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The Subtypes at Work, Part II
By Mario Sikora
In order for any information to be valued in
the business world, it has to be “actionable.”
That is, you have to be able to do something
useful with it. Part I of this article, which
appeared in last month’s issue of the Enneagram
Monthly,1 gave some background on the
subtypes. This article addresses the way that
understanding of the subtypes can be used to
improve performance and relationships in the
workplace. Specifically, this article will focus on
job selection, leadership, team building, and
building rapport with others.
First, a brief recap:
There are three fundamental instinctive
drives that influence our values and inspire our
actions: the self-preservation drive, the social
drive, and the sexual drive. One of these drives is
dominant and we tend to focus more of our
energy around it than the other two. These
drives, in a sense, are the basis of an independent
typology because they lead to observable,
consistent, and predictable behaviors. Combined
with the Enneagram of personality, these drives
are referred to as subtypes or variants because
people of the same Ennea-type will be noticeably
different in ways related to their dominant
instinctive drive. Thus, there is a Self-
Preservation Subtype, a Social Subtype, and a
Sexual Subtype of each personality type.
The Self-Preservation Subtype is habitually
focused on issues of “nesting and nurturing”—
food, shelter, physical well-being, etc.
The Social Subtype is habitually focused on
issues of “orientation to the group”—fitting in,
social order, group hierarchies and dynamics,
etc.
The Sexual Subtype is habitually focused on
issues of “attracting and mating”—appearance,
desirability, accumulation of resources desired
by others, sex, etc.
Clarifying the Terms
Much has been written about the Ennea-
types and work in the past few years, but little
has been presented about how the subtypes affect
our work lives. This is a large gap in the
literature and I propose that understanding the
impact of the instinctive drives at work is at least
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as important as understanding the types. To
understand why, we must clearly understand the
connection between the two. It helps to take a
moment to clarify a few terms:
Personality Type—A “personality type” is
an arbitrary classification of a complex of
characteristics that distinguishes one group of
individuals from another. Person A and Person B
have similar traits and demonstrate certain
consistent patterns; therefore we classify them as
the same “type.” Persons C and D, however,
share a different set of similar traits and patterns
and are thus a different “type.”
The Enneagram of Personality is often used
in ways that are limited to typology or the
cataloging of common traits (for example, “Type
One is the moral, principled, perfectionist and
critical type…”). The ability to see the trait
patterns in oneself and in others is useful in
many ways; the understanding of what inspires
these trait patterns is even more useful, which
leads us to the second term: “strategy.”
Strategy—As was written in Part I of this
article, in our book, “From Awareness to Action:
The Enneagram, Emotional Intelligence and
Change,” Bob Tallon and I identified the
“Enneagram of Strategies;” that is, an
understanding of the Enneagram as a system of
strategies rather than a mere catalogue of traits.
Merriam-Webster Online defines “strategy” as
“an adaptation or complex of adaptations (as of
behavior, metabolism, or structure) that serves or
appears to serve an important function in
achieving evolutionary success.” The nine
strategies we wrote about are thematic
approaches to interacting with our world. For
whatever reason, we prefer one strategy and tend
to rely on it significantly more than on the
others, sometimes to our detriment (Tallon and I
refer to this as a “preferred strategy”). Thus,
Ennea-Type Eight is one who habitually prefers
the strategy of “striving to be powerful” over the
other eight strategies and then exhibits traits
consistent with the logic of the preferred
strategy. Eights get into trouble when they
overdo their striving to be powerful, doing all
those less-than-endearing things that we Eights
can do.
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The focus on the strategies rather than the
traits liberates the Enneagram from the
inconsistencies and contradictions often found in
the literature and workshops. Prominent
Enneagram authors have written things such as
“Nines like gardening and camping” and—I’m
not making this up—“Fives tend to bathe less
frequently than others.” Such comments are a)
not empirically supportable and b) undermine the
credibility of the system when people come
