Welcome to the Enneagram MBA Podcast, a show for aspiring and growing entrepreneurs and unfulfilled employees who know they are capable of playing bigger. If you are wanting to identify your gifts, find your purpose, do work that matters, and create a ripple effect that goes beyond yourself, you're in the right place. Each week you'll get resources, strategies, and support to help you get to know yourself, to get to know and understand others, like your future clients, and help you get known so that you can reach more people with your gifts and purpose. So grab your notebook or open up your notes app, and I will see you in class. I have been doing some podcast planning and I had this idea, no surprise, type 7 getting an idea, who would have thought, um, to add in an additional regular episode each week on a Tuesday, is what I'm thinking, where it is a very specific Enneagram topic that we would get into. So I love to come up with new ideas all the time, and then carrying them out is an area of a challenge that can be challenging for me. So rather than tell you, I'm gonna do this for the life of the podcast, add in a second episode each week, I'm gonna try it just for the next four episodes. So for a month, I'm gonna commit to adding in a second episode in the week where I'm still going to be able to get to interview guest experts, talk about what life is like as their type, and for brave individuals to come in and talk about narrowing down their type, getting a typing session on air. So still more of those to come on Thursdays. I love interviewing people, I love getting to talk to people, and I learned so much myself during those interviews. I get so much energy from them. So I'm those definitely aren't going away. But I thought it might help be helpful if we also talked about, you know, specific parts of the Enneagram that might be helpful to you to give you some additional insight and dimension and depth into understanding beyond just your dominant type. And even in that, we'll we'll kind of dig into additional layers, but go beyond just your core motive and core fear and talk about some different things that'll give you some more insight on yourself and those around you. And so I was going to jump right into an episode talking about how to use your Enneagram wings, how to pull out the strengths of each one and how to actually apply them. But I thought, you know what? Before we do that, it would might it might be helpful if you A, if you're not already, understood what exactly wings were, and then B, if you were still, you know, figuring out what your dominant type was, or you kind of had that nailed down, but still had just no idea what your wing would be. That episode may not be as helpful. So I thought let's take a step back. And before we talk about application, let's go back to talking about information and just do an overview of the 18 different types of Enneagram wings. And so in this episode, you're going to get a very quick overview of all 18. And I wanted to keep it valuable but also short and sweet. And um so that you would get something, hopefully, when we get to your type, um, you get some additional clarification as to what your dominant wing might be, and then also get some additional clarity and understanding of others because you might have thought, like, oh my gosh, this person told me that they're a five, but gosh, they just don't act like a five at all. Well, knowing that they might be one or the other wing might give you some additional um understanding of maybe why that is, and there's other parts of the Enneagram that will also play into that, but we'll focus on the wings in this kind of two-part mini-series. And before we jump into wings though, I do just want to cover um one quick mix misconception, and that is that wings, I've heard wings be described as just like your second highest Enneagram score on a test, or the one that you resonate um second with. And so, you know, somebody will say, I'm a wing, or I'm a type three, wing seven. And that's okay if you said that before, or if you thought about it. I did I wasn't sure what wings are, and I'm pretty sure I probably, you know, said that too, but wings will only be on either side of you. There's lots of different reasons why you might have some additional energy of some strong energy from another type that's outside of your dominant type. We have arrows, we have um different groups that groups of three that various types fall into that will play a part in that. And so all kinds of different reasons, but for wings, they will only be on either side of you. And then just to clarify, for a type nine, that means your wing will be a type eight or a type one, and for a one, it'll be a type two or wing nine. The rest of them are probably pretty self-explanatory. So, and then the the benefit of a wing is just kind of like what I said at the beginning, is just to add some more dimension, another layer, some depth to your core type. And my Enneagram coach, um, Christy Rolls described wings as your salt and pepper to your eggs, which are is your dominant type. And so some people like a lot of salt, some people like a lot of pepper, sometimes people don't like either. They just want their little eggs plain, and neither is right or wrong. And so sometimes wings can be really helpful and provide that additional insight and information about yourself, and other times it neither one will resonate