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Welcome back to another episode here on the Enneagram at Work podcast. I am your host, Sarah Wallace, founder and managing director here at Enneagram MBA, a team training company. Today's episode is a part two to a topic that we started last week around how stress and resiliency can show up in the workplace around uncertain times, around sad times where there's grief and there's fear and there's uh anger and there's worry and there's anxiety, um, specifically um what we're seeing with our immigrants, our immigrant community here in the US, um, with children, with other vulnerable communities. And even though these things might be happening most likely outside of the walls of our office um or our home office, uh, they still are going to influence and impact how we show up with our stress levels, with our reaction triggers, uh, with our conversations and relationships with teammates, with our decision making and our leadership style. And so what we did last week was looked at each of the nine types and we looked at a typical stress pattern behaviors, what that might look like, what it might look like. And I wanna I want to share the same disclaimer here that um the what was shared and what will be shared today is just around Enneagram theory and potential examples and and what I've anecdotally seen um in the you know quote unquote real world. Um, but that's not to say that we can predict behavior, we can necessarily predict how somebody's gonna show up stressed, um, we can predict, you know, what they're going to do to be resilient, but just gives you some ideas for yourself so you can kind of realize maybe, oh wow, I I actually am having a hard time. Maybe I, maybe I didn't realize it, or oh wow, um, this is why this is maybe this is what's going on with my teammate. And then we kind of walked through some potential ways to support our team based on the strengths that each type naturally have. And I'm gonna share the same thing in this episode that I shared last time is there may be something that I share about the type that you resonate with, um, that you most resonate with that doesn't fit either because you've already worked on it, you've already kind of mastered it for whatever reason, it just doesn't, it doesn't ring true for you. It's not something that's a priority or that you notice that you struggle with, and that's okay. Um, we went through nine potential stress responses, stress patterns, nine strengths to leverage, and a practical example for how to leverage those strengths. So my hope was that even if it wasn't your exact type, maybe there was something in there that based on your team dynamic, what the specific situation your team was going through, maybe gave you an idea of something you can you can focus on, you can prioritize, you it can help with your own stress and anxiety levels as well as support your team during during these times. So we talked about that. I will recommend um starting there just so you kind of get the intro and and what we're doing. Um, today we're going to look at dimension two of the Enneagram according to the awareness to action um Enneagram model and look at our instinctual biases. We have three instinctual biases the preserving instinct, the navigating instinct, and the transmitting instinct. And uh I want to make sure that we're talking enough about these. And so I was gonna try and put it in all in the first one, but um, it ended up being really long. And so I thought, okay, let's just break it up into two parts. Um, but I didn't want to not do it because I do think that, especially in the typing process, and then when we're looking at um how to grow, how to be a better leader, a better communicator, um, how to leverage the strengths that we already have. This second dimension is really important and can be very insightful, offer just a different look um into ourselves, kind of get one layer uh deeper into understanding ourselves. And so I want to make sure that in this context, we look at it as well. So um maybe there's something from the nine types from last time that felt helpful. Add what you learned today, I guess, to that, or maybe it's okay, there wasn't anything that rang true for me last time. Maybe there'll be something in here uh that rings true for you. So um I do want to call out that here at Enneagram MBA, we do have a special going on for the month of February before we get into today today's topic, because um I think that Enneagram can be such a wonderful tool right now, especially. And I know for some organizations, either because of budget or because um you're not sure how the team is going to respond to it and you and you're hesitant to invest a lot of money, a lot of time um in bringing one of our facilitators out. Although I will say myself and we have Dina and we have Dia, some of our other facilitators, um we run great workshops. Uh, so if you are looking for an in-person facilitator, we'd love to have that conversation with you. But um, if you're just wanting to check it out or wanting to find a more budget-friendly option or just something that's more flexible, hey, I want to roll this out on our own time. We do have our DIY Enneagram Workshop kit. And this kit includes everything that you need to do to introduce the nine types as it relates to the workplace to your team. We give you things to um consider and do beforehand so that you have options around do you want a paid test or a free quiz, how to set that up, um, the resources that we prefer, some pre-homework, um, what to do with the results, some survey questions to ask beforehand. You