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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.

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You're back and listening to another episode of the Enneagram at Work Podcast, or maybe this is your first episode. In that case, welcome. I am going to make sure I introduce myself today. I am your host, Sarah Wallace, because I don't sound like myself. I am recovering from strep throat. So I might sound bad, but I feel so much better. So I don't know if uh any of you can relate, but the last couple of days I have been in the like it feels like I'm swallowing knives stage. And today is been I got on antibiotics, and within 24 hours, uh that feeling had uh definitely lessened and it just is getting better and better. So um I waited to record this thinking I would get better. And while I feel better, uh I don't sound better. But um here we are, and I I wanna I I wanna make sure that uh we we get it in this week. So we, as those of you who have been listening know we are in the middle of that derailer series, and we have type eight and type nine coming up. We're gonna take another pause in the series because um I had so much fun having a co-host with Brenda for type four. I had some ideas around who might be able to co-host with me for type eight and type nine. So I'm trying to work that out. We'll see, fingers crossed, what might uh come from that. So I thought, let's see if we can get that set up. And then also, there was an article that I ran across this week that really caught my attention. Um, let me come over here and see. So this was a Harvard Business Review chart, really, along with a study that listed the top 10 ways people are using AI this year. And and by this year, I mean 2025, depending on when you're listening to this. Um, and it was not at all what I expected. I don't know if some of you have already heard of this or seen this yet. I had not, and I I was surprised. So let's see, in 2024, or I'm sorry, in 2025, the top three uses for AI I thought were gonna be generating ideas, uh proofreading, uh content writing, social media content ideas. Um, but the top three uses at this were one therapy and emotional support, two, finding purpose, and three, organizing our lives. Wild, wild, wild, wild. Um none of those are technical. So AI isn't just helping us do more work, which it is, obviously. It it absolutely is, um, but it's also helping people navigate being a human, which is kind of cool. Um, but that shift has its limits, right? Uh as helpful as AI can be, it still can't read the emotional temperature in a meeting, help you understand how stress shows up in your leadership style or uh as you are on a team working with others. And and this is what we're gonna we're how we're gonna kind of talk about, what we're gonna talk about today is it cannot call you out on your blind spots gently, ideally, the way that a teammate or a coach might be able to. And so I thought between that chart and then a conversation I had yesterday at the time of this recording, um, I got to be a guest on somebody else's podcast, and we talked about uh the blind spots for leaders and what sometimes can cause stress and what those blind spots uh might look like and what the impact might be on the team, and then what is a shift that that person might make if they're experiencing those things. And so we broke it out by type, and I wanted to share that with you. I thought I have this resource, and I'm gonna give you the link at the end if you want to download the chart for your own as a reference guide to take back to your team to kind of you know, give yourself a gut check, maybe. Um, but uh I thought, you know, when we were out in DC, and we Brenda and I talked about this. Brenda Brown, leadership, one of our leadership coaches here at Enneagram MBA on a podcast a couple of weeks ago. We did our recap, our behind the booth event recap of our Association of Talent Development conference out in DC. There were tons and tons of companies out there representing using training, using AI in your training and making it more streamlined and making it more efficient and being more productive and having something to keep track of and all of that, those things, as we said in the episode, are wonderful, but it continues to you miss out on that human connection part, which time and time again, people say after a workshop how much they appreciated the time together, especially for those of you who are in teams who are remote, fully remote, and maybe don't see each other or hybrid and aren't always seeing the same people on a regular basis. So um I do I honestly, this gets me even more excited about the work that we are doing here at Enneagram MBA, because we're able to not say that what we do is better or uh people should only do in-person training, but I do think that this is this in-person team building, self-awareness, um, others' awareness, relationship management component in real time is so incredibly valuable. And I think that people are looking for it, um, especially when we're looking at this chart where you know the top three usages for AI right now are around being a better human. And so I think people are hungry for this type of information in our personal lives, but also in our professional lives. And so, as I mentioned, one of the things that um AI, especially Chat GPT, uh can miss the mark on. And maybe if you ask them specifically, maybe they give you some honest feedback, as honest as they can based on what they know about you. Um, but understanding those blind spots is something that uh our chat GPT conversations typically aren't gonna call us out on. I don't know about you, but my chat GPT hypes me up. Everything I say is a great idea. Um, it makes me feel so smart. And uh, I've seen some funny memes on social media where um it sounds like a lot of others are have that same experience. Um, and that is great, right? We all we