across nature-abhorring Nines or Fives who
bathe daily. While the traits vary and overlap
(I’ve met Sevens, for example, who like to
garden and who avoid conflict—another trait
associated with Nines), the value in the
Enneagram is in understanding how the traits
relate back to the strategy.
This concept is important to understand in
order to explain the trait inconsistencies within a
given Ennea-type and trait overlap between
different types: The trait patterns seen in each
Ennea-type are behaviors, attitudes, and ideas
that are logical and consistent with our preferred
strategy—the thematic approach to satisfying our
values. Thus, Eights can be aggressive, bossy,
energetic, loud, etc., because these are traits that
are logically consistent with the strategy of
striving to be Powerful. People of other Ennea-
types (a Sexual Six or Seven, for example) may
exhibit some of these same traits, but they
manifest these traits for different reasons—to
fulfill the strategies of striving to be Secure and
Excited, respectively).
Each of the nine strategies is a method for
satisfying our survival needs, i.e., achieving
“evolutionary success.” In other words, it is the
way we go about satisfying our instinctive
drives.
One way to understand the way the traits,
strategies and instincts fit together is to see the
traits as the leaves and branches of a tree, the
preferred strategy as the trunk, and the
instinctual drive as the roots. By extension, our
“personality type” is the categorization of the
traits related to our preferred strategy, our
“subtype” is the categorization related to our
preferred instinctive drive, and the type/subtype
combination (such as “Social Two”) is a
categorization of the interplay of the two.2
So how can knowledge of the subtypes be
actionable in the world of work? The remainder
of this article will look at four ways: job
selection, leadership, team building, and building
rapport.
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Job Selection
I have often been asked questions such as “I
am a Five; what career direction should I
pursue?” or “We have an opening for a
marketing director; what personality type should
we hire?” These questions set my teeth on edge
because they miss the point. They are not only
irrelevant; the second is discriminatory and
unethical if not illegal.
The correct answer to “What career choice
should I make?” is “the one that most closely
matches your skills and aptitudes and will be the
most emotionally, intellectually, and/or
financially rewarding.”
Regarding candidate selection, Ennea-type
should never be used as a qualifier or disqualifier
for a job. The Enneagram of Personality simply
does not address aptitude for particular roles. I
have met Fours who are great sales people and
Sevens who are lousy sales people; Eights who
are great leaders and Eights who are tyrannical
jerks.
Understanding your Ennea-type can,
however, prepare you for the potential
roadblocks you will encounter in whatever role
you choose. For example, if you are a Two,
whether you are a CEO, a salesman, or an
administrative assistant, you will run into trouble
when you overdo your preferred strategy of
striving to be connected. You will violate
boundaries, you will become emotionally
involved in decisions that need clarity and
detachment, you fill lash out at those close to
you because you feel unappreciated. Other
Ennea-types will have different, but equally
predictable, patterns when they go off track. Our
Ennea-type does not predict what job will make
us happy; it predicts some of the ways we will
struggle in whatever job we are in and points a
way to resolving our struggles. (In the December
2003 issue of EM, I described typical derailers
for each of the Ennea-types in an article titled,
“Off the Plateau: The Enneagram and Executive
Coaching.”1)
Our subtype can predict additional ways we
will go off track because each subtype also has a
set of predictable strengths and weaknesses when
it comes to the workplace. It is important to be
aware of a number of factors when it comes to
job selection and career choices: interests and
natural talents, education and training, past
experiences, etc. These factors are independent
of Ennea-type and subtype. However,
understanding one’s subtype can help you
understand the underlying value system that
influences these factors. Table One shows what
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each subtype is naturally interested in and what fulfillment are higher if you make choices
areas they may struggle to pay enough attention consistent with the needs of your dominant
to. When making career decisions it is important instinctive drive and avoid those related to your
to remember that your chances of success and least prominent drive.

