Enneagram
The Enneagram maps nine personality types around a circle, each with a core motivation and a characteristic way of coping under stress - a language for why people do what they do, not just how they behave.
Nine types sit around the circle, linked by the lines that show where each moves under stress.
Reach for this when…
- A coachee keeps hitting the same wall and cannot see the pattern driving it.
- A team's friction looks like personality clash and you want a deeper read.
- Someone wants to understand their stress reactions, not just their strengths.
How to run it
- Have the person explore the types by core motivation, not surface traits - fear and desire, not hobbies.
- Let them find their own type rather than being told it; recognition matters more than a test score.
- Explore their stress and growth directions - where they move under pressure and in health.
- Use it as a language for ongoing conversation, not a label to file them under.
A worked example
Situation. Julien Moreau, a founder in Lyon, France, was burning out and could not bring himself to delegate.
Applied. Working with the Achiever pattern, type 3, surfaced the real driver beneath the overwork: his worth measured by output.
Result. The conversation moved from time management to the belief underneath it, which is where the change actually started.
The catch
The Enneagram is a mirror, not a diagnosis, and it is easy to misuse - typing others, excusing behaviour ('I'm just an Eight'), or claiming a precision it does not have. Its evidence base is thin. Hold it lightly, as a way in, not a verdict.
The moment a type becomes an excuse, it has stopped being useful.