all need that. Um but when we're talking about, or I should say, and I'm I continue to try and get out of the habit of saying but because it it negates whatever you just said before it, and uh if we're really wanting to be better humans and grow in these different areas of our life lives, understanding our strengths is really important. And so is understanding the way that we might be impacting others, those blind spots that we may not be aware of. And one of the things that I love so much when we bring the Enneagram uh to our in-person workshops is that people are commenting on others, and this is the more of the strengths part, but saying, really, that's interesting that you see yourself as having those overuse strengths because I see you really using the strengths of this other type a lot, or I see I see this in you. That's interesting that you see that in you. And so um, as much as the Enneagram is a self-identification process, especially, you know, especially in the typing process, having others trusted individuals in our lives to kind of comment or maybe push back or highlight things can be can be really helpful. And so that that in-person um dynamic can can be so important. So as we go through the blind spots today, think about yourself first, obviously, because that's really the only person that we can change at the end of the day. But also maybe you could use this as um a conversation starter for a teammate that might need a little uh what's the word, a little uh uh, you know, pointing out maybe of their impact on others with these blind spots and not to shame anybody. Um it this could also be a conversation starter for you. What do you see any of these in me? Like I, you know, I I know we've talked about my strengths. This is what it says about my type seven blind spots. Do you experience me this way? I don't know that I do. Um, and and we want to be careful about um who we ask because we do want it to be people that we trust and respect. We just don't want to be asking everybody, but uh, these could be some good conversation starters, all for the intention of not making anybody feel bad, but for our our growth and to be a better human, to be a better leader, to be a better teammate, uh, by understanding those things that might be uh negatively holding us back, getting in our own way, or getting in a way of uh an important relationship at work. Okay, so with that, let's go through these blind spots. And I have a blind spot cheat sheet for you. Maybe I can come up with a better name. Maybe chat and I, after this episode, can come up with a better name. But um it is a cheat sheet, it's a one pager. And um what we're gonna talk about is uh the stress reaction of each type, what that looks like within the type structure. I know sometimes um we'll talk about what stress looks like when you, you know, when you take on behaviors of your connected or your resource points or your arrows, uh, but this is gonna look like what does stress look like within that type structure? Uh, what's a blind spot that kind of comes from that stress reaction? What's the impact on the team? And then what's something that you might be able to do differently? What's what's a shift that you might be able to make to help you um move through that blind spot uh and uh not have it be so blind. You'll probably always do it, but at least be a little bit more aware of it. Okay, so uh we always start with type one. Let's start with type five and we'll go, we'll go around from there. Okay, so our type five is known as the strategist. So in times of stress, their coping mechanisms tend to be detaching, overthinking, avoiding decisions. And let me see. I had a definition of a blind spot that I felt like was important to talk about, and I just forgot about it. Um and now I'm not sure. Oh, hold on where it is, but I thought, you know, we we might need to define blind spot. Okay, so the definition that I found it says um a blind spot is a predictable way we disconnect from discomfort, whether that's avoiding conflict, people pleasing, overworking, or needing to control, it's some sort of strategy, coping mechanism that we use to just disconnect from the discomfort. And and a lot of times, um, I think it's called a blind spot because we just do it automatically. And it had probably has served uh an important purpose. It has probably worked in the past, and that's why it's our go-to strategy that is now on autopilot. Um, but there may be times now where that same strategy is net having a negative impact on us, our career advancement, our relationships at work. So wanted to almost forgot to do that. Okay, so let's go back to the type five here. The type five, uh, we talked about their stress reaction. And then um how how that might result in a blind spot that creates a negative impact is um that they might delay action or retreat from communicating, pull back from others. And what impact that might have on the team is that then the their team feels left in the dark. Their team feels disconnected from them, they might feel alone. Um, and and that can be especially in this environment that we're in. Um, I know a lot of times fives will feel like, listen, I can take care of myself, I am self-sufficient, I don't want to need anybody, I am capable, I am competent all on my own. And I kind of expect the same from everybody else. I don't want you to need a lot from me. I don't want to have to explain a lot to you. I don't want you to need a lot of help. Um, and and depending on your position, that might be okay. But especially if you're in a leadership position, uh this is going to be really important to be aware of this kind of strategy that you might use when you're stressed, this blind spot of delaying action because you don't have enough information yet, or pulling back and disconnecting because you might be feeling overwhelmed when your team is really needing to hear some communication from you. They need more