Start Here: Why We Use the Enneagram for Self-Coaching
Where you are: Module 1 · Lesson 1 of 30 · about 30 minutes (reading 12, video 3, practice 10, self-assessment 5). This first lesson explains what the Enneagram describes, whose teaching it is, how mixed its evidence is, and the rules this course follows.
Independence note: This course is independent. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Beatrice Chestnut, Uranio Paes or the Chestnut Paes Enneagram Academy; The Enneagram Institute, which presents the work of Don Riso and Russ Hudson; Katherine Fauvre or Enneagram Explorations; the Center for Creative Leadership; or any other person or organisation whose books, websites or videos are cited. Their names appear only to credit their ideas accurately.
What you'll be able to do
- Say in plain words what the Enneagram describes, and whose teaching each part of it is.
- Say how strong the evidence is, without overstating it or dismissing it.
- Explain what "dynamic" means in this course.
- State the four private-use rules, and tell an observation from a possible motive and from a label.
Starting Confidence Self-Assessment
About 5 minutes, private and never scored. Rate each statement from 1 to 4.
- 1 = not yet
- 2 = a little
- 3 = mostly
- 4 = confident
| # | By the end of the course, I can… | My rating (1 to 4) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Describe a recent work event in plain facts, and keep my interpretation separate. | |
| 2 | Name what I noticed in my body, feelings and thoughts, my first reaction and a possible motive, without attacking myself. | |
| 3 | Explain what the Enneagram describes, which parts are an author's teaching, and where the evidence is mixed or missing. | |
| 4 | Hold a careful, private idea about my own pattern (or say "not sure"), and say what would change my mind. | |
| 5 | Describe the three instincts as named authors teach them, notice which need is driving a decision, and try one small action. | |
| 6 | Keep type, instincts, the Levels and Tritype® apart as separate authors' ideas, and explain all nine Levels without rating anyone. | |
| 7 | Link my own pattern to a leadership situation, such as delegating, feedback, disagreement, limits or fair decisions, and plan one experiment. | |
| 8 | Ask a colleague a good question about how they see a situation, without giving them a type. | |
| 9 | Keep a private record of events, what I noticed, what I tried and what happened, and keep going after the course. |
Keep your ratings privately in your own record (Lesson 6 sets it up; until then, paper is fine), and do not send them to anyone. Lesson 29 repeats the same nine statements as your Final Reflection, so you can compare the start with the end. Low numbers now are normal.
Why start with yourself
A new manager spends much of the day interpreting other people: why a report is late, why someone went quiet. Every interpretation passes through your own attention, worries and habits first. So this course teaches you to notice what happens in you. It never asks you to work out what is happening inside someone else.
What the Enneagram describes
Beatrice Chestnut and Uranio Paes, the main authors this course follows, describe the Enneagram as a map of nine personality types, a framework for understanding the ego, and a map of a path of growth. Here "ego" does not mean pride. It means your habitual picture of "who I am". They call it a psychological and spiritual model. This course uses only the practical, psychological side, for reflection at work, and makes no spiritual claims.
In their approach, each type is a survival strategy: habits and motives a person developed to cope. With time these run on autopilot and we stop noticing them. In this course's words, each type describes where attention tends to go first. What you notice first decides what you tend to miss; the authors call those misses blind spots.
The same behaviour can come from different motives. Two managers each check a report four times. One may be uncomfortable with any mistake; the other may worry that one error will make the director doubt her. Or the director really does check every figure. From outside, you cannot know. So a motive is always held as a possibility, never as a verdict.
Whose teaching is whose
Three sets of ideas appear in this course. We keep them apart.
| Teacher | What this course takes from them | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Beatrice Chestnut and Uranio Paes | The main perspective: nine patterns of attention and motive (our wording), the three centres, blind spots, a path of growth | Modules 1 and 2, and the manager lessons |
| Don Riso and Russ Hudson | Their model of nine Levels of Development, and their description of three instincts | Modules 3 and 4 |
| Katherine Chernick Fauvre and David Fauvre | Tritype®, a separate model | Module 8 (optional) |
Some ideas in the course belong to none of these authors. The practice routines, the private record and the manager exercises are this course's own design. They have not been tested for results, and each lesson labels them as ours.