Table One: Subtype Strengths and Weaknesses

Dominant Instinct Is Naturally Drawn to:
(Subtype)
Self-Preservation The Nuts and Bolts—
administrative issues; structures,
processes and procedures;
playing the Devil’s Advocate;
finances and budgeting;
organization of tools and
materials; etc.
Sexual The Sizzle—
Presentation/promotion of self
and product; networking with and
charming others; competition;
etc.
Social The Culture—Group dynamics,
interpersonal communication,
social cohesion and mores; etc.
May Neglect:
The Sizzle—
Presentation/promotion of self
and product; networking with and
charming others; competition;
etc.
The Culture—Group dynamics,
interpersonal communication,
social cohesion and mores; etc.
The Nuts and Bolts—
administrative issues; structures,
processes and procedures;
playing the Devil’s Advocate;
finances and budgeting;
organization of tools and
materials; etc.

Leadership strengths and apply them consciously rather than

Another common question is “what type
makes the best leaders?” If only it were that easy
to identify potential leaders! In “Leadership and
the Enneagram”1, I pointed out that successful
leadership could be defined as “the act of
influencing others to effectively achieve a
desired result consistently and over time.”
Personality plays a role in determining one’s
leadership style, but effective leadership is about
the result rather than the leader’s style. There are
effective and ineffective leaders of every
personality style and the value of understanding
Ennea-type is, again, in predicting roadblocks.
Understanding subtype also helps predict
roadblocks and potential shortcomings. Table
Two indicates the predictable strengths and
weaknesses of each subtype when it comes to
leadership.
As a leader, it is important to be aware of
how your dominant instinct affects your focus
and attention. You must learn to leverage your
unconsciously. (One of the secrets to effective
leadership is to know what you are good at and,
as often as possible, apply those talents to areas
where they will be of some use.) At the same
time, you must be sensitive to the leadership
demands of your environment and ensure that
you are not neglecting critical areas because they
are not natural strengths of your subtype. (As a
leader you must develop skills in these areas if
the tasks cannot be delegated to someone else.)
For example, the Sexual subtype naturally
thrives in entrepreneurial or volatile conditions.
Their natural charisma can became a rallying
point for the organization and they can be very
inspirational. In more sedate or sober
circumstances, however, the Sexual subtype’s
self-promotion can be distasteful to others.
The Self-preservation subtype tends to
thrive in circumstances where order, process, and
caution are called for, but they can struggle when
charismatic and bold leadership is required.

Table Two: Subtype and Leadership Strengths and Weaknesses

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Dominant Instinct Typical Leadership Strengths: Potential Leadership

(Subtype)
Self-Preservation Administration and processing
data; predicting problems;
creating processes; sober and
dependable; effective in budget
and finance issues.
Sexual Generally more charismatic and
dynamic than the other subtypes;
good at building relationships
with customers, channel partners,
and strategic allies; good at
selling both inside and outside the
organization; inspiring the
workforce toward daunting goals.
Social Understanding interpersonal
dynamics and organizational
culture; building teams; building
consensus and shaping group
identity; big-picture, strategic
thinking.
Weaknesses:
May be too introverted; focus on
task rather than interpersonal
issues; lack of charisma; cautious
rather than risk-taking; detached
rather than inspirational.
May be too focused on charisma
and neglect shaping the
organization’s culture; can
neglect career development of
subordinates; self focus may lead
them to put own interests ahead
of the good of the company and
employees.
May fail to pay attention to
administrative details and neglect
processes and procedures; may
struggle with making difficult
personnel decisions such as firing
or reprimanding underperformers.

The Social subtype tends to thrive when the
organization is struggling to standardize
interpersonal relationships, identify its space in
the market and form its strategic identity. They
may struggle, however, with standardization of
business processes or become bored when a
business and its internal and external identity
have become fixed.
Understanding that the instinctive drives can
be associated with predictable weaknesses does
not excuse the lack of development in these areas
or ignoring their importance. I often deal with
struggling leaders who resist change by
complaining that their subordinates or the
business environment are demanding something
that is not naturally a part of their character. My
response is that they had better reach down
inside and find that quality or develop those
skills, or they won’t be leaders for very long.
Teambuilding
Ropes courses, scavenger hunts, and other
role playing activities that are very popular in the
corporate world and they can be useful for
building camaraderie, but camaraderie is not the
same as effectiveness. If you want an effective
team, hire mature, competent people with the
skills necessary for the job and a fundamental
ability to interact with others; provide them with
a clear, concise objective that is emotionally and
intellectually resonant with them; and exercise
strong leadership to manage disputes, remove
obstacles, and enforce accountability.
Understanding the Ennea-types is invaluable
to making teams more effective because it
enhances the ability to effectively interact with
others and resolve conflict. At a basic level, if I
understand the habitual behaviors of my style
and how they affect others, I can modify them so
they are less abrasive; if I understand the root of
your habitual behaviors, I can exercise
compassion and empathy and not fall into the
trap of thinking that you are malicious, irrational,
or just plain nuts. Of course, put more positively,
understanding Ennea-type also helps us to
leverage the strengths represented on the team—
we can turn to Ones and Sixes to root out
problems, Fives and Nines to add balance and
calm, etc.
(As a short aside, I’ve heard Enneagram
people talk about trying to get somebody of each
type on a team. This is absurdly impractical.
Members of both intact and ad hoc teams should
be chosen based on competence and ability to
cooperate, not to create a full spectrum of type. It
does help, however, to know what perspectives
are missing on a team so that the group can
ensure that they get considered. For example, if
there are no Sixes or Ones on a team, it is
imperative that someone consciously play the
Devil’s Advocate role that those types do so
well.)
Understanding the subtypes is also valuable,
both for the team members and the team’s leader.
The people on any team have two agendas—
achieving the team’s stated goals (develop and

