June was an amazing month in two ways. It started with my very good fortune to spend a week in Prague working with Nestle's Eastern European top leaders and then the next level leaders (80+ people). While I can't go into any details of the Enneagram work there, due to client confidentiality, I can say that I was so very impressed with the talent and rigor of the top team. Working with senior teams is one of my favorite projects, and working with a super-smart, strategic team is pure fun. This team was as strong and genuine as any I've met, and although the Enneagram was new to them, they embraced it with full rigor.  

Prague itself was like a jewel. My Enneagram colleague and friend, Eva, and I went around the city in a blue convertible roadster-type mini tour, laughing our heads off and stopping to taste different Czech specialties. I also spent a fascinating day with her daughter, visiting the old Jewish cemetery and eating sorbet atop a roof-deck overlooking the main square. When I left Prague, I returned with a large grocery bag full of Czech chocolate specialties, a gift from Nestle. When I arrived home, my 20 year-old son declared it was the best chocolate he'd ever eaten, and it was devoured (with some help from his friends) in less than a week.  

Later in the month, I had one of the most incredible experiences of my professional life. It happened in Minneapolis during my "Coaching with the Enneagram" certificate program. I've done the program many times and it always goes well, but I normally do them in bigger cities. For some reason I don't even know, I just wanted to do this one in Minneapolis. The group was smaller than normal (15), with many people who were supposed to come who then couldn't, many at the last minute. I even said the first day, "Everyone is here for a specific reason." Without going into too much detail (confidentiality reasons), by day 2 of 5, the group had gelled. On the 4^th day, during one of the technique demonstrations, the volunteer brought forth a very difficult, highly personal, and seemingly impossible dilemma. Even though the technique to be used made no sense to do, and even approaching the issue defied reason altogether, we (and I mean all of us) decided to move forward anyway. And did it ever work, and then some! The space in the room opened up freely, we did the impossible, each person was touched in the deepest of ways, our types emerged and opened up, and we were part of a human miracle that was so grounded. I am still in a state of awe.  

Other things happened and are happening, but they seem very small in comparison.

Know Your Type: New Enneagram iPhone App Update

EnneagramApp.com 

 

IEA Conference in Florida | July 29 - 31, 2011

The conference is really fun, with people from all over the world and a wide variety of very interesting sessions. I am really looking forward to both my conference endnote on "The Enneagram and Global Change;" many creative hours have gone into its development!  

The conference session I am most looking forward to attending is on the topic of the Enneagram and bullying. It is a very important topic and should be a revealing session.  

Register for the conference 

 

"Train-the-Trainer" Certificate Programs in Florida | July 22-27 and August 1-6, 2011

Both summer programs still have spaces available.  

1st Train-the-Trainer | July 22-27

The Train-the-Trainer program based on Bringing Out the Best in Yourself at Work is highly experiential and comes with a robust Trainer's Guide, participant worksheets, training tools, and more. This program is for people who want to bring the Enneagram into organizations of all kinds or to offer public programs that focus on organizational applications such as communication, feedback, conflict, teams, leadership, and personal transformation. 

Complete program description 

Register for program 

2nd Train-the-Trainer | August 1-6

The Train-the-Trainer program based on What Type of Leader Are You? offers theory and practice and comes with a detailed Trainer's Guide, participant worksheets, training tools, cloth banners, and an original simulation. This program is for people who want to bring the Enneagram into organizations to offer public programs with a focus on leadership development and leadership competencies.

Complete program description

Register for program

 

Based on Bringing Out the Best in Everyone You Coach, this program (worth 35.5 ICF credits) is being offered in the following locations in 2011:

South Africa: September 19-23 Contact Neil Harper to register

Italy: November 19-23 In Italian - Contact Marta Montemezzani to register 

 

Here are four June blogs:

Enneagram Theory: Fixations (Habits of Mind) - Cowardice

Read about how each of us exhibits "Cowardice," the fixation normally associated with Sixes. This series is really mind-stretching to write. Click here to read this blog. 

 

Enneagram Theory: Fixations (Habits of Mind) - Stinginess

Read about how each of us exhibits "Stinginess," the fixation normally associated with Fives. Want to know how even Twos are stingy? I only tease with this because Claudio Naranjo suggests that while Fives have a (false) worldview of scarcity, Twos have an equally (false) paradigm of never-ending abundance. Click here to read this blog.  

 

Type and Culture: What Enneagram Type is the Czech Republic?

This blog was written as a speculative sense of the Czech Republic as a type 9. Click here to read this blog. 

 

 

Enneagram Styles and Willingness

Gayle Hardie, Senior Member of the Enneagram in Business Network, has written a wonderful Insight about Willingness, followed by my blog discussing how each of us, based on Enneagram Style, inhibit ourselves from being Willing. Click here to read this blog. 

Tip of the Month: Development for Eights

These are rather simple development ideas for each Enneagram style, or so they seem if you are not of the Enneagram type for whom it is recommended. Here is the simple activity (but not an easy one) for Enneagram Eights.

Eights: Eights can be the most challenging and most delightful clients to coach. At least, that is my opinion. They can be challenging because that's what they do: challenge.

To work well with Eight clients, here are 3 ideas for the coach (or manager who is coaching):

• Don't be afraid, intimidated, or inhibited by the Eight's power, intensity, or need to control.
• Be really honest, probably in ways that will make you (as the coach) grow as a person.
• Listen, offer direct feedback, and make sure if you make any suggestions, make them tactical within a strategic context.

To offer Eight clients actions they can take on their own, here are 3 ideas (feel free to use any or all of them):

• Examine all the ways you are not truthful, even though you think of yourself as a truthful person.
• Consider what it might be like if you could not feel so responsible for everyone and everything around you.
• Think about the ways in which you don't let others know that you could use their support. 

 

UPCOMING PROGRAM SCHEDULE

 

Enneagram iPhone App  
Created by Ginger Lapid-Bogda, this animated, interactive App for home and work includes typing and how to prevent conflict; reduce stress; interact with others; and engage in development activities specific to your type. There are type videos, a way to test your Enneagram knowledge in real-world situations, theory, and more.     

Only $2.99 on the iTunes App Store. Go to EnneagramApp.com