Twice I have taken the Enneagram Personality Inventory. Both times the result is the same – Type 8. I can finally understand what makes me tick in a psychological way. Why traits that plague me don’t bother others and vice versa.

Leah and I have used the results of our Enneagram over the last year to recognize our blind spots, to strengthen us as individuals and as a couple. Once “typed” the Enneagram can be a vital link between the psyche and the spirit of people. The nine different types ���are further distinguished by unconscious motivations and preoccupations that produce patterns of perception, feeling, and behavior which can be gifts or obstacles.���

Some corporations use Enneagram results as required team building. When the knowledge gleaned is carefully used in conjunction with an Enneagram Coach it can be a tremendous asset. The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson has provided decades of guidance in this area of psychology.

Enneagram Type Eight is known as THE CHALLENGER

Basic Fear: Of being harmed, controlled by others or of being vulnerable in any way;

Basic Desire: Maintaining self-reliance and seeking justice;

Strengths: Good sense of right and wrong; firm, action-oriented, good leader, intense, responsible, takes charge, decisive, fair, and protective of others;

Challenges: Intimidating, controlling, confrontational, aggressive, impulsive, quick to anger, and lustful;

General Behaviors: Think of Superheroes and you���d have a pretty good idea of how this personality type functions. Defender of the weak. Fighter of injustice. Queen of the Amazons. Alpha of the pack. Knight in shining armor. They do not tolerate mind games. Eights do not need to be liked but do have a strong need to be respected.

Personality type Eight is named The Challenger because, of all the types, Eights enjoy taking on challenges themselves as well as giving others opportunities that challenge them to exceed themselves in some way. Eights are charismatic and have the physical and psychological capacities to persuade others to follow them into all kinds of endeavors���from starting a company to rebuilding a city, to running a household, to waging war, to making peace.

Eights are self-confident, strong, and assertive. Protective, resourceful, straight-talking, and decisive, but can also be ego-centric and domineering. Eights feel they must control their environment, especially people, sometimes becoming confrontational and intimidating. Eights typically have problems with their tempers and with allowing themselves to be vulnerable. At their Best: self- mastering, they use their strength to improve others’ lives, becoming heroic, magnanimous, and inspiring.

Eights generally have powerful instincts and strong physical appetites which they indulge without feelings of shame or guilt. They want a lot out of life and feel fully prepared to go out and get it. They need to be financially independent and often have a hard time working for anyone. This sometimes necessitates that the Eight opt out of the system entirely, assuming something of an outlaw mentality. Most Eights however, find a way to be financially independent while making their peace with society, but they always retain an uneasy association with any hierarchical relationship that sees the Eight in any position other than the top position.

Eights have a hard time lowering their defenses in intimate relationships. Intimacy involves emotional vulnerability and such vulnerability is one of the Eight’s deepest fears. Betrayal of any sort is absolutely intolerable and can provoke a powerful response on the part of the violated Eight. Intimate relationships are frequently the arena in which an Eight’s control issues are most obviously played out and questions of trust assume a pivotal position. Eights often have a sentimental side that they don’t even show to their intimates, such is their fear of vulnerability. But, while trust does not come easily to an Eight, when an Eight does take someone into the inner sanctum, they find a steadfast ally and stalwart friend. The Eight’s powerful protective instincts are called into play when it comes to the defense of family and friends, and Eights are frequently generous to a fault in providing for those under their care.

Eights are the true ���rugged individualists��� of the Enneagram. More than any other type, they stand alone. They want to be independent and resist being indebted to anyone. They often refuse to ���give in��� to social convention, and they can defy fear, shame, and concern about the consequences of their actions. Although they are usually aware of what people think of them, they do not let the opinions of others sway them. They go about their business with a steely determination that can be awe inspiring, even intimidating to others.

Eights are willing to ���take the heat,��� knowing that any decision cannot please everyone. But as much as possible, they want to look after the interests of the people in their charge without playing favorites. They use their talents and fortitude to construct a better world for everyone in their lives.

In the workplace, Eights can be found in leadership roles. They instinctively take charge of situations and control their environment. Their preference is to make an impact rather than take on a passive role. The result is that they get things done. They deny their weakness and maintain their self-image of being a strong person who���s in command of their life.

Examples of other Eights: Golda Meir, Denzel Washington, G.I. Gurdjieff, Richard Wagner, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Oskar Schindler, Fidel Castro, Martin Luther King, Jr., Lyndon Johnson, Mikhail Gorbachev, Indira Gandhi, Saddam Hussein, Senator John McCain, Donald Trump, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Norman Mailer, Toni Morrison, Serena Williams, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Keith Richards, Queen Latifah, Courtney Love, Jack Black, Chrissie Hynde, Pink, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bette Davis, Mae West, Sean Connery, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, Russell Crowe, Sean Penn, Harvey Keitel, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin, Roseanne Barr, Barbara Walters, Rosie O���Donnell, ���Dr. Phil��� McGraw, ���Tony Soprano”

I encourage you to delve deeper into what makes you and those around you tick. If nothing else, it has fascinating results. At best, it can make you aware of your strengths and areas for growth as it has for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed my Enneagram journey.

* Note: many have asked where to “type” their own personality. Please be sure to use an official RHETI Enneagram app (yes, they exist) with the full 144 questions. RHETI are the initials of the psychologists who developed the original test or you may go to the Enneagram Institute’s website. There are other psychologist that have developed their own version.

*Quotes taken from The Wisdom of the Enneagram��� and Enneagram Explorations

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