How can the Enneagram assessment tool help clients identify their core values?

In my experience, some core values may change, but the most important ones to you will stay the same. For me, honesty and authenticity are the keys to any endeavor, whether business or personal. The Enneagram can be an excellent starting point in magnifying your core values by giving you your most likely personality type. It also helps you sharpen and grow with them, which is why using the Enneagram as an assessment tool is a great way to boost your team, new hires, and work culture.

Integrity is one of the best qualities a human being can have. To live with integrity, we need to be aware of our core values and live by them – in other words, stay true to ourselves. That's why I believe that knowing your core values and building self-awareness on top of them is the first step to improving your quality of life.

Personality tests clearly aren't the be-all and end-all of "solving" your life. They can, however, give a starting point for a journey to come. Plus, understanding others is so much easier when you're comfortable and at home with yourself – which is also supported by working with your personality type, with a coach, and a system that works for you. The main thing for me is: it has to be practical!

As a professional coach, I don't recommend using personality tests during my sessions. However, if a client feels stuck in relationships, career, thinking patterns, or behaviors, and, most importantly, asks for additional resources for self-discovery, I recommend the Enneagram. I suggest the Enneagram over other tools because it helps understand the motivation behind actions. It's a great starting point to clarify values and gain a better understanding of why one acts in a certain way.

I suggest, before getting started with the Enneagram, to really think about what your goal is. It's not a problem-solving tool, it's a growth compass. When you're aware of the limitations every personality system has, it can take its rightful place as a piece of equipment in your toolbox. Personally, I only ever felt the Enneagram was valuable for me on a personal and practical level, when I started working with Personality Path's Enneagram resources and assessment. The key is to find resources that are practical and don't just box you in, but rather put you on a "spectrum", while also showing you how to grow and work with your personality. Which is what they do quite spectacularly.