get the full slide deck so you don't have to worry about um creating anything in Canva, knowing what to say, um, and then even knowing how to say it, we got you covered because I will share a specific workshop example with you that walks you through how I talk about it. And then I also uh have a talking points document slide by slide for you. And then we have some post-workshop activities, we have um in workshop activities, discussion questions, uh, we have additional resources to help your team type. We have um a team map uh template and some guidance around what to do with that, how to use it, um, and some other additional resources to provide and share with your team to keep the Enneagram alive beyond your workshop. Um, ideally, this workshop in the kit is is good for 90 minutes, two hours, um, maybe even a little bit longer, depending on how many of the activities you want to do, if any, and how long you want to give your teams to discuss. So that that's kind of the sweet spot. Um, we have that available. We always have that available. Um, in the month of February, though, when you buy the kit, you're going to get the additional slide deck that you can pull in and make this a half day training, potentially, or a part two with our coworker chemistry slide deck, talking points, video, and additional discussion questions, activity, and resources. That is a $95 value. Um, and you're gonna get that free when you buy the kit in the month of February 2026. So, depending on when you're listening to this, that that um may or may not still be the case, but the DIY kit and the coworker chemistry um slide deck both are always available. It's just for the month of February here in 2026. Um, the coworker chemistry slides are free. So um wanted to make sure you knew about that. Um, with today's topic, let's get into it. So when we're looking at our preserving instinct, um, we well, let me say this we have our Enneagram type that uh gives us some insight as to what we what we focus on, the perspective we see, kind of what motivates us. What's that core logic that is influencing our thinking that is then influencing our behavior? So um it's less about it's less about what we do and more about why we do what we do when we're looking at the type. And then our instinctual bias, when you overlay that, it gives us some insight into how that type might be expressed. And so I always like to think of it as flavors or shades. So, you know, we have the we have the color green, for example. Okay, that is, you know, that's helpful to know, you know, I'm gonna paint the wall green versus purple, you know, then that's kind of the same thing. Like, am I a type one or are you a type uh, you know, seven? It's like okay, I got I understand the color, but within green, you know, are we talking about jungle green, mint green, uh what are the other kinds of green? Garden green, uh, light green, sea foam green. Um, and so that is that that second layer of detail that the instinctual bias can offer us. It can give us um some insight into, you know, what is that shade or what is the flavor of the type that you must identify with? Um, what is what does that look like? And so we have our preserving instinct that tends to focus on things related to safety, resources, day-to-day routines, stability. Um, they're focused on comfort, maintaining comfort. Now, under stress, they may worry more than others. And I think we can all probably relate to this, but they can really focus on worrying about finances, job security, my health, my health insurance, whether the team has what it needs to function. Do we have the budget? Do we have the manpower, human power? Do we have um what do we have what we need? Do we have the training? And so that is what our preserving instinctual biases, regardless of your type, um, has a tendency to think about, worry about, maybe stress about. Um, the resilience move here for our preserving instinctual bias types is to create practical routines, boundaries, sustainable structures or sustainable schedules. And a lot of times you're already doing that. So continue to lean into that. That can be incredibly supportive to the rest of your team, that can be incredibly um supportive as a as a leader, um, that can create additional safety, security, comfort for your team having those things in place. So your gift as a preserving instinct is that you you're you tend to be really grounded in in what is like very rational, very um in touch with reality and realism. And so you're going to be able to help your people stay really practical and really steady during times of chaos. So a practical action example might be creating a stability check-in for your team this week, today, this month, whatever that whatever works for you, where you are clarifying the top priorities, you're removing maybe one unnecessary task or confirming what resources people need to do their jobs well. And so again, you're you tend to be thinking about this already, you tend to be where aware of these things already. And so you're just bringing um this thought process and this level of support, this type of support to your team, which is gonna be incredibly helpful in times of, like I just said, kind of chaos, uncertainty, sadness, rage. Feel all those things, do all those things. And then here when you come into the workplace or log on to the workplace, um, we have your back. We're gonna give you, we're gonna remove as much uncertainty as possible, and we're gonna give you as many support systems and tools and resources as possible to help you be able to turn that down that level of stress, even if it's just a little bit