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For the first time in as long as I can remember, December has been one full month at home with no travel. What was especially nice is that this enabled me to actually take care of home-issues, like taking my car in for service and some recall issues (a Prius!), taking my cat to the vet for a check-up, lots of cooking, and getting some sleep. In addition, my son, a sophomore at UCLA, caught a pretty bad case of mononucleosis, so there was a lot of taking care of him during this period.
On the professional front, I was asked to give the Endnote at the International Enneagram Association (IEA) Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida next summer. In a way, I was surprised to be asked because it is rare it be a "prophet in one's own land." Not that I see myself as a prophet; it is merely a phrase that means many or most teachers or consultants rarely work in their own cities because they are considered too local! For two years (2004-5), I was the president of the IEA, which makes me very local in a sense. Delighted to be asked, I am looking forward to giving the Endnote on "The Enneagram and Global Change," a topic dear to my heart. I want to share my special appreciations to a few individuals who, for a variety of reasons, have really contributed to my personal and professional life this year.
Helen Palmer and Don Riso: who are dear friends and colleagues who I respect greatly and have been supportive of the work I do in the most generous of ways!
Anne Muree and Peter O'Hanarhan: who are my go-to friends whenever I need to talk about something that concerns or intrigues me and who always offer support, honesty, and insight.
Judy Wilbratte, Gloria Hung, Marsha Underhill, and Matt Ahrens: who are always there by phone or email for anything and everything.
Tres Bogda (my son) and Martin Snapp (my brother): who keep me grounded, always.
I had expected to be able to share my latest venture, but it is still a few weeks too early. I am extremely eager to share it; I think it has the potential to make a huge contribution to bringing out the Enneagram more into the world, which is my bigger purpose. |
The Enneagram in Business Blogs
Read the December Blogs
There are three blogs on Enneagram theory this month, one is an insight blog on the Enneagram and developing true respect, the second on Soul Child theory, and the third, an interview with business-consultant Bart Wendell about his new leadership book.
 Enneagram - Leadership: An Interview with Bart Wendell, Ph.D.
Bart Wendell, a Senior Member of the Enneagram in Business Network, has written an excellent new book on leadership, the Enneagram, and running important meetings. You can read my interview with him on this blog. Click here to read this blog.
 Enneagram Theory: Soul Child; Maybe Not; Disowned Self; Perhaps
This is a blog I really enjoyed thinking about and then writing, The idea of each Enneagram style having a Soul Child based on the arrow line that points toward that type (the Heart point) is complex and important. Click here to read this blog.
 Enneagram Styles and Respect
Gayle Hardie, an Enneagram-business professional and transformational consultant from Australia who is also Senior Member of the Enneagram in Business Network, is writing a monthly activity on different important growth and transformation topics. This month, Gayle provides an insight activity about Respect, and I've written this blog to show how to use the Enneagram to take this activity even further. Click here to read this blog.
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Tip of the Month: Development for Twos
Each month, I am writing about development for everyone. These are rather simple development ideas, or so they seem if you are not of the Enneagram type for whom it is recommended. What is really hard for one person is often so easy for another, but the hard areas show us where our development lies. I've selected real stories to illustrate the development ideas that are both amusing and challenging.
Twos: Select a situation in which you almost always give away your personal power or self-worth and put it in the hands of others in terms of how they respond to you. Notice how you over-care about people - whether you know them or not - and how you respond to them by doing things for them or caring about how they react to you. Notice how you immediately move into action-mode on their behalf or become distressed when they do not respond to you in an affirmative way.
Then, make a decision to not respond in this way the next time the situation occurs. When the situation arises next, notice your tendency to respond in the "old" way, stop yourself, and just notice what happens. After this, make a decision to change your response and follow this. You might experience liberation!
Situation: Sharon realized that every time she went to the local grocery store, a particular check-out clerk seemed displeased or non-responsive when she paid for her groceries. No matter what she did, his response was always the same. She even realized that she actually sought out his particular check-out line, just to see if she could get a more positive response from him. When she shared this story with a friends, the person asked, "Why do you go to his line?"
Opportunity: Sharon had to admit she was making a choice every time she went to the market. First, she was seeking out this person. Second, she was trying to get him to change his response to her. The result was she felt discouraged at least three times each week and was putting her sense of self-worth in the hands of a stranger.
She then made another choice. Her first choice was to not go through his check-out line when she had another option at the store. Once she implemented this and became comfortable doing so, she then decided to go through his line, but without caring about his response. Instead, she just noticed her own reaction. Over a three-week period of doing this, she no longer cared about his response, no longer felt compelled to go through his check-out line, and used this experience to notice her over-reactions to others when she engaged with people about whom she did care. She actually said this simple - or not-so-simple activity - felt like six months of intensive therapy.
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