The Enneagram for Leaders: More Than a Personality Test
You have probably taken a personality test before. DISC, StrengthsFinder, Myers Briggs. You read the results, recognised yourself, maybe shared it with your team, and then moved on. Useful, yes. Transformational, rarely.
The Enneagram is different. Not as a trend or a tool, but as a way of understanding what actually drives you as a leader.
The Enneagram
The Enneagram is a leadership and personal development framework that maps nine personality types. Each type is defined not by behaviour, but by core motivations, fears, and internal patterns.
Most tools focus on what you do. The Enneagram focuses on why you do what you do.
At first glance, it can look like another personality profile. But identifying your type is only the starting point. The real value lies in understanding the deeper patterns that shape your decisions, reactions, and leadership style.
The system includes nine types, wings, subtypes, and levels of development. It is layered because people are layered. And that is exactly what makes it powerful in leadership development.
DISC shows behaviour. The Enneagram reveals drivers.
DISC is practical, accessible, and highly effective for improving communication and reducing friction in teams. It works well at the behavioural level.
But behaviour is only the surface.
The Enneagram works underneath that. It brings awareness to the unconscious motivations and emotional triggers that influence how you lead, especially under pressure.
Because pressure is where leadership patterns become most visible.
Under stress, leaders do not lose their skills. They lose their flexibility. They default to their core strategy to regain control.
This is where most leadership training falls short. You can learn to listen better, communicate clearly, and give strong feedback. But when the stakes rise, you will not default to training. You will default to pattern.
The Enneagram helps you see that pattern clearly, so you can choose differently.
What it revealed in my own leadership
I am a Type 8. Direct, driven, protective, and at times, controlling.
When I first encountered the Enneagram during my NLP training 6 years ago, it challenged me in a way no other framework had. Not because it was flattering, I was not, but because it was precise.
One of the biggest insights was recognising how I was experienced by others. I saw myself as open, direct, and engaged. Others sometimes experienced that same energy as intimidating.
Once I understood the underlying driver, the need to stay in control and protect myself, I could start to distinguish between genuine leadership and self protection. That awareness changed how I communicated, how I showed up in conversations, and how I created space for others.
Another insight was around vulnerability.
I had always valued it. I spoke openly, shared stories, and believed I was leading with honesty. What I had not seen was that this openness could also be a form of control. A way of shaping how others related to me.
Real vulnerability looked different for me. It meant asking for help. Letting go of control. Admitting I did not have the answer.
That realisation was uncomfortable but it was where real growth started.
What the Enneagram reveals in leaders
When I work with leaders, the Enneagram often becomes the foundation of our work. Because without self awareness, strategy has limits.
The initial response is sometimes scepticism. Some leaders question the scientific grounding. Compared to models like the Big Five, the Enneagram is less empirically validated.
However, it serves a different purpose.
It is not designed to diagnose. It is designed to develop.
It offers a lens to understand the internal patterns that shape behaviour, decision making, and relationships. It highlights what is unconscious, and therefore what is changeable.
I have seen leaders experience significant shifts through this work.
One client, a clear Type 2, was deeply generous and relationship focused. What she had not seen was how her giving had become conditional. Not intentionally, but unconsciously. She gave in order to receive appreciation, loyalty, and connection.
Once she saw that pattern, her leadership changed. She stopped overextending herself and started leading from clarity rather than obligation. Her relationships improved, both professionally and personally.
That is not a surface level behaviour shift. It is a change in motivation.
Every Enneagram type can be an exceptional leader
There is no ideal Enneagram type for leadership.
Each type brings distinct strengths, and each has predictable blind spots.
In corporate leadership roles, you will most commonly find Threes, Eights and Sevens, the Achiever, the Challenger, the Enthusiast. Threes are driven, results-focused, and excellent at projecting success. Eights lead with authority and are not afraid of a fight. Sevens inspire with vision and energy. But when a 9 (the peacemaker) starts to develop themselves, we see leadership on a different level.
So, leadership effectiveness is not determined by type, it is determined by awareness.
A Type 1 brings integrity and high standards, but can become rigid under pressure. A Type 7 brings vision and energy, but may avoid depth or follow through. A Type 8 creates strength and protection, but can unintentionally silence others.
The Enneagram does not label these patterns as good or bad. It makes them visible.
And once they are visible, they become a choice.
Where to start with the Enneagram
If you are curious about your type, the Enneagram Institute is the most comprehensive resource available.
The real work happens when you sit with someone who can help you see not just your type, but what it has been doing in your leadership, and what becomes possible when you start to move beyond it.
That is the work I do.
Curious about your type or your teams type structure? The best way to find out is through a guided conversation rather than a test alone. A test gives you a result. A conversation gives you understanding.
Written by Maria van der Schoot - Leadership Development Coach & Facilitator
