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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. Welcome back to our Derailers at Work series. I am your host, Sarah Wallace. You're listening to the Enneagram at Work podcast. And last week we covered kind of a current event, current news, Enneagram in the News episode uh regarding a psychology today article. So if you have not listened to that one, you'll have to catch that one. But prior to that, we covered derailers for the type one, the type two, and the type three. Today we're mixing it up and uh we're doing the type six. We're gonna look at Enneagram type six derailers. So that's coming your way. I wanted to share a fun comment we got back from, or not got back, but we received from a listener about a past episode where we matched up leadership styles. And these do seem to be some of the most fun, some of the most popular. So we might have to um we'll definitely have to do another one soon. And then we might have to do more of these, sprinkle in more of these, or maybe we'll do just a full-on series or something uh with these. One, I think the first one we did was comparing the type two and the type eight leadership style. Most recently we compared the type three and the type uh six leadership style. And we had somebody reach out and say, uh, you know, uh, great listen, uh powerful. This is a powerhouse of a teen. And uh I replied, and then they said, the funny story, my boss actually sent this episode to me. I'm a type three, my boss is a type six. We co-facilitate Dare to Lead uh group programs, which I think is so cool. I I that's something I've looked into. Side note, wanting to get certified in. It's it's not yet open uh again. I don't know when it will be, but anyway, Dare to Lead groups together. So this was really uh relevant. And uh I thought, oh, how awesome that uh I got to hear from somebody in real life who listened to the episode and and saw it show up in their own in their own life. So uh always love to hear from you if this happens to not if this, but if an episode happens to hit home with you or you recognize a real life situation, a funny story, um, reach out. I I do, I'd love to hear you. You can email me directly, Sarah at enneagrammba.com, or um just drop drop a no at enneagrammba.com forward slash contact. There you just just uh a little message box you can leave a comment in. So um, okay, so with that, let's look at our type six derailers. Uh, as a reminder, this series concept comes from the awareness to action Enneagram. This is uh content from their teaching, and I thought it would be interesting to you over here. Um, you could call these derailers, uh, or they call them derailers. You could also call them blind spots at times where we kind of get off track. Um, as a reminder, our type sixes are striving to feel secure when they walk into a room, they're typically focused on risks and threats and what might go wrong. And then, am I prepared? And do I have a plan and do I have a contingency plan just in case that plan falls through? And so this type gets a reputation sometimes for being kind of negative, a dabby downer, the skeptic. Um, but they would say, I just really care about this team and I want to make sure we're okay and I want to make sure we're asking these questions to make sure that we're prepared and that we're thinking things through. And so uh they actually, these questions are are really important um to a team, to a partnership, and uh they come from a place of of care. Um, we will also talk about how sometimes they have an inner BS monitor, and that'll show up here in just a second in one of the deraillers, but uh they're very good at identifying deceptive logic and inauthentic people. And um, our sixes are really focused on group cohesion, and it can be difficult when someone new joins the team or when new leadership comes into the team or the department or the organization, because it can feel like I don't know, can I trust this person? Um I'm I'm fine being led by them as long as I know that they have my best interests at heart and our teams and our organization interests. Um and it's gonna take me a while, though, to believe them and to trust them. It's very much I will trust you once you give me a reason to trust you and once you've kind of proven it over and over. Whereas there are some of us who are, I will trust you until you give me a reason not to trust you. Uh so that's where our sixes are kind of coming at. And so when you know that, you can kind of see why these derailers like come up for this person. That it's it makes sense that somebody who is moving through life with this strategy, using this strategy most of the time, not all the time, but most of the time, um, would sometimes get derailed in these ways. And again, like I've said before, and like I will always say, um, any of us can have these derailers. We can get off track in these specific ways. And not all sixes are getting off track in in all of these ways at all time. These are just common things to watch out for. If you happen to identify as a type six, or if you might be leading a type six and you see them kind of struggling, um, we're gonna talk about derailers and we're