and it's not helpful. So don't use them, don't force yourself to fit into one if like if neither one uh feels relevant. Um your wings can change. I will say that too. Um, unlike your dominant core Enneagram type, your wings can change over time, over the lifespan, or depending on if you're in a season or in a specific moment, it's like, oh my gosh, I really got to channel my you know, type eight energy. I I most identify for me as a wing six, type seven, wing six. Um, but sometimes I'm saying, you know, like, oh, I just I really need to, or like, whoa, dipped into my wing eight today for that meeting or whatever. Um, so you can you can dip into them, um, just you know, whatever's helpful for you, and however, to think about um, you know, yourself and how to communicate um you know what you need and want and what's going on inside of you, and wings could be a way to help you do that. So I will get started. I did share this, I created a fun graphic over for social media that I made DJ graphics. So I was kind of thinking of these um these wing mixes as like DJ mixes, like remixes of a song. So like you have your dominant type and then you add in a wing, and it's like, oh, you can it's gonna sound like this, but then you know, you another you know, track you add in, and it's gonna sound completely different. So that's just the analogy that my mind went to when I was thinking about wings just kind of turning them into like dominant type remixes. So if you are a type one with a wing nine, mixing the improver and the peacemaker energy, that is going that type is called the idealist. And I do want to say that I use the wisdom of the Enneagram book by Hudson Russo as the resource for this information. Some things like I added in, or maybe I I'm gonna say it a little bit differently, but the basis of this information came from that book, and it is a ginormous book. Um, it's a such a great reference, not necessarily a beginner's guide. Um, but if you are further along in your Enneagram journey and just really want to nerd out, um, that is a great book that has tons of resources. So if you and that's so that's where these these names came from, um, with a type one wing nine, they're going to be called the idealist. And if this is your dominant wing, you might be a little bit more introverted than the other wing. Um, you're gonna come across as kind and considerate, maybe a little bit more accepting, bringing in that nine ability to accept all kinds of people, accept all kinds of ideas. And this is an interesting dynamic because you have the one who is pretty black and white. There's a right way and a wrong way to do something, and then you have almost the exact opposite on the Enneagram with the nine who is 100% okay with living in the gray, and as leaders, one of their gifts, one of their strengths is the ability to be super inclusive and very understanding, and um uh the ability to just see all kinds of different ways and opinions and to hold space for it and to be okay, not necessarily judge it. Um, and I am going to try really hard not to clear my throat, but I am still recovering over from this cold, just like this lingering little cough and throat. So uh bear with me. Um, for this one, anger is gonna be a little bit more harder to detect. They're gonna shove that down even more. Again, with the one, they're they're already shoving that anger down. Um, but it eventually bubbles up as resentment because they don't want it, they see anger as being bad. And then the nine you shoves it down as well. But that sometimes is more about it just being out of touch with their own feelings. Um, there it's hard for them to feel hard feelings. They're in that positive look triad with our um positive outlook with our twos and our sevens. And so, you know, you pair both of those energies around anger, and that, you know, that makes sense why it would be a little bit harder to detect and be expressed by them. Um, they're gonna have this ability to see the bigger picture. Um, that's definitely some nine energy coming in there. Um, as opposed to being super task-oriented, they're still gonna have this strong desire to improve things. That is one of the core qualities of a type one, um, but they're gonna come at it in a softer, gentler way. Okay, so if you're a type one, that is what your wing nine is gonna look like. Now, the flip side of that is the type one wing two, which is called the advocate, and they're going to be a little bit more or might appear to be a little bit more outgoing, passionate. They're going to have this mix of principles and ideals of the one paired with empathy and compassion of the two. And they want to improve things as well, and they're going to be a little bit more forceful in doing it, and so they're going to be more willing to get in the trenches to accomplish the change that they want to see. Um, they're going to be really persuasive, and it might even be a little fiery when they're creating that change, um, when they want that change to happen and you know, be able to talk others into getting on board, to caring about their cause, to caring about the change that they want to make as well. And this one's kind of interesting because above we had one and nine who are both in the body center of intelligence where their intuition tends to kind of lead the way. And here you have some emotions coming in to the type one body type because the two, three, and