Enneagram & Stewardship: Types 8-9-1

This episode concludes our 3-part series on the Enneagram and Stewardship by looking at the “gut” grouping – the three Enneagram types motivated by anger. These three types include:

• The Challenger or Activist (type 8), who focuses anger outward.  These are the big personalities, who tend to take over a conversation and dominate a room. They’re not constantly expressing anger, but when they do, it’s loud and domineering.
• The Peacemaker (type 9), who tends to mask anger by focusing on harmony. These are the people who readily see others’ points of view but struggle to express their own ideas. They would rather live with situations that frustrate them than risk conflict in dealing with them.
• The Reformer or Perfectionist (type 1), who turns anger inward. Reformers tend toward judgmentalism, and often they are most judgmental of themselves. They want things to be exactly right and often tend to control decision-making.

From a stewardship perspective, each of these types struggles with collaboration. The 8s and the 1s both tend to try to dominate decision-making, while the 9s withdraw and keep their thoughts and ideas to themselves. In a marriage, this can make for one-sided decision making and can lead to blind spots.

Podcast host James Lenhoff helps us understand this triad of Enneagram types, highlighting the stewardship implications and showing us what it looks like to move toward health for each type.

For more information on the Enneagram, see enneagraminstitute.com.