also gonna talk about how to get back on track with a couple of tips at the very end. So, derailer number one is their pest, they're being pessimistic. Um, that they are known as uh Debbie Downers sometimes as complaining, as being negative. Everybody's really excited about a new idea. They're the one poking holes uh in in all the ideas, and they would say, I care about you guys. I don't want us, you know, leaping and not having a net that will appear. Uh, want us to think things through, but at times it can come across as um focusing on the problems and what might go wrong versus the solution and what might go right. Um, and so it it can come across as complaining to other people. And maybe some, maybe sometimes it is. Um, you know, and other times maybe it's just that's just the perception on the receiving end. Uh suspicion is derailler number two, very being incredibly suspicious, incredibly skeptical, um having doubt around the good of others, their motives, and their agenda. Now, a healthy dose of this is we all need this for survival. Like this is a survival instinct. Um, but when it gets dialed up too high, um, it it can maybe prevent you from uh being seen the way that you want to see, moving forward in your career, getting things done, being productive, working well with others, being collaborative, um, getting along with your new boss potentially. And so you just want to be, hey, have a healthy dose dose of this. We we cannot tell our sixes to not doubt others or to not focus on what might go wrong, like in derailer two, but it's, and we'll talk about this at the end, I guess, too. But it is just, hey, you're gonna think about these things, and this is okay, but also make sure that you're thinking about and considering the flip side, what might go right, what is good about this person? Um, what what do you see them doing well and right, not just all the skepticism that might become a little bit more natural. Uh, type or derailler three is around indecisive indecision and decisiveness. Um, sixes can really struggle to settle on a single course of action. Uh, we also talk about them having an inner committee. And it's not necessarily mean or harsh, the voices. It's just a lot of voices. We could do this, but we could do this, or we could also do this, or what if we did this and then this happened and then that happened, and then what would we do? And so it's you're trying to think kind of 10 steps ahead, but you have no idea what even the next step is going to actually reveal. And so it's not a uh, it's not a hugely um, it's just not a great use of your time to try and think 10 steps ahead. I get it, and I also can catch myself doing that even as a seven. Like this is probably my derailer out of all of these. Um the the um trying to anticipate people's actions. Um, but when you do that, it does make decision making more difficult. Um, because it's like, oh, well, if that happened, but then if this happened, but if that didn't happen, then we'd do that. And you can just paralysis analysis, you can spiral, you can drive yourself crazy, you can make things so much harder on yourself. So we'll talk about what to do with that at the end. Um, combativeness is the fourth derailer for our type fours, and um sometimes they may use combativeness to feel certain, they might use this questioning to um kind of test who what's being said and who's saying it. Um, they do have that tendency to be devil's advocate, questioning change, questioning outsiders. And again, this is a natural, I think, survival instinct that hopefully we all have a touch of, right? We don't want to be so naive, people are taking advantage of us, we're you know, missing out on things, we're we're wreaking havoc and making wrong decisions without any information, right? There there's a a way to dial it in, depending on the situation who's in front of you. Um, but this tends to be something that can um get sixes in trouble at work, um, in their career advancement, in their coworker relationships, in the relationship with their manager. So just being aware of that. And then last but not least, has a little has a little to do with that last derailer, but it's this idea of dog with a bone syndrome where they will just have this relentless, I'm not gonna let go of this bone persistence and making their point of view heard and and winning approval for their ideas. I, you know, this is the I absolutely do not think we should move forward on this. We are, you know, this is a bad decision, but you know, these are the reasons why. And then leadership may decide to move forward, and then they might still persist on making sure that it's known that they don't think this is a good idea. And again, a healthy dose of this is you bring conviction, you bring passion. We need these, you know, different voices at the table. But once the this the decision has been made, there usually comes that time where you gotta let the bone go and and and move on to the next one, you know, let let that go. Um, but that can be difficult. That can be difficult. Um, and what's interesting is that sixes can have such conviction um in the right thing to do, or the the the you know, we're gonna run right, we're gonna get run