four are in that feeling heart triad. So you have a little bit of that heart center of intelligence in there, which adds just kind of a different dynamic. And this one is really interesting too, because one, twos, and sixes are in this group called the compliance or dependence group, which means they're gonna look outside of themselves to get their needs met. And it doesn't mean they're dependent on another person necessarily. It just means that um they're gonna be a little bit more self-sacrificing, willing to do what they need to do for the common good, for you know, what's best for the group is kind of gonna be what they're thinking, um, which is amazing leadership qualities, right? Who wouldn't want that person to be leading their team? Um, and they're gonna be looking to a set of beliefs, a community, it might be an authority figure outside of them to kind of direct, help direct them on what they need to do. So you have both of those, both of that energy in this wing too as well. Okay, so moving along, we have type two, the helper. The first mix for this one is the mixing the helper with the um type one, the improver. And so these might look similar. And if you're deciding between, you know, am I a two or a three? Um, it's good you might, you know, be uh have just a really strong wing, but it's going to come down to your core motive. What is the main driver? Um, and if you want to know the main driver and get into more details, their chapter, not chapter one, episode one talks all about that. So when we mix the helper energy with the improver energy, we have the servant. And in this mix, you're combining warmth and empathy with a more seriousness of purpose of that one. Um, they're gonna come across as like wanting to be a little bit more moral and have that um desire to be both good um for themselves, personal goodness and selfless service. They want to relieve human suffering. So you might find them in some of those thankless jobs like teaching and um maybe social work, helping the physically and mentally challenged ministry, those types of jobs. They're gonna feel responsible for others' well-being, and they're going to be a little bit more critical, a little bit more severe with themselves, bringing in that type one's inner critic. Um, and in this case, they want to be significant in other people's lives, but they're okay from doing it in the background, and actually they would prefer that. Whereas when we have a type two wing three, we're mixing the helper with the achiever energy, that gives us the host. And here we have the threes desire for acceptance with the twos desire for intimacy. So this type is going to be less task-driven than the the one wing above, or I said above because that's what my notes say, but before this, and then um they're gonna tend to be a little bit more outgoing and charming and talkative, bringing in that that three energy. Typically, um not super overt caretakers in this situation, whereas you know, the helper is also called the caretaker, you won't find that as much in the wing three, and then they do enjoy sharing their talents and resources with family and friends, so that might be cooking or entertaining or performing for somebody, or um, you know, playing musical instruments, or um, that's kind of that's that kind of sounded silly. I was trying to think of examples, listening, even so um, you know, hence kind of the host hostess title in this one. Um, both two and three, as a reminder, are in that feeling heart center triad when it comes to our center of intelligence. So you have two of uh, you know, heart center um types right there. So you can imagine they, you know, they they might have a little bit more feelings, emotions going on, although sometimes threes do kind of repress them. Um, so that's just kind of some some fun insight about that one. Then our type three is called the achiever, and you're mixing that with their wing two. So you have the helper and the achiever, and you get the charmer. And this type can be more emotional. Again, um, that makes sense. Two and three are both in the feeling triad, spontaneous, outgoing, they're gonna be friendly, and they might even look like a seven. Um, then they're gonna feel like their value comes from being able to dazzle and impress others, and they want others to like and admire them. Um, and they they're really good at knowing when and how to, you know, quote unquote turn it on. And this subtype is going to be more competitive than the other. Now, excuse me, the when you mix the achiever with the type four individualist energy, you get the professional. This is these guys are gonna be more serious, diplomatic, more task-oriented, um, gonna want to see, you know, perfectionism might come up a little bit more in this type. So they can look like a one, which is really interesting. You know, what a dirt, kind, what kind of um a big difference. So we have, you know, lots of type threes out there, but when you pair it with a strong wing, it's like, well, one of them is showing up with, you know, put some seven energy and one showing up with some one energy, and gosh, how different can that be? And so that's why it is so important to really understand your core drivers and what's what's what are you running towards, and then also like what is your worst fear? What are you running away from? In this one, they see their self-esteem coming from work and career sex success