information of anything. They want you to over-communicate and get into more details about what might be going on. And so a shift you can make is to share more than what probably feels necessary for you. Um, and looking for opportunities to invite discussion uh before big decisions are made as much as you can. Okay, I'm gonna try and go through these a little faster because I know um if we were just doing an episode on type five blind spots, we could get into some more things. Um, but I wanna I wanna just kind of keep it to this, and then maybe we do end up digging in more. Okay, so our type six striving to feel secure when they have times of stress, they might tend to react in a way where they doubt others, become their skepticism gets turned up. Maybe that pessimism gets turned up, that that need to overprepare, seeking too much reassurance gets dialed up. So, what what might this blind spot look like because of that stress? Um, it can create paralysis analysis where this is very similar to the type five, they're not taking action, they're wanting to think things through more, they're wanting to prepare more, they're wanting more information before they can make decisions, uh, which we'll talk about the impact on the team. Um, and it can cause mistrust, it can cause them to uh be skeptical of the people that they are leading or working side by side. Well, what kind of impact does that have on the team? Can you imagine? The team feels second guessed, the team probably feels micromanaged. And you know, it it it is not um it's not a great feeling to have somebody feel like they're not trusting you. Um it's not a great feeling to to feel like um you can't take action, try something for fear maybe you do get it wrong, and that person, that this type six person, you know, might think, see, we needed more time, but sometimes action creates clarity. So what what shift can you make here as this type six teammate or leader? Um lead with clarity and confidence. And this is, I know, easier said than done. Um, but that confidence piece comes from evidence of all the times you have gotten it right. Sure, you've gotten it wrong at times, and you're thinking about those things or thinking about what might go wrong. Um, and that is you're gonna do that. I cannot sit say right now, don't quit thinking about that. You're gonna think about it, but also build the case for all the times you've gotten it right, all the things that have gone right. And so, what might go right? Making sure you're asking yourself and your team as you're maybe second-guessing um things, okay, what might go right though? Let's have a discussion about that, either with yourself or with your team. Our type seven, striving to feel excited. And when they're stressed, they tend to avoid their problems, they tend to look for a distraction with new ideas, something uh new and exciting. And their blind spot tends to be not following through and avoiding that those the discomfort, the probably very necessary but probably very challenging conversations, situations that that come up. So, what is the impact on the team in these situations? Well, the team can feel very overwhelmed, especially if this person is bringing up new ideas and talking about all these other things, dancing around what is really going on. Um, it can feel very scattered, like what the heck are we actually talking about? Um, and because this type seven, or anybody can do this, but um has a tendency to avoid these difficult conversations. We're all human beings. We're gonna have good days, we're gonna have bad days. Um, and so when you're having a bad day and your type seven teammate or your type seven leader is avoiding having that or you know, trying to put a positive spin on it, it can feel really unsupportive. Um, and so those are the things we need to watch out for is potentially having a negative impact on our team. And then what's a ship to make for our type seven? Focus on the follow-through. Um, one really good question, and I can say this is probably something that I will forever have to work on, but asking the question, what's one thing we'll finish this week? And how exciting would that be to finish that one thing? Uh okay. Our type eight, striving to feel powerful. Uh again, this is kind of the power to produce a result. When they feel stressed, they might become more controlling, more forceful, dominating, uh, domineering, maybe overly assertive because I want to make sure that I'm being heard. I'm stressed, I don't know that people are understanding. Um, and so that's how they're gonna navigate that stress reaction. Um, and so their blind spot here is steamrolling the quieter voices in these moments or dominating the decisions. Now, the impact that this can have on the team is that the team might feel a little intimidated to the point where they shut down. And so there's No discussion. There's no um bringing important issues up. Creativity might be stifled in these situations. Important issues that need to be brought up may not be getting brought up. And I've been in a couple workshops now where AIDS will just say, I just value honesty so much. And we know this about our type AIDS. And I just value directness so much. And it is just is a pet peeve when people, you know, aren't coming with the the giving it to me straight. And yes, that can be frustrating for an eight. And to be able to support your team, especially in a place if you're if you happen to be the leader, is making sure that you are creating a place where people feel comfortable speaking directly, um, you know, uh coming to you with differing differing opinions. And so you want that as an eight. And are you creating the atmosphere, the environment, the the team culture where that looks like it actually is acceptable, creating the that that space for those things? Um, and then okay, what can an eight do in these situations where they might be uh you know overcontrolling? Maybe uh