here in the workplace when you come here. Now, our second instinctual bias is the navigating instinct. And this is where our navigators will tend to focus on relationships, alliances, group cohesion, group dynamics, really understanding what's going on among each other, the departments. Um, so under stress though, this navigating instinct may become very just hyper aware of group tensions, social tensions. Um, they're gonna be really dialed into morale, whether people feel supported, whether people feel included, how's everybody actually doing? Um, we're not just doing our routines, we're not just getting our work done. Like as a navigating instinct, I want to know like, what's the morale? How's that how's everybody actually doing as well? Um, that's really important for our culture, for our ability to be sustainable and successful long term. And so your resilience here, um, your resilience move here as a navigator is to continue to tap into that relationship building and find some key relationships that make sense to deepen, to um build up more, to um build trust with in, especially in these uncertain times. So maybe you're the leader of one department, maybe this is reaching out to another department that you work closely with, but you really haven't formed that relationship. So maybe there's something there, maybe there's something with um somebody above you, below you, right next to you. Um, but you are so good at strengthening those relationships and building trust, just finding ways to, you know, specific key relationships to do that with it. It doesn't have to be with everybody. Um, but what's one person this week or this month that you can focus on to do that with? Um, your gift is social awareness that this is a strength that just tends to come natural for our navigators that makes sense based on what we shared, that they tend to focus on. They really help people feel connected, um like we're working towards something together, I guess, aligned and supported. Hey, I feel like my leader, my manager has my back, my teammates have my back, this organization has my back. I feel I feel really supported. And they're great at helping people feel that way. So a practical action that our navigating instinct can do is to schedule an a check-in conversation this week with someone on your team, maybe it's a peer, um, I just said, you know, a partner team or department that you work closely with, um, to ask what it is they're doing and what support they might need. Again, you're probably already thinking about it. You might already be doing it and didn't even realize you're doing it, but is there a way to leverage it even more? Um, how can you dial it up just a just an extra notch or bring some intention to that that strength and make sure that you're using it because it does come so natural to you as a navigator? Um, and then lastly, our transmitting instinct. So, our transmitters, they are focused on, they have a tendency to focus on making an impact, um, expressing themselves, their viewpoints, their opinions, their the work that they're doing, um, casting a vision for what's possible, casting a vision for big goals and big things to happen, and being influential. Under stress, this instinctual bias might feel um the urgency to jump into action, to speak out, to do something to make a difference. And it might be with a lot of intensity and it's most likely with a lot of good intention behind it, but maybe it is a little impulsive. Maybe you haven't thought through exactly how something should be said, um, depending on the audience. And so that will just be something to be cautious of. Just because it's a stress reaction doesn't mean that it's bad or that you shouldn't do it. It's just, I wanna, I want to be careful here. I just want to, I want to bring some intentionality to kind of my immediate default actions here, um, especially when I'm stressed. So your resilience move as a transmitter in these situations is to channel all of that energy into meaningful, constructive action. And again, this probably comes really natural for you to jump into action, but going back to that, you want to make sure it's meaningful, it's well thought out, it's intentional, and it is it's constructive. I know that there are some of us who just want to just kind of just rage, you know, break plates, scream, um talk about how how wrong things are, um, making sure people know that they're wrong, why they're wrong, sharing all these things. And that may or may not be um the best course of action, depending on the setting. So just kind of thinking through that. Your gift as a transmitter is to um inspire your team, to give your team um motivation and momentum. Um, you help the team stay energized, keep moving forward, even if it's baby steps, but just keeping that momentum going. So, how can you harness or leverage that strength that tends to come just so natural? Um, is maybe maybe it's as simple as sharing a short LinkedIn post, or maybe it is an internal message highlighting something positive that your team is doing to navigate the current moment that we're in. Whether it's um supporting customers, which I think is always a great thing to quote unquote to your own horn about. It's like, hey, look at how we're helping people. Um, maybe you inspire another department, you give another department ideas. Um, look at how we're helping each other and supporting each other. Um, or maybe it's, you know, look at how we're adapting to change, we're navigating change. Uh we're height, let's look at look at what we're doing to navigate this, these times of uncertainty. And um I think some types, some