versus their personal qualities, unlike the other wing. Um, here you they might have a little bit more self-doubt, and they're gonna feel like their entire self-worth is online with each new project they start. And just to give you an example of real life experiences with this one, we had Courtney Lazar on in the episode that talks about what I should be doing in my business. She is a type three wing four, and we talked about specifically how that four influences her type. And then we had Melinda Martin on in episode two, who is a type three wing two, and you can be interesting if you are a two or if you are a three or want to know more about a three, how that um the differences that you know each of them have, but their core being that type three energy with our type four is the individualist, and when you add in a dominant type three achiever wing, you get the aristocrat. And this is where you're gonna be combining creativity and ambition. Um, these guys are gonna be a little bit more sociable than the other wing, and they'll create when they're being artistic and we're they're being creative, they're gonna do it more so with an audience in mind. They want to be successful and distinctive, they're gonna be a little bit more self-conscious and will put more of an effort into their self-presentation. So if you're a type four, that is what your your type three wing energy is gonna look like. And then on the other side, we have our um five, the investigator, bringing in some of that energy, calling it, and we're calling this one the bohemian. And so this wing combo is less concerned with acceptance and status and creates more for themselves. They're gonna enjoy the process of creating, discovering through the creation process more so than the presentation of it. Um, they're gonna be a little bit more introverted, which makes sense. Fives are known for, they get stereotyped as being introverted, so that makes sense. Um, and then four, fives, and nine are all in another group called the withdrawn stance. And I don't expect you to like remember all of this, and I my intention isn't to confuse you, it's just to kind of draw some lines about like why certain things show up the way that they do. And in this case, fours and fives are in that withdrawn stance where they go within themselves to get their needs bet. Whereas earlier we were talking about ones, twos, and sixes going outside of themselves, looking for a set of beliefs, guidelines, rules, um, authority, vigor, community to support them in getting their needs met. The withdrawn stance goes within themselves. So they're gonna be a little bit more socially withdrawn, um, might consider themselves a little bit, you know, rebellious outsiders energy that want to deviate from the convention, the norm, definitely authority, and be kind of attracted to exotic, mysterious, and the symbolic. Now, our type five is the investigator. And when you mix in some of the type four individualist energy, you're going to get the inaclast. Um, this is a mix of curiosity and perceptiveness paired with a desire to express a unique personal vision. They're gonna be more emotional. So typically fives come across as a little detached, they're not as emotional. The fives are the first number in the head triad, the mental triad, so they're more in their head, more than their heart. But when you add in that four, you know, that makes sense again why they would be a little bit more emotional. Um, they're gonna have more. More creativity and introspective than the other wing. They're looking for a niche that hasn't been explored by others that they can really call their own. And they're going to be drawn to the arts and will use their minds. So fives are using their minds a lot, but when they do, in this case, they're going to use it more for imagination versus analyzing. They're going to be more independent and resistant to structure. Now, when you overlay or when you add in some seasoning of the six, that loyalist energy, you get the problem solver. And here you're mixing observation with the organization of the six. And you're getting organization and detail here. These guys have the ability to make meaningful connections from random facts and then make be able to make predictions from those random facts. And here they're looking for a niche that will kind of create some safety and security that fits into the bigger picture versus it being, you know, completely brand new frontier, like the one, the their other wing. They're going to be tend to be drawn to tech and science and engineering and philosophy, maybe some inventing. And you're going to find them to possibly be more cooperative, disciplined, and persistent. All right, we have our type six now with a little bit of that five investigator energy. And this subtype is called the defender. These guys are going to be more independent and serious than the other wing, and they're less likely to look for advice or reassurance outside of themselves. Um, they might be loners, um, which makes sense again. You're you're bringing in that five kind of withdrawn energy. Um, both of these, though, are in that mental head triad, so lots of things going on. Um, they tend to excel at tech expertise, not everybody, but that is that is a common quality. Um, they're gonna be really good problem solvers, and community service might be of interest in this case, and they just have this um, they're gonna