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January 2025

Lessons from the Enneagram for Motivational Maps

...aggression, dependency and withdrawal


Chess

Many will know from my book, Mapping Motivation (Routledge, 2016) that the Motivational Maps were created from my understanding of three well-established tools, of which the Enneagram was one. For those who don’t know the Enneagram perhaps a brief recap is in order. Basically, the Enneagram is the world’s oldest and best personality profiling tool. When I say old most sources refer back to c. 400 AD, but I believe it was known 3000 years ago, since Homer’s Odyssey curiously reflects all 9 personality types in reverse order in the ordeals of Odysseus. That is pretty staggering in itself; but beyond that, it is the best because not only is it amazingly accurate, perceptive and deep, but also it is much more than a personality tool. To go into all this now would side-track me from my central essay, but suffice to say that according to the Enneagram there are 9 types of personality, all designated by a number 1 to 9, and that these nine types are ordered in 3 groups of three. So, there are three 3 ‘heart’ types, 3 ‘head’ types, and 3 ‘body’ (or gut) types. The parallels with the Maps should, therefore, already be clear: there are 9 motivators and they too relate to heart, head, and body, or as we say, to Relationships, Achievement and Growth.

But the Enneagram has other, subtler features, implications and meanings which spill over into Motivational Maps. I would like to comment on one now that I have not discussed before. The Enneagram brilliantly picks up an idea first noticed clinically by the famous psychologist, Karen Horney: namely, that people adopt one of three ‘stances’ or positions towards life. One stance (an expansive solution) is the aggressive pattern, or moving against people or situations; another is where a self-effacing solution is preferred, or a dependent pattern, or move towards people; and finally, a resigning solution, or withdrawing pattern or moving away from people or situations. In other words, the aggressive stance attempts to subjugate reality; the dependent pattern attempts to mediate it; and the withdrawal pattern attempts to reduce or minimise reality! We nowadays call all this something else which is very familiar to us. Faced with a challenge (reality) we can either fight, freeze or fly it! And here’s the thing: 3 Enneagram numbers (3, 7 and 8) adopt the aggressive stance; 1, 2, and 6 prefer the dependent stance; and 4, 5 and 9 typically adopt the withdrawal pattern. Much more could be said, but this blog is about Motivational Maps!

If we consider the Maps and the 9 motivators, then over and above what they represent as motivators – that is to say, as energy directions – they also have ‘stances’ towards reality, and – who could make this up? – strangely, there are three of each stance, one stance typical of each heart, head, and body triad. Before considering the 9 motivators I must of course say that there is no value judgement implied in the terms ‘aggressive, dependent and withdrawn’: they are simply how people behave, so no connotations should be read into them.

If, then, we look at the 3 heart or Relationship motivators, what do we find? Well, it seems to me that the Defender is a withdrawn response: seeking security, the basic approach is to create plans and processes which limit change. But if we consider the Friend, this by definition almost has to be a dependent stance, since it requires obtaining some equilibrium in one’s relationship with others. And this is quite different from the Star, who needs others, indeed, insists others provide recognition; and so is an aggressive stance towards reality.

Moving up to the Achievement (head) triad we come in order to the Director. At first, the need to control might seem an aggressive stance, but I would argue not: it is a dependent stance, since it – at root – requires collaboration; in other words, creating and sustaining an equilibrium with others. It is the Builder, the competitor par excellence, in the Map system that is the aggressive stance – that seeks more material wealth and success. And at the top of the Achievement triad we have the Expert: surely, the withdrawn stance, since learning by its very nature requires withdrawal from real life whilst we obtain the necessary knowledge that will enable us to ‘cope’ later on. And that coping, inevitably is via the limited models that we have learnt about and deploy.

Finally, in the Growth or body motivators, we have the Creator, which like the Expert also needs to withdraw in order to create. We sometimes call this the incubation period; as with expertise, it may lead to expansion later, but the basic process is one of pulling back, withdrawing, until the learning, the creativity is ready. But the Spirit is certainly the aggressive stance: it automatically wants to break boundaries and barriers. Which leaves the Searcher, which must be a dependent stance. Why? Because making a difference is to someone (usually) or something, and this means a holding relationship underlying the action.

So, we see how the motivators too imply a stance towards life, one of the three key stances. But it is important to note: that motivators aren’t fixed, they change over time; and that for any one individual usually 3 motivators determine how they behave, so if motivators are closely scored, or depending on the mix, the particular stance of an individual may or may not be clear to, say, a manager or coach.

What, then, is the point of this? Twofold, first, to alert managers and coaches to this whole idea of stances towards life. When dealing with somebody, what do you sense is there underlying approach? For when people have serious problems – which is sometimes why they go to a coach – it is usually because their stance isn’t working. So, consider their Map and ask what is the likely stance they are adopting? Ask, is this working for them? And second, as with the Enneagram, so with the Maps, we need to make shifts, to change: our motivators (and our Enneagram number) are not our fate.

With the Enneagram there are various tools we can use to make significant shifts. So too with the Maps. We are aware of ‘hygiene factors’ or what I also sometimes call ‘Achilles’ Heel” in the motivational profile. This is just such another hygiene factor or Achilles heel. Imagine someone who was motivationally Spirit-1, Builder-2, Star-3, all aggressive stance motivators. What, then? Well, first, if that were the case, we would almost certainly have someone in Corporate Sales, for that is exactly where we tend to find them. And then we would know that if they were over 40 burn-out beckons, and if they were under 40 we might want to increase their self-awareness. But also from the ‘stance’ point of view we would be thinking: too much aggression here, time for some withdrawal – how do we get them to that point?

And the same is true of all the three stances: good in themselves, but too much of any one will lead to problems.

Thus, let me end by asking you, my readers, to consider the 3 stances in your management or coaching roles and let me know what you find – I’d love to know.

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