Using the Enneagram in the Workplace
A recent lengthy project in my work environment (I'm an internal consultant for a state agency) was an excellent and complex setting in which to utilize my current level of expertise with managing my own type, and observing the behavior of others.
A recent discussion around merger with another similar state agency put me into a situation in which I disagreed with an Eight and a Three. Fortunately, as a counterphobic Six who has learned the difference between moving forward from anxiety, versus being present and courageous, I was able to mostly be more of the latter. Twenty minutes a day of sitting meditation was my most useful tool in all of this, but having a logical mind and an assemblage of facts were important as well. I have another, new co-worker who seems to also be a counterphobic Six (male), whose thinking and capability to both relate to people and to gather facts are similar to mine, and working with him was a pleasure.
I found that I was able to stay centered most of the time, and by not engaging in the type-driven "dance" with either the Eight or the Three, I was able to stay present, clear and unaffected by their aggression toward me.
Ah, enlightenment, or some semblance of it . . . it underscored for me that the most important task in my life is to stay on a path of psychological and spiritual development/integration, and to use whatever is in my life as a resource for that development.
More, as we say, will be revealed.
11:47:15 PM 
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