people are a little resistant to that kind of self-promotion concept. But when done with intention, like we're talking about, um, which can be a huge strength for our transmitters here, um, and purpose and meaning, it can be a tool for motivating others, inspiring others. And I also think that it can be um, it can feel so inspiring and rewarding and supportive to your own teammate to see you sharing. Hey, look at we're doing great things, and I want, I want the rest of the organization to know about the great things that we're doing. And so I think that your team can also feel really valued and supported when you're sharing all the hard work, the things that they're doing, the the hard things that they are having to navigate. So, you know, here's to here's to tuting your own horn or tuting your team's horn. So again, we kind of talked about in the part one, how stress shows up within our type, um, some specific things that we can do. In this one, we're talking about how stress might show up with our instinctual bias when we overlay that, um, where our attention goes, some things that we might do to leverage our natural instinctual bias strengths. And using them both to advocate and support ourselves as well as advocate and support the teams, even if we're not the team leader. I mean, especially if we're the team leader, but even if we're not the team leader, how can we be a supportive teammate? So um, you know, the again, I I think I said in the first episode that this is we cannot uh solve the world's problems with the Enneagram, right? But I I did think it was important to I, you know, just start to talk about at least at least mention, you know, acknowledge just where we're at right now in the world. And um in an effort to stay, you know, stay in my lane and kind of quote unquote stay on topic while acknowledging this all the very difficult, hard and raging sad things happening right now. I do think that the Enneagram can be a wonderful tool to even just pause from our day-to-day tasks and goals and just take a moment, check in with ourselves, check in with each other, um, have some meaningful discussions and um and yes, continue doing what we need to do to you know bring in revenue, you know, get our paycheck, but also doing what we need to do to make sure that we can sustain that, especially when we're we're in such heavy times. So um as we close out this topic uh for now anyway, a couple of questions to kind of reflect on as you go into the weekend or the week is to know okay what after I heard the nine types, after I heard the three instinctual biases, what is my stress pattern right now? Like what am I noticing? How am I showing up when I'm stressed, when I'm anxious? The second one to consider and reflect on, maybe talk about this with a teammate, if you're a leader, maybe go through these questions with your team one-on-one or as a group what does resilience look like for you this week? What's what what's one of those action steps? What's a specific example or maybe those specific examples that we talked about prompts you to think of something completely different. But what does resilience look for you this week? Not for the rest of your life not for the rest of the year but just just this week and then what does your team need from you in this moment? Not as a perfect leader, not as a perfect teammate, um, but as a present supportive caring teammate or leader. What do you think your teammate needs most from you right now? And and also I would add, you know, considering your strengths and what already kind of comes easy to you though to you how can you how can you leverage that? So of course the Enneagram is not going to remove uncertainty uh it's not going to remove stress it's not going to take away all of our problems but it can give us a way to stay connected with ourselves and each other just kind of stay human in in these difficult times um to not avoid and withdraw um but to stay present checking in with one another taking care of each other and so you know times like these um this is this is where the growth really happens that meaningful growth really happens that um this you know just understanding your stress triggers and and what you can do to to lessen some of those how you can support your team um some of these things might be you know the most important leadership skills you know uh outside of you know just direct communication uh executive presence right since what we're talking about in these episodes could really make more of an impact um as far as leadership skills go um and supporting your team so um if you have anything to add if there are things that your organization is doing really well that you think other organizations would benefit from hearing about um if there's something personally that you're doing in your own life to help you kind of cope and navigate um during this time please share books resources um please share those you can uh reach out just drop your thoughts anything you want to share at enneagrammba.com forward slash contact and I will be sure to pass those along um and then as a reminder that DIY kit the link will be in the show notes you can also find it on the homepage at the very top uh over at enneagrammba.com with that thank you for being here if you feel like there's somebody else on your team um or somebody else in another organization that would benefit from thinking about these sort of things um please share this episode the last episode and uh always feel free to add to the conversation um over at anyagrammba.com forward slash contact with that thanks for being here and we'll see you in the next one