have a greater ability to concentrate versus when you add in the seven wing here. So that type six energy mixed with the seven energy, the enthusiasm enthusiast is called the buddy. And the this wing is gonna be more sociable and engaging, maybe funny, they're can be really witty, less serious than the other wing, and they may actually avoid heavy topics. That's that for sure that seven energy coming in. Um, however, the thing that they are serious about is their commitments to their friends and family wanting to make sacrifices for the well-being, for making sure that they're taken care of. They might be more self-deprecating because they're they're gonna be turning those fears about themselves, about the world around them, into jokes. And this subtype, more so than the other, will tend to procrastinate a little bit more with distractions. That's definitely bringing in some of that seven energy. Um, again, all of these though are in the head, so very mentally um heavy. This is a reminder, feed chase. Okay, I wish that hadn't happened, but it did. Um, my I have a reminder to feed my dog, and actually this is a reminder, feed chase. It's for my son because my son's part of his chores is to feed our dog at night, so that just gives him a reminder. But anyway, luckily it only goes off twice. Um, but I have gotten my different electronics, Alexa and S-I-R-I, to talk to me during podcasts before, so they're just popping in to say hello. Um, our type seven is called the enthusiast, and when you pair it with some loyalist type six energy, you're gonna get the entertainer. These folks are gonna be excited by new ideas, a little bit more fast talking, also witty and funny. Um, you're gonna find them to be productive and playful. Um, they're gonna have a more positive outlook than the other wing, which makes sense. Um, excuse me. Um and then you're going to find that they, it's just so funny. I was about to say lose focus, and here I am losing focus, and I'm a type 7 wing six. Um, I was gonna say they're generally productive, um, but can lose focus more so than the other wing. They don't like to be alone, which is gonna be the opposite of the other wing. And sometimes they have this conflict within between like going between fear of missing out and grasses greener on the other side and jumping around, combined with this, like, oh, but fear of losing connection and actually not wanting to make a change because of that. Um both are in the mental, you know, head triad, thinking, thinking, thinking, lots of planning, analyzing, researching happening over there. Now, the other wing for the seven is bringing in that type eight challenger energy. And here you get the realist. They're gonna be mixing quickness and drive of the eight with more focused on material success and um possession positions of power. They're gonna be determined to get what they want, more direct than the other ring, the other wing, maybe more practical and tough-minded. They they're okay with being alone over here. That's that's fine, they're not afraid. Um, and they tend to be more workaholics in this wing, um, focusing on generating activities versus connecting with others. So with this wing, you're getting the mental head triad with the seven, but then you're bringing in some body energy. And eights have been called the, you know, saying that they have some of the high the highest energy of all types. And then sevens and eights, along with our threes, are in that assertive stance where they're looking at the future, they're going fast and forward, and they're thinking, you know, what's next? So when you pair that seven and that eight energy, you do get a lot of energy, a lot of um momentum into the future. Our type eight um is called the challenger. And when you mix in, we sprinkle in a little bit of seven energy into this one, you get the independent. They're gonna be more adventurous, risk takers, have a lot of big plans. They're gonna be one of the most social and talkative types. They're gonna have a lot of self-confidence and not really concerned with people pleasing. Um, they may come across as aggressive, they're totally comfortable with confrontation, yet charismatic and can attract others to join them in their vision. They're good at challenging others to stretch their abilities, and they're probably going to be seen or going to be the most independent subtype, hence the name independent. Now, when you this is a really interesting pair, I think. When you mix the eight and then you bring in some of that peacemaker energy, you get the bear. And this is a mix of strength and self-confidence with a quiet, a more quiet groundedness, and they're gonna have a more laid-back quality to them. So they're not gonna be as aggressive or as easily angered as the other wing, but they're still going to assert power and leadership, but do it more so from a place of protectiveness. They're protecting their team, they're, you know, asserting themselves, they're asserting their power, they're leading because they want to take care of their team, their group, whatever it is. Um, they have this ability to be calm and reassure others, and that you might find them living more quiet lives, and they're gonna be more attuned to others, nonverbal cues, and really um pay attention to body language and be able to read people's faces and tones of voice. They're going to speak more slowly, maybe more than the other