over, or we're this is a huge mistake. They can feel very confident, it can be so clear what to do, what not to do in some of these situations. But when it comes to themselves, trusting themselves, having confidence in in their decisions, um, they can really struggle with self-doubt. Um, and that's where that kind of the other side of that, that indecision can can come into play. So uh, you know, we'll tease sixes sometimes that they do not want anybody to tell them what to do. But also, I just wish someone would tell me what to do. So, you know, it's a it's a it's again kind of that push-pull. So getting back on track. We got four ideas for you here. So one is trusting your own judgment and experience. Um, avoid believing that some authority figure or system or the company has more insight than you actually need. Most of the time, you have all the information you need to make a decision, to move forward. Um, and it is just trusting and believing in yourself. Breathe and take action is tip number two for getting back on track. When you feel frozen by doubt or indecision as a type six, remind yourself that being uncertain is normal. We will never have a hundred percent certainty. It is absolutely a part of life that we will be stepping forward into the unknown, not knowing what to expect, maybe having an inkling, but then it turns out to not even be that. That's normal. Fear does not have to completely disappear before you take action. I think that's a really important reminder for a lot of us, not just our sixes. Um, use your own skills and competence to take initiative. Trust in the experience that you have, um, the beliefs that you have, the insights that you have, that you can take action and be proactive. You don't have to um wait to be reactive, you don't have to um think it through another week. You don't need one more piece of information necessarily. Be proactive now, start taking action. And whereas some people need to slow down and be a little bit more thoughtful, our sixes could could move forward and kind of figure out things along the way. Um, there's that saying, action creates clarity. This is very true. This would be a great mantra for our sixes. And then lastly, focus on what you want just as much as you are focusing on what you don't want. So look for ways to start thinking about what might go right along with what might go wrong. Now to say, just forget about what might go wrong, just forget about, you know, what you don't want to have happen, the worries that you have. I mean, I think all sixes would think, oh, sure, why why didn't I think of that? Right? It's like, okay, if I could, I would stop. And so you're not gonna be able to stop having those thoughts. But what you do have control over is incorporating the other side of it. What might go right? What do you want? Asking those questions, thinking about spending time, just as much time, or at least some time, thinking about those things as well. I heard somebody say, spend spend time thinking about worst case scenario, best case scenario, and then what's most likely to happen. Spend time thinking about all three of those. So that might also be helpful. Um, these are things that we talk about in our workshops. We look at how can we bring some self-awareness to the blind spots we have? Um, how can we help our um teams that we are leading uncover their blind spots, work through their blind spots? Um, how can we be a supportive teammate? Um, how can we understand where someone else is coming from who might be driving us crazy with some of these derailers or blind spots, but we can understand where they're coming from. We might be able to approach the conversation a bit differently, that's more effective, that's more productive, that you know, that allows us to get through conflict in a quicker, maybe healthier way. Um, these are all things that we talk about using the Enneagram, applying it to our self-awareness, our team dynamics, our department dynamics inside our Enneagram MBA workshop. So if this is something you are interested in bringing to your team, your department, another department, getting another department on board here, um, I'm gonna invite you to check out our workshop options over at EnneagramMBA.com. Um, typically a great starting point is our full day where we have a chance to cover um the the lay a solid foundation for the Enneagram. Sometimes, though, that's not possible. So we have half day, we have two hours, um, and we serve teams, we serve executive leadership teams, we serve um entire departments, and there's different things that we can do with with different groups um coming at these things from different angles so that they're very applicable. But I'm gonna invite you to see those options, Enneagram MBA.com. Um, if you have any additional comments as a type six of what you would add to this, a real life example, something funny, something I missed or got wrong, I want to hear from you. Let me know. Enneagrammba.com forward slash contact. You can drop me a line over there. Let me know what you're taking away from this episode or or something else I could share with our listeners in a future episode. Thank you for being here, and I hope to see you in the next one.