their teammates, their team feels like they're shutting down in those situations. Asking, okay, who hasn't spoken yet? Who hasn't spoken yet? And then just pause before jumping back in or reacting. Just allow that silence, allow those quieter voices to maybe speak up, maybe asking the question one more time. Are you sure? Anyone else who hasn't said anything want to say something? And for an eight, you might be thinking, Well, my God, you know, I've, you know, if you want to say something, say it, right? But we know that an ibra is like you. Um, also, it can help to create a safe space where people feel comfortable speaking up when you're showing a little bit of vulnerability yourself. All right, type nine, in times of stress, their reaction might be to shut down, avoid conflict, kind of similar to our type nine, and procrastinate, maybe drag your feet on making a decision or doing what needs to be done. And so your blind spot is gonna look like avoiding decisions or uh delaying hard conversations. Our seven and our eight have some some things in common right here. Um you might you might notice. Uh, and then what kind of impact though does this have on the team? Well, the team isn't clear on what is going on, they might feel like there's no direction, and they might also, like we talked about with the type seven, feel completely unsupported because it's like, gosh, there are some really important things that we need to be talking about. And we have this person over here ignoring it completely. So, what can you do as a type nine? What's a shift you can make? Step into that discomfort, make one small decision and communicate it clearly. I think um our type nines can take a take a note from the type five where um they are over-communicating, or it feels like to them, over-communicating. Type nine could also benefit from that in this situation. Okay, our type one, striving to feel perfect. In times of stress, their reaction might be to become even more critical, even more rigid, um, overly focused on rightness. And so a blind spot that might show up, they might not realize that they are micromanaging their team. They are overcorrecting others too much, or correcting others too much, where the team feels like, gosh, I can't do anything right. And so the impact on the team is that the team does feel judged, they might feel really anxious about making a mistake, doing the wrong thing, um, or like they can't do anything right, and that can feel incredibly defeating. That is not motivating, that is not inspiring, that uh that does not um inspire creativity or new ways of thinking, thinking out of outside of the box. So you stifle all of that. So our type ones and some of the others might need to watch out for this. So, you know, as a type one, maybe try loosening the grip and ask, what is going right? You tend, especially in times of stress, to get really focused on all that's going right. Similar to what we talked about with the type six, you're gonna look, you know, it's gonna be impossible to not see the things that aren't going right. Add in though, what, or I should say, it's gonna be impossible not to see all the things that are going wrong. But make sure you're adding in a column that says the things that are going right and focus on the progress, the effort, not necessarily the perfection. Our type two, starting to feel connected in times of stress, they might overextend themselves, they might rescue people, um, which just adds more onto their plate, um, taking on too much. And so their blind spot at work might be um creating dependency or by um by taking on too much, creating burnout by doing everything themselves, saying yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and not just yes, but sure, yes, right now, not yes, and can I get this to you next week kind of thing. So the team may feel smothered because of that overreach, that rescuing, the the I can help you, let me help you. Um, in our workshops, we talk about type two sometimes giving unsolicited advice, and they think they're helping, they're connecting, um, but others feel like this is not the type of help that I want right now. Um, and they can also create this atmosphere of unclear boundaries so that the team is like, well, gosh, if they're always saying yes, then what should I be saying yes? Like, what are the boundaries here? Um, and so there can be some uncertainty around that. And so a shift to make for our type twos is to step back and ask other, ask yourself, is this mine? Is this truly mine to do? Or could you be empowering one of your teammates to grow and practice by allowing them to do it themselves, by allowing, by sitting with them to maybe in that uncomfortableness, maybe not sitting with them, but allowing that uncomfortableness. I noticed that I think as parents, we might have a little bit of this energy. Some of us might have a little bit of this energy with our with our kids. We want to save them, we want to protect them from things, but we all know that we can't do that. And sometimes those difficult things that they have to go through is where the growth happens, the learning happens. So especially for our type two leaders, be aware of that. Our type three striving to feel outstanding. Uh, in times of stress, they're gonna become even bigger workaholics, double down on those goals, uh, probably avoid emotions. Let's just stick to the work. And so the blind spot might be overprioritizing their image and continuing to look good and efficiency over connection. And in times of stress, your team is probably also stressed and might be needing connection from you. And so the impact that that blind spot might have on your team is that your team feels unseen, maybe used simply just for results. They might feel like just a cog in the machine. And again, like we've talked about some of these others, that's not inspiring, that's not motivating, that's not sustainable for your team to continuously