Page 36 - Using the Enneagram System to Identify and Grow Your Leadership Strengths and Achieve Maximum Success

What Type Are You? 15

narios, while other Sixes are counterphobic, engaging in high-risk
activities to prove both to themselves and to others that they are
not fearful. Most Sixes, however, fall somewhere between these
two extremes and may display phobic and counterphobic behav-
ior under different circumstances.

PROCRASTINATION The Six’s tendency to worry about what
could happen often results in procrastination. It is not that Sixes
forget to do something; they simply become uncertain about
which alternative is the best course of action. When their anxiety
intersects with self-doubt, Sixes can become immobilized by
“analysis paralysis.”

LOYALTY Sixes value loyalty to the team and the organization,
believing that those in authority will recognize and reward them
for their dedication and that their peers will support them if some-
thing goes awry. The Sixes’ focus on loyalty to the group does not
mean that all Sixes want to be an integral part of a group, however.
Some prefer to stay on the periphery, with the freedom to move in
and out of the group setting as they please.

FOCUS ON AUTHORITY Sixes tend to focus on those in authority,
believing that authority figures have the ability either to keep them
safe or to hurt them. They hope for the former and, at the same
time, are wary of having the latter occur at any moment. The more
phobic Sixes tend to be compliant toward authority figures,
whereas the more counterphobic Sixes tend to challenge author-
ity. Most Sixes exhibit both reactions.

Sixes: Leadership Paradigm and Related
Characteristics

PARADIGM: A leader’s job is to solve organizational problems by
developing a creative problem-solving environment in which each
person feels that he or she is part of the solution.