UNDERSTANDING THE RICHNESS OF THE 9 VARIOUS PERSONALITY TYPES

Hi; this is Dr. Ehrlich, psychologist and Life Coach. We’ve been operating here with a number of varied postings all having one thing in common; to try and offer understandings to the complexities of life and relationships. Over these weeks we have people coming in at different points of our postings. That is why I’m explaining that my goal is to bring teachings and understandings piece by piece in trying to help you with various knowledge that I hope will help clarify things along the way. Along with these teachings I’ve also started to share with you a personality profile tool I developed and use in my work with coaching people. This tool consists of my applying it to what may be the greatest source of existing library knowledge about humanity known as the “Enneagram” which allow us to now gain a very complete understanding of who an individual is. I have started sharing the Enneagram understandings of the 9 personality types that captivate all of humanity which will lead us to theoretically be able to understand any single human personality along the way. As I go through the personality types pay close attention to my defining them to see which one you are along with recognizing people you know in your life that are one of the others. They will at some point give you help in understand yourself, parents, children, spouse, lover, etc. As you see the attributes of each personality type you will also begin to recognize why you may have trouble with that particular personality and how you need to approach them in a way that will help reach them in ways they understand.

TYPE 8 KNOWN AS: POWERFUL, DOMINEERING, SELF-CONFIDENT, DECISIVE, WILLFUL AND CONFRONTATIONAL

The type 8 personalities view the world about them from a bi-polar perspective of weak verses strong and loser verses winner. Because of this perception of life they set about to do everything they can to move their life and career toward becoming what is known as the high end of leadership and the decision-maker where the control usually lies. They very much desire independence and to be in charge of decisions that affect their life and their areas of work. They usually trust themselves to get where they want to go more than trust others whom they often see as content being second best. These are people who view life with deep passion and meaning, especially those areas they care about. These are people who feel most alive when they see ways to impact their world about them. They want to be recognized for being a “Mover” and “a “Shaker”; someone important to a department or company that can make positive things happy. For this reason they are excited to take on “Big” goals; as a matter of fact the bigger the goal the more excited they are to take them on. These are people who are juiced and turned on by goals most people cower from. It is when they picture themselves in a win or lose situation with the odds against them that they experience themselves most alive. These are therefore the natural leaders who thrive on responsibilities and making the tough decisions. The type 8s is the most independent of the Enneagram personalities and can give others who do not understand them problems. They are seen as self-confident, decisive and are seldom wishy-washy in their decision-making. They are usually assertive if they have something to say and can be blunt although they are usually not trying to hurt anyone and only want to make sure they are getting their points across as accurately as possible. If they are not being understood for their communications they can get quite confrontational regarding their felt need to be more pressing in order to get their points across.

Type 8 personalities are the natural executives or entrepreneurial personality types. They see the world as black and white and therefore when they feel strong about something they will plow ahead even if everyone around them says it can’t be done. This also makes them very independent and therefore left with the need of having to learn to trust others over time. They often do this by watching the consistency of their behaviors before they will lean upon them for help.

Type 8 personalities are part of the intuitive triad of personality types which helps them in seeing the big picture of what they are dealing with; these are people of vision, mission and action. They tend to see things conceptually and globally, quickly putting the pieces of a plan together from beginning to end. They are very competitive and feed off of this competition and will tend to respect their competitors especially if they put up a big challenge and fight. These are people who reserve their respect for those who earn it!

ATTRIBUTES OF THE TYPE 8:

POWERFUL:

Considering that type 8s see the world about them as black and white or weak verses strong; they prefer to be on the side of the strong. They can therefore be seen as the Lions of the Enneagram personality types. Everything about the lion, its size, power and absolute potential to get what it wants makes them “King of the Jungle.” One look at the lion instills the feeling of being overmatched pertaining to any thought of coming out on top in a tussle. Whether the type 8s are aware of it or not their whole demeanor is meant to intimate in terms of making any potential opponent think twice before taking them on. Many people do not realize the type 8 personalities will stick their chest out and bark so-to-speak even if they are feeling frightened. It could even be argued that the more frightened the more bark will be coming from them in an attempt to dissuade competitors from thinking about taking on their position. Such is the life of the Lion!

