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You're listening to the Enneagram at Work Podcast, a show about understanding people at work, including yourself. I'm your host, Sarah Wallace, and I'm looking forward to diving into this week's episode with you. Are you working with an Enneagram type one? And if you are, what might you need to know about them to have a better relationship, a more productive relationship, just a more enjoyable communication, collaboration style with this person? We're getting into all of that in this episode today here on the Enneagram at Work podcast. If you are new to the show, welcome. Thank you so much for being here. This is part of a larger series where we have been looking at what our other teammates are what types our teammates might be, other than the one that we are. And it's not just about the type, but really trying to understand where might they be coming from? What perspective, what viewpoint are they bringing to the relationship that you have with them at work, a meeting, a project, a conversation over Zoom. Um, and most likely it's very different than yours. And so we have covered type five, six, seven, eight, and nine today. We are getting into type one, looking ahead. We have two and three coming up. So I hope that you will come back for those. If you are a returning listener, thank you also for being here and for sticking around. As you know, I am the host of the podcast here, uh, Enneagram at Work. Also, I'm the owner and lead trainer over at Enneagram MBA, where we do team trainings, group workshops, conference events, either presentation style or uh using it for a little presentation breakout activities at networking events. And so if you are looking to bring the Enneagram to your team or event, um, I'm gonna I'm gonna invite you to check out the options over at Enneagramba.com. Today we are focused on our type one teammate. And we may not know that they're a type one, and it doesn't matter if they ever identify or we ever figure it out. We're gonna look at some key qualities, some common characteristics, the just kind of the energy of this, so that we can start to recognize it and get some understanding, increase our others' awareness. As most of us have gotten to this point, if you're listening, um you've spend probably spending some time increasing your self-awareness and self-management. Now we're really looking at our others' awareness and relationship management skills. And this is one of the ways that we we are going to be doing that is just looking at the other types, the other eight types outside of our own, and starting to recognize um maybe some of these qualities and our teammates, and we can adjust how we interact with them and work with them to make the workplace more enjoyable, uh, maybe a little happier, maybe a little bit more productive. I've been saying, you know, we spend so much of our lives at work and with these people that we work with, even if it's remotely, we're, you know, talking to them over email, text, Slack, whatever it might be. And so why not spend the little extra energy, a little extra time getting to know them, their style, their preferences, their perspective? And the Enneagram is one tool to do that. But I know that you know as well. There's all kinds of things that go into that, um, besides just the Enneagram. But this can be a starting point for asking questions, getting clarification, understanding, getting curious about this person that we work with on a regular basis. So, with that, um, I always like to kind of start with the foundation. What makes a one a one? At the end of the day, our ones are striving to feel perfect. That is how we know that we are a type one or that our teammate might be a type one, is when this is their priority. Their behavior is motivated by this desire to feel correct and right and to feel good. And so the opposite is true, kind of avoiding anything that would put them in a position to feel defective or incorrect or wrong or bad. One of their many superpowers is this ability to set and then follow procedures. They thrive in roles that require consistency of method and of logic. And that may sound kind of boring. Um, and and this is me coming from a type seven. So you might have heard that and thought, oh yeah, I love that. So I'm I'm coming at this a little jaded myself. Um, but that is such an incredible characteristic to have quality, I guess, to have in a teammate, in a leader. And this is one of the things, and it's interesting because as a type seven, I have this arrow to a one. And I think about that a lot in my parenting style because I will say routine structure, the the these processes that we're talking about are difficult for me. Um, I have to really, it takes a lot of energy, it takes a lot of thinking and and and you know, commitment to this. And I fall off the wagon all the time, but I'm always thinking, like, okay, I need to channel my inner one here because I know that kids thrive in structure and routine, right? And so as a parent, I now I don't need to be somebody else necessarily, but these are some things that are gonna be valuable and beneficial to me in this relationship, in this situation. And for a lot of ones, it just comes so natural, they don't even have to think about it. So, um, and and it's great to have on a team as well, right? And a leader and in a teammate to have that superpower. Sometimes our type ones, not always, not all the time, not every single one, but can struggle with this unwillingness to change. They kind of get set in their ways, they've determined that there's a right way to do something, there is a good way to do something, and then anything else is wrong or bad. Um, they they can fall into black and white thinking. Last week we talked about our type nines who tend to be kind of the poster child for being able to see all perspectives, to kind of navigate through the gray. Um, and this is almost the opposite. And it's just, you know, what makes us feel feel safe and comfortable. But for a one, they they a lot of times kind of cling to that black and white thinking. Um, they can come across as critical. I don't know that that ones mean to come across