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Welcome back to another episode here on the Enneagram at Work podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Wallace, founder and managing director here at Enneagram MBA, a team training company. And today we are going to be talking about our Enneagram type sevens, um, which I feel like is kind of appropriate because I am feeling excited. Our type sevens are striving to feel excited. And uh we've just had a lot of fun, energizing, interesting conversations over the last several weeks, talking to teams as we plan and prepare for their end-of-year workshops, whether we are coming in and facilitating them or they are doing them on their own with our DIY kit. Um, we're talking about kicking the year off uh with some programming and how various teams want to integrate the Enneagram throughout 2027, not just a workshop. So we're we're having a mix of kind of end-of-year fun, entertainment type of experiences and looking ahead at how to start to introduce and then eventually integrate this um into various teams and organizations. So um that has been fun. Of course, I will welcome you, encourage you to check out those same options over at our website, anyagrammba.com, if that's something you're looking to do with your team. Again, whether it is having a guided experience or a self-guided experience with some of our workshop resources. Um, today, though, we are looking at our type sevens who are striving to feel excited. Uh, we have covered, we've had type one, we had a really interesting interview with type two and type four. We had uh we've talked about our sixes, our nines, our fives. We just recently had our type eight episode. Um, and I think this is the only one we haven't haven't had a uh dedicated episode to in the last few months. And um I thought, my gosh, we we got to get our sevens in here. Now, I will say, um, for those of you who don't know, and it shouldn't matter, but I also have to be realistic that it might. Um, I type seven is the the Enneagram type that I most identify with. So sometimes it is a little tricky talking about the seven because uh yeah, some of the things kind of hit close to home. And even though I talk about the Enneagram every day, I, you know, my life is the Enneagram, my work life anyway. Um, there are still things that, you know, I'm a human being that I still struggle with. And it is just so interesting um how so much of it, of course, not all of it, but so much of those uh challenges, the grief that I bring onto myself, um, is is kind of related to that strategy that is my go-to that I a lot of times will use without thinking about it, or I will be in the middle of a situation and realize, or I'll look back and realize, okay, that's okay, that's what I was doing here. So um take this, you know, with take what I shared today, knowing that, uh, but I am gonna try to uh you know talk about this in a in a fair way. Um are type sevens, as I mentioned, striving to feel excited. Their leadership style, according to the awareness to action framework, is striving or is um the enthusiast. And this, I mean, this really is. I um I've also I also really like the name the explorer because they explore possibilities and options and new ideas. Um and they tend to be one of the one, if not the only one that um can be the most comfortable with change. And sometimes we'll joke about um, well, it doesn't matter what the change is, it's just new and it's that's exciting. Now, of course, that's not always true. We're human beings, with change comes uncertainty, and it is just, you know, in in our in our being that sometimes change can feel uncomfortable and scary. Um, but also sometimes for our sevens and and other people too, but sometimes our sevens, um, it is just, oh, well, this is this is exciting. A new leader, a merger, an acquisition. Um uh we get a, you know, a new CEO is coming, we're getting a new team member, we're switching directions. Um, some people might have a lot of questions, might have uh a lot of fear around that. And there may be some of that, but a lot of times it's, oh, this is exciting. What's possible? So we're gonna look at how that optimism can be such a strength. And hopefully for our type sevens who are listening to this can really appreciate that about themselves. Um, and then if you're listening to this as a leader or a teammate to a type seven, to really appreciate that about them. Um, and then we are gonna look at how that might be overdone and really start to turn into some avoidance. And in all of our type-specific episodes, we have talked about the strength to really one strength, not all of them by any means, but one strength that that type tends to have that we really want to appreciate and lean into. And then we we have looked at what it looks like when it's overused. So we're gonna do the same for our sevens, which I know is not always comfortable to do. We're good. Well, that's one of the things we're gonna talk about. So on a on a team, type sevens uh really bring some incredible value when their team might be stuck. So they just naturally see possibilities. They are naturally re-able to reframe problems. Uh, they're naturally able to generate alternatives to bring a lot of energy and excitement, um, get buy-in, be influential in that way. They can help people see beyond the the current challenge or current obstacle right now. It's like, yes, we might be stuck, but it, you know, we don't have to stay this way. Um, when everybody else is looking, you know, at a closed door at times, what feels like a closed door, the type seven may already be looking around for for the window, you know? It just it and it just comes natural. Again, any type can do this, but this is just some, these are some natural tendencies of our type seven. Um, they can really um recover quickly. A lot of times when something doesn't work out, they're not gonna stew on it, overthink it a lot of times, beat up on themselves a lot. Now that can happen, and that absolutely