Unlocking Your Potential: A Skeptic's Journey with the iEQ9 Enneagram for Professionals
Let me be clear – I am not a fan of personality assessments. That may be strange to hear from an HR consultant and coach. However, I have valid reasons. In my three decade career, I’ve seen people:
· Take assessment results as actual fact. These people have treated the results like a ruling from a higher power, judgement from the universe, and even conclusive excuses for poor behavior.
· Hide behind assessment results. Rather than using the assessment as a self-awareness tool, these people use the results as an unalterable image that cannot be changed for the better.
· Just flat out deny assessment results, even if peers participated in the assessment! Some people do not take feedback well, especially when it calls them out to an uncomfortable degree.
For this reason, I have practiced on-the-job and situational coaching as a consultant and left the assessments to others. But my cynical viewpoint was challenged this year when I took the iEQ9 Enneagram for Professionals assessment offered by Integrative Enneagram Solutions
Before I go down this path, I want to clarify that I do not have a religious view of the Enneagram. The Enneagram certainly has a religious history and influences, but I lean into the Enneagram for business purposes. The Enneagram is a self-awareness tool that increases one’s personal effectiveness and relationship skills. Integrative Enneagram Solutions offers this insight:
“The Enneagram makes the connection between who we are and why we do what we do, creating a clear, tangible link between growing our self-awareness and increasing our ability to achieve our goals. By introducing us to the deeper layers of our self, the Enneagram illuminates our greatest gift as well as how we might be getting in our way.”
The Enneagram identifies 9 types of ways that people show up in the world. You can view the list here. Several tests are available online to help you with identifying your type, and you can even work with a narrative Enneagram practitioner for an interview instead. The iEQ9 Enneagram for Professionals is a paid test with 170 questions that change based on your personal responses.
I had taken a free Enneagram test several years ago, so I felt fairly confident in my type. As the Integrative Enneagram states, “Viewing Type as a main point of resonance rather than a fixated or static identity can be useful to open up the possibility of change.” Taking the iEQ9 test for Professionals confirmed my previous results and offered major new insights for me. What I like about this test is its unique offerings like:
· Instincts: While the Enneagram holds 9 types, each type has an instinct creating 27 subtypes. This provides a deeper and richer understanding of self. The instincts are self-preservation, one-on-one, and social.
· Centers: The Enneagram offers three centers – head, heart, and body/gut. The centers represent preferred ways that we interact with the world. The stacking of these centers proposes how we show up, process external events, make decisions, and how we are perceived by others.
· Lines: The Enneagram is a nine-pointed geometric symbol with lines connecting between types. These lines suggest growth opportunities between types. Movement in these lines can diminish strain and elicit significant change.
· Social Styles: How we get what we want and need in everyday life varies by person. The Integrative Enneagram probes three social styles: assertive (move against), compliant (toward), and withdrawn (away from). These social styles help us get our needs met in relationships.
· Conflict Styles: Similar to our social styles, how we resolve conflict, failure, and loss varies by person. The Integrative Enneagram examines three conflict styles: competency, reactive, and positive outlook. These conflict styles help us achieve our goals.
The iEQ9 is the world’s most accurate Enneagram personality assessment. The questionnaire takes about 30 minutes to complete. The iEQ9 report provides an in-depth look into your Core Type and unique personality traits. Clients have reported breakthrough results as individuals, in teams, and within relationships. The iEQ9 Enneagram report offers categories of exploration within each type. These include:
Guiding Ideas: what defines and drives this Enneagram Type?
· Idealized Self-Image
· Worldview
· Motivation
· Focus of Attention
Fixation and Vice: The Type’s ‘sore points’ and distortions that keep them stuck
· Fixation
· Vulnerability
· Vice
Defenses and Triggers: The defensive system that keeps the Type ‘trapped’ in its fixation
· Blind Spots
· Defense Mechanisms
· Trigger
Integration Journey: The path of integration and liberation
· Values
· Growth Through The Lines
· Growth Through the Wings
· Virtues
· Holy Idea
Ready to find out more? Sally Loftis, Managing Director of Loftis Partners, is a certified iEQ9 practitioner. She offers assessments, report read-outs, and a series of coaching sessions designed to leverage your strengths toward greater personal insight. The following options are available and include the iEQ9 test cost.
Take the test and meet virtually with Sally once to review your report. $350
Take the test and meet virtually with Sally for three sessions. $750
Session 1: Understanding Your iEQ9 Report
Session 2: Working with Your Enneagram Type
Session 3: Planning Forward with the Enneagram
Click here to schedule a free 30-minute introduction with Managing Director, Sally Loftis