Expect to see aspects of these characteristics with any executive displaying the type 8 personality; they will exert their leadership and decision making prowess to let all know who is actually in charge.

DOMINATING:

Likening the type 8 personality to the Lion, we know that a cat sizes up their enemy quickly including quickly gaining strategies for attack. If they do not know if their potential competitor is a friend or foe they will quickly assess the situation and will thereby fill the so called vacuum quickly, even if just to keep their potential enemy off guard. In this sense if the type 8 is meeting new business colleagues or is in a company meeting they will usually be assessing all of the variables addressed and once it is opened up to feedback the type 8 will often be quick to interact in a bold manner. If they find themselves in a meeting where difficult problems are being discussed and they assess a weakness or lack of leadership going on they will often be among the first to jump into this vacuum to fill it. They might begin to present the sort of leadership they would like see from those who should be leading. When we look at the motives being displayed behind the type 8’s behaviors they are usually meant to ward off weakness and defeat which is their greatest fear for their team or company. In the same manner type 8s are slow to give their respect to another leader or colleague, wanting first to see how they handle themselves in a wide range of problem situations. They want to see if this person is a truly qualified leader and once this is proved the type 8 will relax knowing and trusting that the right person is indeed in charge. It is only in these situations that the type 8 will feel they can relax. Someone must earn the trust they will be throwing their way and this can only be proved over time. Therefore, it is also likely that the type 8 will also challenge another leader to test their acumen and skill levels; always assessing them from every angle. Once they put their stamp of approval and trust upon an individual they will tend to be extremely loyal and will back them until proven otherwise.

SELF-CONFIDENT:

As previously mentioned the face of the type 8 personalities is always portraying confidence and boldness even when feeling otherwise as a means of protection and to make others think twice about taking them on directly. This helps the 8 personality to allay their own nervousness and fears. They become the image they portray. Type 8 personalities like any others struggle with issues of self-confidence and adequacy, but they fill or even play a role in order to strengthen their position if only by appearance. This also gives them time to assess the strengths of any competitors and to flush them out in the process of their interactions. Ironically, type 8s are the most confident the tougher the job or higher the goal. This causes them to move into their fight or flight response and the adrenalin rush they get from taking on assignments that no one believes can be done which motivates them to their highest functioning level.

DECISIVE:

Any sign of double-mindedness is unacceptable to type 8 personalities who would rather not do something at all than do it halfway. These are all or nothing people who once making a decision will do everything in their power to bring about the results they promised. To many type 8 personalities their word is their bond and therefore they will not accept defeat without giving the effort everything they have. They will often consider their own stretching and growth in taking on a major project that will test them in many new ways. They may end up testing themselves to the maximum, but they will always be assessing within reason when it comes to taking on something they believe can be done even if they’re never done such a project before. They are always internally assessing if they believe their skills and talents are indeed transferable to these new areas before committing to stretching themselves in this way. It is important to note that the type 8s will have a very difficult time working under a leader who comes across weak, double-minded or fearful. In these situations they will either challenge the leader or ask to leave the group.

WILLFUL AND CONFRONTATIONAL:

Type 8 personalities most respect others who appear to be upfront and honest in their actions whether they agree or not. They are therefore very weary of those they feel are either hiding something or appear to be manipulative in their actions. If the type 8 determines that they are either being undermined or manipulated in any way for an ulterior motive they will often be quick to call this out in a person. They disrespect dishonesty in any way, shape or form. The type 8s purpose of confrontation or high level of assertion is to get what they believe to be important information to the forefront and to prevent someone from either becoming under-handing or sabotaging toward a project. Honesty is a big issue for the type 8 personalities and the lack of it immediately raises a red flag with them. They move very strong intuitively when interacting with others and will often pick up nuances of communication signals that others may often miss. When a type 8 listens to a communication they pick up the words of the message and most importantly the intention of the person delivering it.

Type 8s is also willful in taking the position of desiring to be as independent as they can. They prefer to be the one making the decisions than on the receiving end, especially when perceiving that these decisions can greatly impact them in their career or success. Leadership is a natural position for a type 8 personality and even if someone is of another personality type we usually measure their degree of leadership by how much influence or elevation of the 8 scale is operating within their profile scores.