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sell the world’s greatest widget) and satisfying
their own, usually unstated, values. Our subtype
has a significant influence on those values and
therefore shapes our unstated agendas. At the
most basic level, a self-preservation subtype will
be focused on their own security and well-being,
a social subtype will be focused on their status
within the group, and a sexual subtype will be
focused on the drawing attention of valued others
to themselves.
When we understand the subtypes, these
hidden agendas become less “hidden” and thus
less damaging to the group. We understand how
important it is for the Self-Pres’s to feel secure
and comfortable, for the Socials to understand
their place in the group, and for the Sexuals to
get attention. We can be more sensitive and
understanding of the acting out that can happen
on a team and make sure that everyone’s needs
are being addressed. Addressing these needs
mitigates anxiety and reduces defensiveness,
allowing people to get back to achieving the
team’s stated goals. Team leaders should be
particularly sensitive to the impact of the
instinctive drives and proactively ensure that
everyone’s needs for security, status, and
attention are met. They should also be alert to
when these hidden agendas cause interpersonal
friction and straying from the teams goals so
they can effectively manage conflict and group
focus.
Building Rapport
An “organization” is a collection of people
who have come together in a defined way to
achieve a common goal. In order for an
organization to be effective, these people must
interact in effective ways. They need not
necessarily like each other, but they must at least
tolerate each other, communicate clearly, and
find each other pleasant enough to justify
returning to the office every day. The people
who are most effective in organizations are often
those who have the ability to build rapport with a
broad range of others—to find ways to connect
in meaningful ways, to find shared values, and
come to some degree of shared purpose.
The corporate training industry is brimming
with programs on skillful dialogue, influencing
others, active listening, etc., and many of these
courses are useful and help in the development
of necessary skills and techniques. These skills
and techniques, however, often require some
degree of conscious application and we tend to
forget them when we are either acting on
autopilot or under stress (which is most of the
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time). Also, these behaviors tend to be
affected—we can generally tell when someone is
“active listening” to us and it feels slightly
disingenuous.
By being consciously aware of the subtypes,
however, it is easy to find genuine common
ground with others. Part I of this article
described the apparent predictable “stacking” of
the instinctive drives—the self-preservation
subtype has a secondary social instinct, the social
subtype has a secondary sexual subtype, and the
sexual subtype has a secondary self-preservation
instinct. The beauty of this predictable stacking
is that everyone will share an instinctive concern
with everyone else. We tend to build rapport
with people around that shared concern. We
build rapport most easily with people of the same
subtype (socials with socials, etc.). However,
with people of a different subtype we tend to
settle in on common ground in these patterns:
Self Pres’s and Socials will connect in the Social
realm; Self-Pres’s and Sexuals will connect in
the Self-Pres realm; and Sexuals and Socials will
connect in the Sexual realm. A simple way to
build rapport with someone is to determine what
your shared instinct is and steer the direction into
that area. After we have established an initial
rapport with someone, our future conversations
will naturally go back to those areas as a default
comfort zone. The rapport will become habitual
and comfortable rather than forced and
manufactured.
Please note that we are talking about fairly
superficial interactions here: simple rapport with
the people you work with. This is not to say that
people will only connect in the realms of the
subtypes—relationships are far more
complicated than this and revolve around shared
experiences, values, biases, interests, outlooks,
and so on. That said, start paying attention to the
things you talk about with people and see if there
are predictable patterns in your relationships.
This article is, by necessity, a cursory
overview of the topic of the subtypes and the
workplace. It would be possible to go into great
detail about how each subtype mixes with each
Ennea-type in both complimentary and
contradictory ways in each of the four areas we
discussed. For example, we could look at how
Nines of each subtype lead differently from each
other—Self-Pres Nines are the most introverted
and conflict averse; male Sexual Nines are the
most assertive and outgoing of the three and can
superficially look like Threes or Eights (female
Sexual Nines tend to have a style that is more
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nurturing); Social Nines are generally focused on
consensus building and managing by walking
around. We could also look at what
circumstances trigger the secondary instinctive
drive to be more visible, etc. Space does not
allow for such detail.
The Enneagram of Personality is a profound
and powerful tool for understanding the tapestry
of our work lives and many other aspects of
human nature. A rich understanding and
appreciation of the subtypes adds a great deal of
richness and detail to that tapestry. Start paying
attention and you will be amazed at what you
see.

_________________________________ _______________________________________

Footnotes: ABOUT THE AUTHOR

1
The articles mentioned here are also available in
pdf format by sending an email to
Mario@mariosikora.com.
2
I am not proposing that these three things are
the only elements of Enneagram theory—there
are many—the holy ideas, vices, virtues, etc.—
and many of them are useful for self
understanding. These are merely the basic
elements of the construct I present to my clients.
Mario Sikora is president of Enneagram
Consulting & Training Company and ATA
Consulting. He is co-author of “From
Awareness to Action: The Enneagram,
Emotional Intelligence and Change” (University
of Scranton Press). He has coached over 200
executives of Fortune 500 companies and
government organizations and delivered
enneagram-based leadership development
programs to organizations including Motorola,
Johnson & Johnson, and Rohm & Haas. He can
be reached at mario@mariosikora.com.

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