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The Personality Grid

Interpersonal Roles  - Disruptive Roles

 

The following Personality Gridsm shows how all nine types take on specific Interpersonal Roles. As the Grid indicates, the nine types can be divided into three groups of three: those whose "social function" is as a soloist, an initiator, or a cooperator. These three groups are further subdivided into three groups depending on those whose concern is primarily focused on developing the self, on looking to the future, or on influencing others. The words in parentheses describe the principal asset or talent each type attempts to bring to the workplace. The italicized title is a healthy role of the type.

The Interpersonal Roles Personality Grid sm

 

Social Function

Area of Concern

SOLOISTS

INITIATORS

COOPERATORS

DEVELOPING
THE SELF

The Designer
(Creating)

The Intuitive
Originator
 

The Achiever
(Communicating)

The Competent
Pragmatist
 

The Mentor
(Supporting)

The Thoughtful
Contributor
 

LOOKING TO
THE FUTURE

The Investigator
(Discovering)

The Perceptive
Expert
 

The Enthusiast
(Popularizing)

The Joyful
Visionary
 

The Troubleshooter
(Implementing)

The Dependable
Associate
 

INFLUENCING OTHERS

The Peacemaker
(Mediating)

The Comforting
Optimist
 

The Challenger
(Empowering)

The Self-
Confident Authority
 

The Reformer
(Improving)

The Conscientious
Teacher
 

  Copyright, 2001, The Enneagram Institute All Rights Reserved  

Each type also has less-than-optimal aspects to it, and these characteristics could also be added to the above Personality Gridsm to indicate more disruptive qualities.

In all of the following "Disruptive Roles," people become more defensive about their identity and more willing to get into conflicts with others to maintain their sense of self. It is when people get stuck in these roles that much of the egocentric posturing and "game playing" found in organizations takes place. People then find it increasingly difficult to put their own ego agendas aside for the common good or to cooperate with others in the organization.

 

 The Disruptive Roles Personality Grid sm

 

Social Function

Area of Concern

SOLOISTS

INITIATORS

COOPERATORS

DEVELOPING
THE SELF

The Designer
(Creating)
The
Temperamental
Withholder

The Achiever
(Communicating)

The Slippery
Operator

The Mentor
(Supporting)

The
Self-Important
Busybody

LOOKING TO
THE FUTURE

The Investigator
(Discovering)

The Detached
Technician

The Enthusiast
(Popularizing)

The Scattered
Chatterbox

The Troubleshooter
(Implementing)

The Ambivalent
Skeptic

INFLUENCING OTHERS

The Peacemaker
(Mediating)

The Passive
Wishful Thinker

The Challenger
(Empowering)

The Heavy-Handed
Taskmaster

The Reformer
(Improving)

The Rigid
Scorekeeper

 Copyright, 2001, The Enneagram Institute All Rights Reserved

Information about various aspects of the personality types could continue to be listed in a series of Personality Grids. However, the nine personality types are not static categories but are related to each other in revealing ways and can be arranged around a circle. We can also draw lines between the types to represent the connections between them—and the Enneagram symbol results.

The Enneagram not only delineates the nine basic personality types but the internal lines indicate potentials for further adaptive and defensive behaviors for each type. This dynamic quality is unique to the Enneagram and makes this system extremely helpful in interpersonal and business settings. Beyond its usefulness to managers, the Enneagram brings depth and clarity to executive development, leadership, team building, customer service and sales—as well as many other areas of personal and organizational life.

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