does happen. Um, but a lot of times they can recover pretty quickly. Um, and then, you know, they they have this ability just to remind everybody that, hey, like this is a setback. This is it's not a failure, it's a learning opportunity. You know, it's not the end of the story if we don't want it to be. And really that ability to see what could happen rather than getting trapped or stuck in what already has happened can be such an incredibly useful and a lot of times needed energy or strength on a team, especially when we're in the middle, the middle of a change or uncertainty, um, when we're trying to brainstorm options and ideas, when we're experiencing a setback, when we need to do something and come up with something new and creative, innovative, kind of out of the box. Um, or when we're launching something new and need to get the energy up and get buy-in and and get people um on board, sevens can bring so much energy, positivity, belief in what's possible and and really create a vision for what's possible. I think sometimes people are like, sure, I'm I'm open to what's possible. Um, but what like what is that? What is possible? And sevens just have this ability to see a vision down the road. Um, and sometimes that's what you need to get started. It's not a step one, it's not a full-blown plan. It's just, hey, you know, if if we can make this happen, this is what is possible for us, our team, our organization, my life, our life in the future. And that really all of this tends to come so natural for our type sevens, where of course anybody can do it. It just might not be as easy. Um, but of course, right, like all these episodes that we've talked about, every strength can become overused at times. Maybe it's, you know, the seven is going through a stressful time and they're just really overusing that, striving to feel excited. Um, maybe it's the wrong situation for it. Um, maybe it's the, you know, the not the right fit for the person to bring that energy. So there's lots of different reasons why um it could be overused. Um, but you know, sometimes everything is going to be okay. And sometimes something is wrong that needs to be fixed. Someone is disappointed, um, a project doesn't go as planned, a teammate is frustrated, whatever decision was made has real consequences, maybe with a client, maybe with the rest of the team. Um, maybe a difficult conversation needs to happen. Um, but the type seven's natural instinct might be okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, that happened. But here's what we can do instead, which of course can be helpful unless we're moving to the solution before we have actually dealt with the problem. So that's when that can be a little overused. Um, we have, you know, this concept of sevens having a gift to be able to reframe, you know, well, this happened, but it's it actually is meant to be. It's all gonna be okay. And there are some there are some strengths in that. And then I think the negative side of that might be around ignoring, dismissing, bypassing. So a healthy reframe is something along the lines as okay, that didn't work. Fine. Let's understand why, let's learn from it. Uh, let's figure out what else is possible. Okay, that that is helpful. Um, an avoidant reframe might be, well, it probably didn't, it probably wasn't meant to be anyway. It probably wasn't meant to work out anyway. Let's let's move on to the next thing. And the difference here isn't isn't necessarily about positivity. It's whether the problem has actually been acknowledged. So we we have to acknowledge the reality first. You know, it is what it is, and the positivity can can be in that, okay, it is what it is, but we don't have to stay here, but it is a problem, versus oh, it's not that bad, but it's like, no, no, no. I think it is, it could, it could be that bad. And so a good question for our type sevens to think about is am I truly finding a new perspective, or am I just trying to get away from an uncomfortable one? Which that is something that many sevens will struggle with. So if you happen to be a seven listening to this, this isn't, this is not a rare thing. Someone who is striving to feel excited, it makes sense that this would be one of your challenges. So some situations uh that I have a couple of workplace situations here where this might show up. Okay. Um, there might be a project that failed. So everyone wants to kind of look back, understand what happens, kind of, you know, conduct a post-mortem here. And a seven might think, well, we learned a lot. Yep, let's move on. And the team is still, you know, trying to understand what happened and really needs to understand what happened. Um, another situation where sevens can can bypass and avoid is when maybe they're getting feedback from their manager, and the manager says something like, Well, you know, there are some concerns we need to address. And the seven, you know, really kind of quickly jumps in and starts explaining why it's actually not that bad, or maybe introduces other things that are going well to avoid looking at the things that aren't. Um, conflict is something else that sevens can struggle with. I think this is one of the similarities that sevens have with our type nines is avoiding conflict. Um we don't want to feel sevens don't want to feel uncomfortable, be in pain, have to sit with uncomfortable feelings. And so somebody might come up to them and say, uh, I'm really frustrated about what happened. And then rather than maybe shut down or withdraw, a seven typically will kind of try to lighten the mood, find the silver lining, or or maybe change the subject altogether. Um, there might be a planning meeting or a planning process that our seven is involved in. Um, somebody's trying to raise some risks or concerns. I'm thinking maybe of our sixes, maybe our ones, maybe our eights, looking at that realistic picture. Um, and the seven is thinking, these people are so negative. And this actually isn't, this isn't helpful. Um, this I'm experiencing this as a