishments. Whatever insecurity Threes may have is masked and compensated for by
their arrogance. Threes recover quickly from setbacks, thanks to their optimistic nature. They do
not like to be burdened by negative emotions or people and actively seek affiliations with
successful and powerful individuals. Threes effectively use their credentials, titles, and degrees
as means to impress their value and worth on the world. Addiction to success can make Threes
highly susceptible to workaholism and manic-depression.

Type Four – the romantic

The basic desire of the Four is to “find oneself” and reveal one’s “unique significance”. Fours take
on an artistic, romantic orientation to life, often creating beautiful and aesthetic environments
around them. They are capable of phenomenal inspiration as manifested in works of art,
literature, or music. Fours crave for a deep emotional connection in all their experiences. As such,
they are attracted to melancholy and intense situations including grief, death, and depression.
Survival for Fours is contingent on being true to their emotional terrain. They take pride in being
“special” or “different”. Fours invariably complain that something is missing, something that
would make their life whole. They secretly envy that others have that “something” which they do
not. Consequently, Fours develop an obsession for the element in their life that is absent: a lover,
a friend, or an unfulfilled dream. This preoccupation subjects them to experiences of dark moods,
emptiness, and despair. Fours crave intensity and stimulation in order to feel alive. This
sometimes leads them into dangerous situations: taking physical risks, breaking the law, or
taking chances with their money. Ordinary reality is treated with disdain and Type Four will go
to any lengths to intensify the experience of day-to-day living. Mundane experiences are often
transformed through artistic sublimation or through fantasy and drama.

Type Five – the observer

Fives are characterized by their singular ability to detach themselves from feelings, material
needs, and people. This ability arises in response to their basic fear of being overwhelmed by the
world. Fives structure life in a manner that makes them as independent as possible.
Disengagement with life translates into the Five’s preference for thinking over acting and for
observing over participating. Fives observe the reality around them with extraordinary
perceptiveness and insight. This power of observation, combined with the aloof persona, makes
Type 5 mentally alert, endowed with a searching intelligence. Fives are motivated to possess
knowledge and believe that only knowledge can shield them from the world’s intrusions. Such
cognitive orientation inevitably leads to the postponement of action and the delaying of
emotions. Rather than experiencing emotions, Fives want to understand emotions. They take a
special interest in analytic systems that explain human behavior. Preoccupation with thoughts
often results in Fives neglecting their physical health and appearance. They have little patience
for big parties, loud music, overdone emotions, or anything else that they may deem as intrusion
of privacy. Fives’ sense of integrity translates into actions that they believe are right and not Enneagram and
influenced by social pressure.
workplace
Type Six – the trooper spirituality
Type Six symbolizes the committed, security-oriented, loyal type. Sixes are deeply devoted to
individuals and movements in which they firmly believe. They are hardworking and persevering
in their quest for stability and security. Sixes keep looking for authority figures they can trust
but also believe that most authority figures abuse their power. They have therefore been termed 327
as “loyal skeptics”. Doubt and anxiety in most facets of their life results in “amnesia with respect
to success and pleasure”. It is imperative for Sixes to have a support system in place. They tend
to be the least independent of all types. As allies, Sixes are extremely loyal, expecting loyalty to
shield them against life’s doubts and anxieties. They exhibit great potential for emotional
bonding with others, and value group identification, sociability, industriousness, and
commitment to larger causes. The most security-conscious of all types, Sixes exhibit feelings
of being persecuted, abandoned, and trapped when that security seems to be lacking. They are
averse to assuming responsibility for their own actions and tend to blame others for their
problems and mistakes. In their interactions with others, Sixes tend to be direct and assertive.
Always anxious and hyper-vigilant, they tend to sense danger where none exists. Sixes critically
analyze the ramifications of their actions in order not to jeopardize their safety. They stand by
their in-group and are often skeptical of outsiders.

Type seven – the enthusiast

Type Seven is the “fun-loving” type: spontaneous, extroverted, and enthusiastic. Sevens tend to
be practical, productive and worldly-wise. They want to maintain their freedom and happiness,
to immerse themselves in worthwhile experiences, and to feel excited and occupied. Believing
firmly that life is an adventure that bestows unlimited possibilities, Sevens see the bright side of
any situation. They are idea people: endlessly conjuring up visions and potentialities. Sevens
value options over closure and this leads them into difficulties when committing to tasks and
people. They are often perceived as being hedonistic and gluttonous. These qualities stem from
their need to maintain high levels of excitement and from their “rationalized escapism to avoid
difficult or limiting tasks”. Sevens seek out people who will admire them and are thus most prone
to sycophancy. Their desire for change and variety often translates into hyperactivity,
superficiality, and impulsiveness. Instant gratification is the hallmark of Type Seven. They
absorb themselves in seeking and maintaining high levels of stimulation, engaging in
multifarious activities, and focusing singularly on the bright side of life. Stimulated by
intellectual sparring, by different experiences, and by the possibility of being on the cutting edge,
Sevens cannot bear the thought of their life being stable, secure, and routine.

Type Eight – the challenger

This type can best be described as “the powerful dominating type”. Eights tend to be self-
confident, decisive, willful and confrontational. They are driven by self-sufficiency, financial
independence, and autonomy. Eights like to exert their influence on those around them and feel a
sense of accomplishment when their attempts of influence are successful. Direct and
straightforward, Eights tend to be “what you see is what you get” kind of people. They are able
to take charge and make quick decisions. Believing that only the strong survive, Eights divide
the world into those who are worthy and those who are not. Eights do not care much about being
liked; to them it is respect that matters. They look for power in all situations and often tend to
inflate their presence in the company of others. Eights’ desire to dominate often results in them
being perceived as insensitive and punitive. They are given to aggression and open expression of
anger. Type Eight is most comfortable viewing the world dichotomously: fair or unfair, strong or
weak, good or bad. There is no possibility of a middle ground. Eights cannot tolerate ambiguity
or lack of information. They have little patience for even small oversights on the part of others.
JMD Eights enthusiastically enforce those rules that match their personal agenda and flagrantly bend
the ones that do not. Their main strengths are self-reliance and self-determination; their main
22,4 weaknesses are ruthlessness and combativeness.

Type Nine – the mediator

Nines tend to be easy-going, receptive, agreeable, and complacent. Patient and unpretentious,
they radiate equanimity and contentment. Nines have a deep fear of conflicts and tend to be self-
328 effacing and accommodating. They find it easier to go along with others’ preferences rather than
trying to find or assert their own. Often, it is difficult for them to figure out what it is that they
want. They are also fearful of their desires conflicting with the desires of those around them.
Wanting life to be harmonious and comfortable, Nines develop a deep acceptance of different
people and viewpoints. They feel energized by other people’s enthusiasm. Nines often display a
preference for procedures and set processes. They are perennially in quest of peace and harmony,
and this pursuit tends to make them over-accommodating. Forever pacifying others, Nines are
prone to neglecting themselves and their legitimate needs. They often engage in rituals such as
watching TV, sleeping extra long hours, or working on the computer to suppress their feelings of
anxiety and dissonance. While Nines have a difficulty in maintaining a personal point of view,
they readily resonate and support the position of others. Staying on the fringes is their preferred
mode of avoiding conflicts.
(Source: Kale and Shrivastava, 2001).