Page 79 - Using the Enneagram System to Identify and Grow Your Leadership Strengths and Achieve Maximum Success

58 What Type of Leader Are You?

Enneagram Style Eights

While some people say that Enneagram Style
Eights are natural-born leaders, it is more accurate
to say that Eights like to make important things
happen, want everything to be under control, and
will take charge when things are in disarray (they
have a unique sensitivity to this and can sense it at
the earliest stages). They also have less ambivalence than most
other people about being direct and directive. They like results to
be as big and to have as much impact as possible, and their author-
itative leadership style often inspires confidence in and support
from those they lead.
Eights also have an eye for vision and a nose for strategy, mak-
ing them easy for people to follow without the Eight’s having to
micromanage; Eight leaders give competent employees a great deal
of autonomy with which to excel.
The following story demonstrates how Eights rise to leadership
in even the most difficult situations:

Marianne had started her consulting firm all on her own,
providing technical consulting services to a variety of clients,
but particularly to those whose values she supported—for
example, organizations that provided goods and services
that improved people’s lives or protected the environment.
Because Marianne was excellent at what she did, her firm
grew by 30 percent annually, and she expanded her staff
from 3 to 45 over a four-year period. However, a major
project ended unexpectedly because of funding issues. This
project had accounted for half of the firm’s revenue, and
Marianne was left with an overhead that she could not afford
and a staff that was counting on her. Rather than laying off
even one person, she rose to the occasion, focusing
everyone on results, marketing, and quality service to
existing clients. With sheer drive and will, Marianne brought