negative and not as preparation is is my it could very well be how our type is looking at that. And that might, you know, you can understand right there why there might be some friction between teammates who have some some different perspectives of that. Um and you know, I think it's important to remember that optimism, optimism is powerful, and it is not, it doesn't have to be necessarily wrong. Um, but it's also not wrong for people to ask hard questions or have big feelings or uncomfortable feelings or want to have uncomfortable conversations. That's also not wrong. And so sometimes our our non-seven coworkers can experience this very differently than the seven would intend for them to. And this was something that has this is something that comes up in all the episodes where we talk about the various types. We just talked about it in our type A episode last week, where they're bringing this passion and intensity, but other people might experience it as uh dominance and aggressiveness and you know, uh emotional volatility and and it and shut them down. So a seven might intend just for them to, hey, I'm saying this, I'm doing this, because I'm just trying to keep this moving. Um, I want to keep this moving. Um, our sevens tend to want to go far and they want to go fast. Details are not usually the first thing that a seven is gonna figure out. Let's just let's keep moving forward into the future, toward that exciting thing. Um, whereas a teammate or the manager might think, you're just not taking this seriously. Um, a seven might have an intention to, hey, I feel like I'm helping because I'm I'm trying to keep us positive. I'm trying to keep this positive. I want to keep this conversation positive, this project positive. Um and it could feel really dismissive to other people. It's like, well, you're you're dismissing my concerns, you're dismissing my feelings about that. And that does not feel good. It never feels good to be told, well, just look on the bright side. It's like, oh, okay, yeah. Why didn't I think of that? Um a seven might intend to, you know, what just want to show all that's possible. There are other possibilities. We don't have to be stuck here, we don't always have to do the same thing. Um, there's other things that we could we could look at. Are we sure this is the the right way? Um, where a six might also have a little bit of that energy and might be saying and doing something very similar because of that inner committee. It's like, well, we could do it this way, or we could do it this way, or we could do it this way. Um, but it's coming from a different place. The sevens is like the possibilities is what's really exciting. And are we sure we're thinking of all of them? Where where somebody else, the team manager, a coworker, might think, uh, listen, you we've already made a decision. You just don't want to commit to the decision we have already made. And that sometimes commitment can feel committing to a decision, um can feel scary almost because that means I'm cutting off the other possibilities. I'm I'm I'm I want to avoid feeling trapped, and here I am committing to this, and now I am trapped in doing this thing. Um, but that doesn't have to be the story that our sevens tell themselves. And we're gonna talk about that here in just a minute. But um again, we kind of talked about the optimism is not the problem. Um it's just we sevens need to be okay and allow when other people um wanna bring up difficult things or how they're feeling. Um, we just need to make sure that there is room for a good, fair reality check alongside that optimism. And I think, you know, when when I think of this, it's like that yes, this sucks. This is terrible, this is really hard, this is not great news. Um, we messed up. And acknowledging that, and then the seven strengths can really come in after that has been acknowledged and you know, admitted, realized, um live, you know, planning and living from that reality, and then to come um to come in with that optimism and say, but or and we're gonna get through it, we're gonna figure it out, we're gonna learn from this. This is what we're gonna do differently. We can do this, you know, kind of kind of thing. And that's where that optimism can really be powerful. Um, the commitment piece is also a thing that our type sevens will struggle with. Um, and it can feel very distracting and quite frankly, frustrating to other people when um the net there's always another possibility. Um, there's always a new idea that feels more exciting versus going deeper and actually executing on the current idea, the current project. At work, this might look like, oh, you know, we got really excited last week about a new initiative, but that's old news. Like, look, I got a new idea for a new initiative. I got a new strategy. We got let's look at a new software tool. Uh, let's look, I got a new idea, I got a new opportunity. Um, and everybody else around this person might be just thinking, uh, could we just please finish what we started? And when we talk about our leadership styles, this can be also a struggle for our type seven leaders who can be incredibly inspiring and motivating with all the this these big visions and and big possibilities of what is what could happen in the future. And at some point it can start to feel a little defeating and not very inspirational because it's like, oh my gosh, we well, we're not making any progress. We're just we're coming up with good ideas that feel nice, um, but we're not actually making anything happen. Could we please just finish what we started? Um, and this is something that I absolutely can relate to. It is something that I too struggle with even to this day, even knowing how the struggles of the type seven, even talking about the Enneagram, talking about type sevens, type sevens for all of these years, I still can get caught and do this. Like, oh, I got this really exciting idea for a new book. I have this really exciting idea for a new spin. I'm gonna put on the curriculum, a new, a