Over the years, I’ve worked with many different kinds of teams – leadership teams, C-suites, and Board-level groups. Each had its own strengths, challenges, and dynamics. But recently, during my Level 2 Advanced Enneagram and Team Dynamics training, I had the chance to experience the Enneagram inside a newly formed team setting, alongside a group of people who began as strangers (apart from one) but quickly became something more.
For four days, we didn’t just study the Enneagram as theory; we lived it. We formed a team, worked together, explored our dynamics, and engaged in powerful experiential exercises, including constellation mat work (using the Enneagram carpet), that brought the Enneagram to life. The process gave me not only fresh insight into my own Enneagram type and blind spots, but also a deeper appreciation for just how powerful the Enneagram can be in helping teams grow together.
The Enneagram as a Mirror
One of the first things that struck me during the course was how quickly the Enneagram helps us get beneath the surface. Unlike many team-building frameworks that stay on the level of behaviours or skills, the Enneagram goes deeper. It holds up a mirror to our core motivations, fears, and desires, revealing not only how we show up at our best but also the patterns that trip us up when we’re stressed or caught in autopilot.
For me, as an Enneagram Type SX7, this meant recognising the gifts of my enthusiasm, creativity, and future-orientation, while also seeing more clearly some of my blind spots—the tendency to avoid discomfort, to reframe away from pain, and to move too quickly onto the next thing without fully engaging with the present.
Sitting with this in a team context was powerful. It wasn’t just a private reflection; it was something that impacted how I interacted with others in real time.
Discovering Each Other’s Worldviews
Perhaps the most profound aspect of the course was learning to see the world through the lens of the other types. Each Enneagram type has a distinct way of perceiving and responding to the world. Experiencing this diversity of perspectives within our team was eye-opening.
I came away with a much deeper appreciation of how:
- Some types ground the team with focus on detail, process, and consistency.
- Others bring empathy and relational sensitivity, ensuring people are cared for.
- Some push for vision, results, and achievement, driving momentum forward.
- Others keep the team anchored in values, integrity, and big-picture purpose.
When you’re working in a team, it can be easy to dismiss what’s different from your own approach as “wrong” or “unhelpful.” But through the Enneagram, I saw how these differences are, in fact, complementary strengths. What one type may overlook, another type instinctively holds. What feels uncomfortable to one may feel energising to another.
This awareness helped us not only understand each other better but also value each other more fully.
The Enneagram Team Report: A Shared Lens
A key part of our journey was working with the Enneagram Team Report, which mapped out our team’s distribution of types, strengths, and growth edges. The insights from this report helped us to grow our interpersonal and team awareness.
Having this shared lens brought us closer together. We could talk openly about how our Types showed up in team discussions, in decision-making, or in moments of tension. Instead of personalising differences, we could see them as part of the natural interplay of Types. This created a level of psychological safety that deepened our connection and enabled more honest, constructive dialogue.
The Bond of Shared Growth
What surprised me most was the depth of connection that formed within our team. Despite only being together for four days, the level of honesty, vulnerability, and insight that the Enneagram enabled created a powerful bond.
We weren’t just learning about a model; we were experiencing what it means to be part of a team that’s truly becoming aware of itself – its individual members and its collective dynamic. The shared journey of exploring our Types, strengths, and blind spots knitted us together in ways that made saying goodbye at the end surprisingly difficult.
It reminded me that teams are not just collections of people working towards a goal – they are living systems shaped by the interplay of different personalities, motivations, and energies. When we understand and honour these dynamics, the team becomes more than the sum of its parts.
Lessons for Leadership and Teams
Coming away from this experience, I feel I’ve grown not only in my self-awareness as an Enneagram Type SX7 but also in my capacity to work more effectively with others. I’ve seen firsthand how the Enneagram can:
- Illuminate blind spots that might otherwise derail collaboration.
- Build empathy and compassion, helping team members see each other as more than just their behaviours.
- Strengthen communication, by adapting to different styles and needs.
- Enhance trust and cohesion, through shared vulnerability and understanding.
- Guide collective growth, by highlighting a team’s strengths and its developmental edges.
These lessons resonate with my experience of leadership, C-suite, and board-level teams. In those environments, the stakes are often high, and dynamics can easily become stuck. The Enneagram offers a way to cut through surface-level issues and get to the heart of what drives individuals and teams.
Final Reflection and Invitation
Looking back, what stays with me most is not just the insights, but the experience of being part of a team that applied the Enneagram together. The honesty, the bonding, the breakthroughs, and even the reluctance to part ways at the end are a testament to the power of this tool when used in a team setting.
The Enneagram doesn’t just help us understand ourselves; it helps us understand each other. And when we bring that awareness into a team, the impact is transformative.
It’s about unlocking effectiveness, strengthening trust, and enabling teams to collaborate at a deeper level. My own experience showed me just how quickly the Enneagram can create insight, empathy, and cohesion – even among a group of people who had only just met.
Imagine what it can do for teams who are working together every day, tasked with delivering on ambitious goals.
If your Team is ready to deepen trust, improve communication, and work together more effectively, book a consultation call with me to find out more about my Enneagram Team Exploration Workshops. You can read more about my Enneagram coaching services here.