What "dynamic" means here
This is the course's own definition. "Dynamic" means that your core pattern of attention and motive stays fairly steady, while the way it shows up changes with conditions, and your awareness of it can grow. You may be more open on a calm day and more narrowed on a day of pressure.
It does not mean that your type switches from moment to moment, or that a hard week makes you a different type. Chestnut and Paes describe the patterns as habits that become fixed in ways we do not notice. In their approach, growth means being driven less by those habits.
How strong is the evidence?
The short answer is: mixed.
- A systematic review. In 2021, Hook, Hall, Davis, Van Tongeren and Conner published a systematic review of research on the Enneagram. It covered 104 independent samples and found mixed evidence of reliability and validity.
- Plain words. A systematic review compares many earlier studies. A sample is one group of people studied. Reliability means steady results; validity means measuring what it claims to measure.
- The authors' own claim. Chestnut and Paes describe the Enneagram as the basis of "a highly accurate typology" (a system that sorts people into types). That is the authors' claim about their own teaching. It is not independent evidence.
- A dated statement. In 1996, Riso wrote, in the revised edition of Personality Types, that "there is, at present, no scientific proof for the nine personality types." "At present" means at that time.
So the Enneagram is a framework taught by authors. It is not a validated measurement. This course does not claim that it is scientifically proven, and it does not claim that it is better than any other framework. No source used in this course shows that the Enneagram improves a manager's results.
Why this course uses it
You may know the Big Five, the MBTI or Everything DiSC. They describe traits, preferences or styles, and each was built for its own purposes. Lesson 2 compares them fairly. Here the point is only this: we did not choose the Enneagram because it is more accurate. We chose it because it links four steps you can do alone: notice a reaction, ask what it might be protecting, make a choice, and try a small experiment. That four-step chain is this course's design, and the choice is about fit for purpose.
The four private-use rules
1. Self-use only
You study your own reactions. You never type, score or label a colleague, a team member or a candidate. You never use a type in hiring, ratings or promotion.
2. Private by default
Your notes are yours. The course never asks you to submit them. Leave out names and confidential facts.
3. Not therapy, not an emergency service
This is a self-awareness course for work. If you notice serious distress, speak to a suitable professional. If you or someone else may be in danger now, stop and use your workplace emergency process or local emergency services.
4. Real duties come first
Deadlines, safety and legal duties still need action. You observe yourself alongside action, not instead of it.
Not every author agrees with rule 1. Riso and Hudson write, in their first chapter, that hiring officers and people building teams will find insight into others' types valuable. This course does not follow that advice. And while Chestnut and Paes invite readers to find their own type, this course asks you to practise observing yourself whether or not you ever choose one.
Worked example
Faisal supervises six sales associates at an electronics store. On Sunday, Bader arrives 15 minutes late, for the second time this month, and the demonstration tables (his job) are not ready at opening. Faisal thinks: "He doesn't care. He's obviously the relaxed type." He is about to joke, "You're such a Nine." He stops and sorts what he has.
| What Faisal has | Kind | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bader arrived at 10.15 today, the second late arrival this month. The tables were not ready at 10.00. | Observation | Someone else could check it. |
| "Bader doesn't care." | A possible motive, written as a certainty | Faisal cannot see it. It should become "I don't know why Bader has been late." |
| "The relaxed type." "You're such a Nine." | Label | It turns a behaviour into a type and ends the question before Faisal has asked it. |
Faisal drops the joke and sets up the tables himself, because customers are arriving. Later he states the facts to Bader and asks what is making the start difficult. Bader's bus route has changed. They agree on an earlier bus and a message before 9.45 if he is running late. The explanation does not erase the two late starts, but the type Faisal had in mind told him nothing about the bus route.
Watch: What the Enneagram describes, and what it does not claim
A short video (about 3 minutes) covers the main points of this lesson. As you watch, notice:
- how the video separates the authors' teaching from this course's own design;
- what the evidence says, and what it does not claim;
- how one question to a team member replaces a guess about why a desk was empty.
The lesson teaches the same points in text, so it is complete without the video.
Your turn
Write your answers privately in your own notes. Nobody collects them.
Part 1. Sort six statements. For each, decide: (A) an observation, (B) a possible motive to investigate, or (C) a type label to avoid.
- "Hala has rewritten the project plan three times this week."
- "Hala is a perfectionist Type 1."
- "Hala may be worried that the client will reject the plan."