subtype, and then they're gonna be pretty strategic and watchful and almost dare people to underestimate them, which I kind of love that energy. And then lastly, um, we have our type nine, the peacemaker. And then when you bring in that eight-wing for them, they call that the referee. And here it's a mix of agreeable and the ability to comfort others with endurance and strength. Both are you're getting a mix of powerful and gentle. Um, they can easily engage with others, they're focused on immediate results. Like, okay, what do we need for our physical well-being and those results, financial results, those kind of things? Um, they're gonna excel in, you know, helping professions that can be more stubborn and defensive than the other wing, maybe. Tempers can come out with when when their threat, their sense of well-being or um a threat to their family or their job, or maybe even like their belief system. Um, when any of those feel threatened, you're gonna see that temper come out. Um then for our type nine, we have the wing one bringing in the improver energy. And again, it's it's interesting with our nines, they do tend to be, even though they're in the body or the intuition, um, intuitive center of intelligence, theirs tends to be a little bit more repressed than the other two. And so it's interesting for both when you, you know, bring in if you have a wing that relates to you or that resonates with you, you're going to maybe get some of more of that, you know, ability to get in tune with your body, with your intuition. Um, so that's just really interesting that both of their wings are also body centers of intelligence. Okay, so type one wing nine, or I'm sorry, type nine wing one is called the dreamer. These guys are gonna be more imaginative and creative. They're gonna have this ability to make sense of different schools of thought to create an ideal world. So you're pairing that ability to see all kinds of different opinions and live in the gray with that one's desire to improve the world around them. Um, they're gonna want external order, and and you know, that's some one energy, in order to achieve internal order or inner peace. They might be a little less adventurous than the wing eight, um, more reserved. They're gonna express anger with reserve. They're gonna have a little bit of that perfectionism touch, uh, which is probably can't be avoided for our ones or wing ones. They're gonna be concerned with respectability, and then they might make really good therapists. They're they you know, maybe they might also be in the helping profession, but being more, you know, listening, good therapists, counselors in the ministry, um, because they're gonna be able to balance non-judgmental listening with the desire to help others. So that was your crash course on all of the 18 wings. And um, I'm really excited to talk next week about how to actually use this information. Um, as you've probably heard me say in the past, you know, knowledge isn't power, it's what you do with that knowledge that's the power. So we, you know, knowledge is an important part of the process, knowledge, awareness is part of the process, but then eventually we need to take action and actually integrate, apply what we're learning. And this is advice for myself as well. You know, I always am reading like 12 books at one time, and I'm lucky if I apply one thing from each of those books that I'm reading, and so that's why I love to talk about the Enneagram. It's really fun to read the memes, to read the books, to read the blogs, to listen to the podcast, to watch the videos, and just gobble up all this information about the Enneagram and learning about yourself. But the next step that a lot of people um don't ever take, or it takes them a while to take, is the the integration, the application of all this they're learning, because sometimes it's hard, sometimes it's difficult. Um, and it's you know, it's not just with the Enneagram, it's with anything. It's easier to learn and be in student mode sometimes than to actually take the risk, to do the work, to apply what we're learning. And you know, that that's okay. Sometimes it's just you're not ready to do that, and that's fine. Um, but you know, eventually, if you really are committed and have decided that you want to see a change in your life, there does need to be some intentional action. And that's what I I that idea of just intentional action. You're not just taking action for the sake of taking action for for trying to be busy, for quote unquote being productive. You know, I do that too sometimes. Um, but we're really, you know, we're taking the time to learn about ourselves and then we're taking the time to understand, okay, which method of this application, how exactly does is it going to work best for me and my life and my wants and goals? How is it going to be work best for those things for me to apply it? Because I can give you an idea, but that may not work for you. Um, and so that is a part of that too. The more you learn about yourself, the more you can understand how it is going to be best for you to apply what you're learning. So stay tuned for part two, where we're gonna be talking wings and bringing in the strengths and just adding in how to use your salt and pepper, um, how to flavor your eggs the the best way that you can, depending on what your type is. So hopefully, I'll see you back here for that part two of Enneagram Wings.