new um free resource, a new uh, a new podcast. Uh and then it's like, okay, when you actually have to do it or you have to stick with it, it's like, okay, this isn't quite as exciting as I as I had hoped or as I had um envisioned in the beginning. And so one of the things for the type seven is going to have to be to kind of change that narrative about what it means to feel excited. Um, you know, instead of, you know, the new ideas are exciting. You know, it's I I will feel excited. I will have more opportunities. I will actually be able to have more options in my life. I will actually be able to do more fun things if I'm not constantly recreating the wheel, coming up with new ideas. If I'm able to focus on one thing and finish it, that might mean that I am that much more effective and efficient. So that maybe outside of work, I can have more fun because I'm not working at night too, because I'm constantly starting new ideas. So there will be some sort of reframing that our type sevens will need to do for this, for any sort of change to be sustainable, like all of our types, um, changing, you know, what it means to feel excited. Um, and so I think a good kind of self-reflection question, you know, development question, I guess, is that uh a seven could ask themselves, you know, is this new option actually better? Or am I just drawn to it because it's newer? Is this new software tool that I'm so excited about, is it genuinely better or is it just new? And I'm excited by that. Um, so those will be that that's a really great question. And you may not be able to answer it right away. Maybe you sit with it, maybe you journal, maybe you talk to somebody about it, but maybe you want to walk and think about it. Um, another great line to think about for our type sevens might be something like um, what might become possible if I stay with this long enough to either go deep with it, to finish it, to to execute on this grand, exciting plan that I had, you know, six weeks ago. Um, and then for our type seven leaders specifically, which uh their leadership style is known as the enthusiast, um, a a seven leader can really create an exciting workplace. And I, as I have said in in various episodes, um, I don't see a lot of sevens in the traditional workplace um where they where I personally see them. And again, this is only my experience. I'm not saying that this is the experience of the rest of the world. Other Enneagram teachers might have different experiences, um, but I see them in the workplace on sales teams where there tends to be a lot of flexibility with your day, um, tends to have, you know, variety. Um, I also see sevens a lot as startup founders, and that makes sense. It's like you have to be a little bit, I think, unrealistic to do some of the things that have been brought to life. Like if you sat with it too long and tried to be too realistic with it, you I don't, you know, you you wouldn't, you wouldn't do it, or it would be too daunting. So you do just have to have a little bit sometimes of that um kind of unrealistic optimism to get it, to get it going. Um, and you can look back and think, oh my gosh, I would have never started that had I known. Um, but that's again, that's sometimes the the strength of the seven to be able just to jump in, figure it out along the way, and believe that it's going to work out. Um, people around a type seven leader could feel really energized and hopeful, really encouraged to experiment, um, not get too caught up in making mistakes. Um, people might feel really um empowered to bring up new ideas, um, to be a little bit more optimistic about what is possible. Um, but employees also want to know okay, but can are we still gonna be able to talk about something when it isn't fun for everybody? And so can the leader, the type seven leader, stay with a difficult conversation, acknowledge disappointment, um, follow through around brainstorming. And and I will say, I think for me, um one of the biggest changes is when I'm allowed, when I allow myself to have quote unquote, you know, uncomfortable feelings, you know, hard feelings, sad, I'm mad, I'm disappointed, I'm embarrassed. Um, because it it's kind of hard sometimes to allow somebody else to do that and to really be able to empathize if you're not first doing that for yourself. So are you able to even acknowledge your own disappointment and then kind of holding space and and being able to empathize with others around that? Um, you know, are you gonna be able to follow through after the brainstorming? Can you address poor performance, which could really bring down the vibe? You know, one they say like one bad apple can really, you know, poison the whole, the whole pot. Um, and so that's not gonna be exciting. That's not gonna be fun. Um, and so you may have to again reframe it here. Well, I'm gonna have, I'm gonna have to have this very difficult, uncomfortable conversation with this employee who is struggling. I may have to let him go for the sake of the rest of the team so that we can get back to, you know, moving forward, working on big things, having having creative new ideas. Um, can you allow someone to be frustrated without immediately trying to make them feel better? Again, this is something that I think we need to work on as our uh, you know, with ourselves as the type sevens and really pay attention to because so much of this we do unconsciously. Um, and so as much as we can catch ourselves in the moment and we can even say, you know what, you know, let me start over. I'm sorry. That that's not that's not what I want to do here. Um, I wanna, yeah, I want, I want you to have space to, you know, vent, complain, talk about something that is hard. Um, and I don't want to fix it, you know. I'm let me listen, you know, I'm gonna sit here and I'm gonna listen. I'm not gonna try and fix it or reframe it. Um, and so that those are a lot of things that if a type seven leader can tweak, you know, that's their that optimism, that positivity that they have, and also being in