that way, but they on the receiving end um can feel it can feel like they're being critical or judgmental. Um, it may seem like they always have this need to be right. Um, and sometimes they can be a little too serious. There are absolutely situations that call for this, the this level of seriousness, but sometimes ones, you know, don't know when to turn it off. Um, and sometimes can take themselves too serious, which is sometimes tragic for them because that means that they are just holding themselves to this almost unreasonable level of you know excellence and perfection, which is just, we know it it's just not attainable. Um, and so allowing, you know, laugh at your mistakes can just seem like, oh my gosh, why would I ever do that as a one? But but sometimes, you know, that that's that's sometimes uh the work of the one in in some of those areas. Um, how to know though if if your teammate might be a one, some clues might be that they tend to be the ones who insist that everybody else follow the rules. Um maybe this gets brought up in a meeting, like, hey, we have a structure for this meeting, you're speaking out of turn, or we're jumping ahead of the agenda. Let's stick to the, you know, the process for a meeting or the rules of this meeting. Um, maybe there is a certain way you're supposed to do something and they're, you know, letting you know, or hey, we're you're not on time, whatever those rules are. Uh that they're the person that that kind of encourages or insists that others follow the rules. That might be a clue. You're working with a type one. Um, another clue is that they inspire your team to achieve high standards and improve the product, improve the company. Maybe, you know, some whatever the work that you're doing has impact to ability to improve the world. Um, or you feel like you want to be a better person when you're around this individual. Um, that is some energy of a one right there. They have this ability to take even good things and make them great. Uh, you might be working with a type one if they seem kind of critical or even harsh. And I think sometimes that's why um the eight and one can sometimes get confused, um, because they they may not realize how harsh or critical that they're being. And I will say if you're experiencing that from a one, um not saying that it makes it right or that it makes it easier or more tolerable, even, but it may help knowing that whatever they're saying that to you that feels harsh and and extra critical, they are saying 10 times worse to themselves. Their inner critic is brutal. Um, and so sometimes that can help in extending, you know, some more patience or empathy uh when that's the energy that you're getting getting served, and that's not always easy. Um so just to know that. Um, another clue that you might be working with a type one is that they are working to make sure that expectations, instructions, and communication are all very clear, very precise, very planned out. So before they go off and announce that we're starting a new project, they're gonna wanna make sure that they have it outlined, that they have it planned out, not just even the project, but how do we want to present what we're starting, this new initiative? How do we want to say it? Or, you know, we're gonna be hiring for a new role. Let's not just, you know, think we have a couple of qualities or skills that we're looking for. No, they want to be very meticulous and precise about exactly the type of person or exactly the type of role that they are needing filled, which is can be so helpful, especially to those of us who maybe struggle with that level of detail. That can be a huge value add in a teammate. Um, you might be working with a type one if they sometimes micromanage and don't trust others to do the job as well as they can. And I think we can all be guilty of this at times. Um, but ones have incredibly high standards of themselves and of others. And if they feel like they can't trust you to do it to that level, they will take it on themselves. And what happens sometimes is that they will, this is a way that ones will burn out. Um, and it's also a way that they will they will develop extreme resentment. They don't want to delegate because they can't trust anybody to do it as good as they can, but at the same time, they are overworked, they are overloaded, they are shouldering all this responsibility, all this extra work. Um, and and it can start to be very exhausting and um they can feel really resentful. Another clue that you might be working with an Enneagram type one is that they can focus or, in your opinion, overfocus on the details. They might not view it this way, but you might see them getting hung up and spending too much time on things that don't need to be at that level of detail or that level of precision. Um, but in their mind, they they probably don't see it that way. But as a teammate kind of on the outside, it can feel like, oh my gosh, they're just spending too much time overthinking this, over planning this. Um, so that might be a clue that you are working with a type one. Another clue might be that they have incredible work ethic. They try hard to do their best in everything they do. Even if they don't want to do something, there's some of us who it's like, I don't want to do this, so I don't care like how I show up with this. Um, or I doesn't have to be the best. This isn't my this isn't my area of expertise. I know it. I'm gonna do the job and and no more. Um, but for a one, no matter what it is, no matter what the assignment is, they are bringing their A game, they are bringing excellence and commitment and dedication to whatever the assignment is. So as a teammate, you probably notice who those people are on the team. Now we've covered some clues. If if somebody is coming to mind, um, you it might be good to kind of use these next couple of points as conversation starters for some of their preferences, um, for how they prefer to be um in a relationship at work with you, some of the things that you can do on your end to uh better support them in the way that they want to be supported or appreciated. So a couple of things, this is by means not an exhaustive list, but a