- "I may be pushing her to finish because I want to look in control in front of my director."
- "Saud is obviously a Six; he questions everything."
- "Saud asked four questions about the new process in today's meeting."
Part 2. Write your claims.
- Two sentences: what you would claim about the Enneagram, and what you would not. Name whose teaching each claim is, and say how its purpose differs from the Big Five, MBTI and DiSC.
- One sentence: what "dynamic" means in this course.
- One line: the private-use rules.
Try both parts before you read the model answer.
Check your work
Part 1. Observations (A): 1 and 6; someone else could confirm them. Possible motives (B): 3 and 4; both are worded as possibilities, and 4 is about your own motive, where this course begins. Labels (C): 2 and 5; each turns a behaviour into a type. Asking questions can come from interest, confusion or worry.
Part 2, one good answer. "I would claim that Chestnut and Paes teach the Enneagram as a map of nine patterns of attention and motive that can help me reflect on my own reactions, with Riso and Hudson, and the Fauvres, teaching separate parts. I would not claim it is scientifically proven or more accurate than the Big Five, MBTI or DiSC, which describe traits, preferences or styles; a 2021 review found mixed evidence. 'Dynamic' means my core pattern stays fairly steady while its expression changes and my awareness grows. Self-use only, private by default, not therapy, and real duties first."
Criteria: Part 1 sorted correctly; ideas credited to the right author and kept apart from evidence; no ranking and no claim of proof; "dynamic" as a steady core, not a switching type; the rules stated. Other wording that keeps these limits is fine.
Extra practice (optional)
Sort these into (A) observation, (B) possible motive or (C) label.
- "Salma is clearly a Type 8; she always pushes back."
- "Laith updated the roster three times on Sunday."
- "I may be asking Laith for updates because I want to avoid surprises."
- "Salma said no to the new deadline in today's call."
- "Laith may be worried that the roster will be criticised."
- "Laith is a Type 6 who needs reassurance."
Key. Observations: 2 and 4. Possible motives: 3 and 5. Labels: 1 and 6. Statement 1 has two faults: it assigns a type, and "always" turns one call into a habit.
Knowledge check
Your director asks you to use the Enneagram to choose who leads a new customer project. What is the best response?
Which statement about the evidence matches this lesson?
What does 'dynamic' mean in this course?
Answers explained
- B keeps the framework within its purpose and decides on real criteria. A puts an unverified label into a career decision. C invites labelling and does not answer the question. D guesses a motive from behaviour.
- D matches the sources. A overstates the review, which found mixed evidence. B and C claim results that no source in this course measured.
- A is the course's definition. B and C describe a type that switches; D describes a type with no range at all.
Key takeaways
- Chestnut and Paes describe nine types, which this course calls patterns of attention and motive. The same behaviour can come from different motives.
- Ideas belong to different teachers; the practice routines are this course's own design.
- The evidence is mixed. The Enneagram is author teaching, not a validated measurement, and the course claims neither proof nor superiority.
- "Dynamic" means a steady core, a changing expression and growing awareness.
- Use it on yourself only, in private, and never type or label another person.
Sources
- Chestnut, B. and Paes, U. (2021) The Enneagram Guide to Waking Up. Hampton Roads Publishing. The Enneagram as a typology, a framework for the ego and a map of growth, described as psychological and spiritual; types as survival strategies; attention and blind spots; "a highly accurate typology" (PDF pages 14 to 20 and 27; the printed page is the PDF page minus 13). Publisher listing: Simon and Schuster (the listing describes the book and does not show these pages).
- Riso, D. R. with Hudson, R. (1996) Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery, revised edition. Houghton Mifflin. The history section, where Riso writes in the first person, PDF page 42 (the "no scientific proof" sentence); PDF page 28 (the passage on hiring officers and teams).
- Hook, Hall, Davis, Van Tongeren and Conner (2021) "The Enneagram: A systematic review of the literature and directions for future research." Journal of Clinical Psychology 77(4), 865 to 883. doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23097 (the abstract was read; the full text was not).
- Tritype® is a registered trademark of Katherine Chernick Fauvre (USPTO Reg. No. 6474587).
- The four-step chain, the definition of "dynamic" used here, the self-assessment and the cases of Faisal, Bader, Hala, Saud, Salma and Laith are this course's own design and fictional examples.