feel that way. And so, what's a shift that our type three teammates or leaders can do? Slow down a little. And this is the idea of slowing down so you can speed up because I know you don't want to slow down, but slowing down to check in personally. How are you doing? How's your day? Can really mean a lot in actually motivating your people to work harder, to do more, and to bring more effort because they feel cared about. They feel like you care about them, not just, oh, I could be anybody here. Um, something else that our threes can do, because I know that threes, you know, really this means a lot to them, is recognizing effort, the effort their team is putting into something, not just the output. The goal is important, the result is important. I'm not saying that, but along the way are there opportunities to recognize the effort that everybody's putting in to getting to that big goal or that that end result. And then last but not least, our force, um, striving to feel unique. In times of stress, they might be, they might withdraw, they might get a little moody, um, they might get a little fixated on what's missing in their life, what's missing on the team. Um, and so their blind spot could be having this, having or creating this emotional intensity or kind of unpredictable attitude or mood within the team dynamic, like, whoa, I don't know how to approach this person right now. Um, and so the team might feel like they're walking on eggshells, like, oh, I don't want to, I don't want to make them feel even worse. I don't want to push them over the edge. And so, what can what's a small shift of type four might do, might be able to do? Ground yourself in facts and in structure, in routine. Um, lead with steadiness. And emotions are so important. And I do believe that feelings can be facts sometimes, and that um that is important to know about how that person is experiencing a situation, how how you feel about a certain situation that can be really important information. So we do not want to discount feelings at all. However, sometimes, like we are always talking about, that that can get a little dialed up too high at times. And so just looking for ways to maybe dial it back and adding in the the um the logic, the facts, like, okay, we're worried we're not gonna meet this deadline, and we're worried that this is, you know, gonna be the end of the world or the company or whatever uh catastrophizing we might be doing. But thinking back, okay, when have we dealt with a problem before and we've gotten through it? Um, and thinking back on things like that, what's what's likely to happen here? Not, you know, kind of what worst case, which I know sometimes our sixes can also struggle with. So you might see yourself in a couple of these blind spots. But again, this isn't to say that these are the only things each of these types struggles with, or if if you are this type, um, these are the only things that or only this type will struggle with this. Um, these are just some uh what's the word? Tendencies, common, there we go, common tendencies that we see, but we can these can show up in any type. Um, and it just kind of gives us a starting point, like so much, so many of the things with the Enneagram, the insights that it gives us, it just gives us some language. It does give us some insight as to what might be going on, what might be behind some of the challenges that were happening. So I am going to put this up on a website that you can download if you would like. It'll be at Enneagramba.com forward slash blind spots. If you want to refer back to this, um, use it uh to have a team discussant discussion, use it for some self-reflection, use it in a um one-on-one situation uh with a teammate. What do they see? What do you see? Uh, this can be some common uh or this can be some some interesting conversation starters. So, with that, let me see here. I have my notes. Um to see if there's anything else I wanted to pull in here. Um yeah, anyagramba.com forward slash blind spots, you'll be able to download that. And um, you know, I I think that uh as we continue to use tools like Chat GPT or just kind of AI in general for um therapy and companionship and maybe you know self-awareness, giving us some direction on how to be a better human, um, there still will always be that need for, you know, a real-time mirror, whether that is a coach, a therapist, your teammate, a manager, a fellow coworker, just somebody there to actually, you know, ChatGPT is great at hyping us up, but somebody to say, hey, you know, I see, I see this strength in you, and and also this I could see kind of getting in your way. Um, and uh, you know, I think that there will continue to be a need for that in-person or live interaction with other human beings. And that is my favorite part of doing the work that we get to do is creating a space, a container for those types of conversations and insights to happen inside our workshop. So uh if that is something you and your team would like to have an uh Enneagram certified professional come in and guide you through, facilitate a training or a workshop for you, um, all of those options can be found over at EnneagramNBA.com. And we'd love to hear from you. We'd love to look at getting something booked for your team, either as maybe an end of the year, a fall event, or um, as I mentioned in others, we're already booking out in 2026, uh kind of new year kickoff uh type of all company meetings and that sort of thing. So we'd love to connect to learn more about your team and how we might be able to help continue to bring that human component, that emotional intelligence to your team or organization dynamic. So, with that, thank you for listening. Um, thank you for bearing with me with this voice. I know it is sometimes kind of annoying to listen to as somebody's struggling to speak. So hopefully next week uh we'll be back to normal. And uh I look forward to uh connecting with you then.