couple of starting points might be that when you're talking with them, when you're working with them on a project or explaining anything via email, Slack, over the phone, in person, to be as clear and precise and as prepared as you can be coming in. Now, there might be some, like I'm thinking of myself, where it's like, hey, we're coming into this meeting and let's whiteboard it, right? Let's throw all of our ideas up here. Let's just kind of let's put it all on the table and start to see what makes sense to to bring back out. Whereas a meeting with a one, they're they're gonna maybe appreciate it if you've thought about it some. Um, you've kind of planned it out, sketched out steps one through five, maybe done a little research, just walking into it with a little bit more preparation than you might need to or want to with another type of energy on your team. Um, understand how hard that they can be on themselves. And so this is especially important as a as a leader or manager of a type one to recognize this and know that when they made a mistake, you don't have to say a lot about it, you know, um, that they're they've already berated themselves, you know, ripped them up one side and then the other. They've already done that to themselves. Um, so know that there's probably not a lot more that you need to say. Keep it short and sweet when that feedback needs to happen. Uh, but make sure also that you are emphasizing the positive feedback, the things that they are doing well. And they may not, you know, want to receive it or it might be difficult for them to think, oh, I did something well because it wasn't perfect enough. It could always have been better, right? But as a teammate, as a leader, making sure that you're really emphasizing the f the positive feedback as much as you can. Um if as a teammate or as that person's manager, you make a mistake that you take responsibility for it. Um you know, that's really the most important thing for a one is just that acknowledgement and and that taking like, yes, that that was on me. Um maybe you didn't have total control of what happened, but maybe you were the the leader of that particular project and and something went awry. Um, you know, you could blame it on luck, the situation, someone else, but it's gonna is it's going to mean a lot. Uh, and uh, and a one is really gonna want you if if if in fact you were the you know the leader, the the manager of that particular team or project just to step up, take responsibility, you know, what are you gonna do to prevent it happening again or to mitigate the risk of it happening again in the future? Um, they're gonna appreciate it if you can show that you really value quality, um, you know, everything from uh, you know, just maybe, you know, a typo-free email, they're gonna appreciate to uh really bringing that that excellence and care to presenting a presentation to a client or you know, whatever project you're working on. Um, and then we talked about this a little bit, but it it's always worth reiterating here with our with those of us who work with type ones, is just to have compassion for their drive for perfection. And so it's gonna be hard for them when you're saying, hey, just let this be good enough, right? That's not gonna happen very often where they just say, oh, okay, yeah, we'll just this is good enough. No, they are they have this drive for excellence, taking things from good to great, fixing things um that that could always be better. And so, you know, as maybe you don't have the the the time or you don't feel the need to take it to the next level like they do, uh, but find different ways to to be supportive of that drive as much as you can. So that is a a very brief surface level look at what a type one teammate might present, how they might present. Um, you may notice this energy, and like I said, this isn't to say, oh, you know, I know Tom's a one based on this. We won't know. Um, but it might be worth asking, what are their preferences? You know, what do they really value? Um, what don't they maybe care as much about, or how do they feel appreciated or supportive? And again, like like all of these, and I've you've if you've been listening to all of these, you've heard me say this, um, is that this is a starting point, a starting point to get curious about who this individual person is in front of you that you are working with. Um, there are many, many, many, many levels of complexity, even if they do end up being a one. We have subtypes, and then we have just childhood and birth order and race, gender, country of origin, all these other things that go into how this person presents to you at work. And and so we, you know, you know this, I know that that the Enneagram is not this, you know, manual for how to work with this person, but it is a starting point for some realizations and and some a place to to maybe start to ask some good questions um and get to know that teammate a little more. So with that, thank you so much for being here. If you are looking to better understand the specific members of your team, or you are part of a group made up of multiple teams and would like to better understand um kind of cross-department uh relationships a bit more to better communicate, collaborate as we go into a new year, which is crazy that we're you know, that's already on the horizon. Um, I'm going to invite you to check out some of the workshop options. We have half day, full day, and then a new Dream Team Academy is coming uh in 2024. So start to learn more about those options over at Enneagramba.com. I appreciate you being here. If you happen to identify as a one or know that you work with the one and have gained some experience or some tips that the rest of us would benefit from, or you're a type one and would like to add to the conversation, um, please reach out, let me know what you would add, change, disagree with, whatever it might be. Um, and you can drop a comment based on this episode over at enneagramba.com forward slash contact. With that, thank you for being here. We'll see you next time um with looking at our type two. So we're moving on. We got three more left in this series. So I hope to see you back for that one.