touch with reality, they can be incredibly powerful and influential and make big things happen. Um, and so the goal here is never to be, or it's not necessarily to be less optimistic, you know, just like we talked about with our type one episode where we said who type one striving to feel perfect. The goal here isn't to lower your standards. Last week we just talked about our type eight, and and the goal wasn't to be less powerful, and so we're definitely not going to tell our sevens, well, stop being so positive. Instead, it's just a matter of keep the pot, keep the optimism, but uh you know, maybe expand your capacity a little bit to stay in the moment, even when it isn't positive, even when it kind of feels uncomfortable. And I think optimism can start to become credible to others when people know that you aren't using it to avoid reality. And I really, I really think that that is one of the the biggest growth opportunities for the seven and how that gets expressed, what you actually do with that will be very personal to you know, to your unique personality, to your role at work, your culture, um, and you know, your your life. Um, but I do think that just kind of keeping that in mind, how can how how can I still make sure my op I don't lose the optimism? I, you know, it can still be credible if I'm also able to stay in touch with reality. So a couple of questions. Let's see here. I think I have three questions as we wrap this one up for our type sevens. And we have talked about the the question, the self-reflection question. Am I finding a new perspective or am I just trying to avoid an uncomfortable perspective? That's real, you know, that's real. Um, does this situation even need a solution yet? Or does it does it need my attention first? You know, do I do we need to start problem solving? And sevens aren't the only one that can do this. I think, you know, I think our fives probably do that, this, our threes for sure, our ones probably do it. Um, you know, anybody can can jump into solution finding for whatever reason. I know that this is also sometimes can be a gender challenge between men and women in romantic relationships. So it's not just about Enneagram types, but um it I think this is important because a lot of sevens do have just a natural tendency to jump into reframing and problem solving when it's like, well, we haven't even really fully looked at the problem and acknowledged it. So how are we going to to solve it first? You know, how are we gonna solve it if we haven't really, really accepted it and and kind of dug into it? Um, and then the last one I have is is this genuinely a new, is this new option genuinely better or is it just new? Is it just newer? Um, and we talked about that earlier with the um the software tool. Is it really better or is it just exciting because it's new, whatever that might be. So sevens can bring teams something that I think, especially in the world that we are living in right now, um, something that we all desperately need, which is possibility and hope and a picture for what the future could be. Um, when things get heavy, these these people are often the ones reminding others that there is another way forward, that there is a way forward, that there is another way forward. Um, and and we don't want to lose that, right? We don't we don't want our sevens to to lose that. We we need that. Um, but we also need our sevens to be able to say, this is difficult, this didn't go the way we wanted. We need to deal with it. And then start to, you know, ask the question and start talking about okay, what else might be possible here? Um, you know, the the optimism really becomes powerful when everybody knows that you are willing to face reality first. And and so I think a nice kind of thought to consider for our type sevens, or maybe you you lead a type seven and and this could be something you share with them. Um, sometimes the most positive, potentially exciting thing that you can do isn't necessarily find the silver lining. It's it could be to stay with something uncomfortable long enough to really understand what it's trying to tell you. And for our sevens, uh, we haven't talked a whole lot about this recently, but our growth arrows, our resource points are the two other types that our type is connected to inside the Enneagram diagram. Uh, and one of those is the Enneagram type five, um, where they're a little bit more thoughtful. They're they're deeply steeped in reality and want to know the data and the facts and what happened and think about it and reflect on it before they move forward. Um, being okay with with solitude and being okay with silence and and and and I think there are a lot of good qualities that we don't want our seven to not necessarily become a five, but what can you pull from the five to help you continue to to to strive to feel excited um and and and do these positive things do in the workplace, but also do it with a level of realism um that allows people to trust you and go along with the big visions that you have for them. So um we will leave it there if you happen to be a type seven and want to share uh your experience, anything that you have learned. Um, as always, I'll invite you to share your comments over at enneagrammba.com forward slash contact, and you can share your your thoughts, questions there. Um, and then I will invite you again just to keep us in mind as you start to wind down the year, plan for kickoff meetings. Um, as I've said in other episodes, we are also starting to plan for spring retreats. Um, we are starting to plan for summer retreats, we have some conferences on the books. So um, you know, depending on what you have going on next year, um, check out the the options, standalone workshops, team development programs, organization-wide programs over at Enneagram MBA. And uh as always, I appreciate you being here and listening. If you have a seven in your life, you think that they would find this helpful, please share it. Um, and I look forward to seeing you in the next one.