Unlocking Team Potential: how leveraging unique personality types improves collective team performance
Understanding the diverse personalities of your team members is crucial for creating synergy and achieving better results. The Enneagram—a powerful personality typing system that identifies nine distinct personality types—provides valuable insights into individual motivations, strengths and worldviews. By recognising how different Enneagram types contribute to team dynamics, organisations can harness the diverse talents and perspectives of each member to enhance overall team performance.
Let's explore how understanding the nine Enneagram styles can provide a guiding framework for unlocking team potential:
The Perfectionist (Type 1): Type 1s are motivated by a desire to live up to high standards of excellence and integrity. In teams, they excel at setting high standards, pushing for quality over “good enough”, and ensuring accountability and follow through. Perfectionists bring attention to detail, organisational skills, and an unmatched work ethic. They help the rest of us to strive for quality, continuous improvement and adherence to solid principles of right and wrong.
The Helper (Type 2): Type 2s are driven by a need to be helpful, supportive and valued team members. In teams, they excel at creating the emotional glue in the team, building strong relationships, fostering camaraderie, and providing a supportive team environment. Helpers bring empathy, compassion, and a willingness to go above and beyond to meet the needs of the team. They help the rest of us to see each other as real humans with real needs and to place as much emphasis on our relationships as we do our tasks.
The Achiever (Type 3): Type 3s are motivated by a desire for success, recognition and accomplishment. In teams, they excel at single-minded focus on the goal, providing effective solutions and driving results. Achievers bring ambition, drive, and a focus on outcomes, inspiring others to strive for excellence and achieve their full potential. They help the rest of us aim for more than we think we’re capable of and to move towards our goals with passion and focus.
The Individualist (Type 4): Type 4s are driven by a need for authenticity and self-expression. In teams, they excel at bringing a unique and creative lens, emotional depth and alignment with purpose and values. Individualists bring intuition, innovation, and emotional insight, enriching team discussions and inspiring new ideas. They help the rest of us access our internal landscape and to interact with others in an emotionally honest and insightful way.
The Investigator (Type 5): Type 5s are motivated by a thirst for knowledge and understanding. In teams, they excel at deep thinking, analysis, and creative problem-solving. Investigators bring intellectual curiosity, critical thinking skills, and a depth of knowledge to the team, driving smart thinking and informed decision-making. They help the rest of us stop and think things through fully rather than pushing forward with hasty and often uninformed decisions.
The Loyalist (Type 6): Type 6s are driven by a need for security and loyalty. In teams, they excel at risk assessment, contingency planning, and building trust among team members. Loyalists bring reliability, stability, and an ability to mitigate risks, enhancing team resilience and cohesion. Their ability to think things through from different perspectives ensures diverse thinking and confidence in having considered all angles. They help the rest of us step outside our assumptions and practice realistic and diverse thinking.
The Enthusiast (Type 7): Type 7s are motivated by a desire for stimulation and pleasure. In teams, they excel at generating ideas, connecting seemingly unrelated concepts, and injecting energy into the team. Enthusiasts bring optimism, enthusiasm, and a sense of possibility, infusing the team with creativity and motivation. They help the rest of us look at things from a broader perspective, to consider exciting new possibilities and to adopt a more flexible approach.
The Challenger (Type 8): Type 8s are driven by a need for control and autonomy. In teams, they excel at taking charge, quick decision-making, and advocating for their team members. Challengers bring confidence, assertiveness, and a fearlessness in confronting obstacles, inspiring others to step up and take action. They help the rest of us stop over-thinking and start taking bold steps towards quick and effective solutions.
Type 9: The Peacemaker: Type 9s are driven by a desire for peace, harmony and inclusion. In teams, they excel at fostering collaboration, resolving conflicts diplomatically, and creating a sense of unity within the team. They bring a spirit of inclusivity, cooperation, and compromise to the team, ensuring that everyone feels heard and valued. They help the rest of us listen fully to others, consider things from their perspective and to look at situations with fairness and balance.
By understanding and leveraging the different motivations, strengths and perspectives of each Enneagram type, we can build a stronger, more effective team. Instead of seeing our differences as an obstacle towards progress, we start seeing it as a source of innovation, creativity and growth.
The Enneagram provides valuable insights into the unique personality types of our individual team members, offering a framework for understanding how different individuals contribute to team dynamics and outcomes. By leveraging the strengths and addressing the blind spots of each Enneagram type, teams can harness the full potential of their members and achieve sustained high-performance. Ultimately, it's the synergy of diverse personalities working together toward a common goal that propels teams to greatness. Find out how here.