Ginger Lapid-Bogda’s The Enneagram in Business portal contains an “Ask the Coach” feature, where a coach of each Type answers the same question about coaching, to give a flavor of the different possible perspectives. Ginger asked me to be the Type 9 – or Peacemaker – representative on this panel. Here’s my answer to the second question in the series.
Question 2: What is the most underrated capability of clients of your style, how is it style related, what causes clients of your type to underrate this quality in themselves, and what can coaches do to help clients appreciate this quality more?
My answer: Our ability to find infinite shades of grey in the most polarized black/white situation is pretty cool. For, by being able to see all the shades, we can help the parties to rally around that shade of grey that makes the whole thing work again. This ability to see all sides of the story and help people mediate a solution comes from a lifetime of practice of being “out there” rather than “in here” – it’s easier to articulate another’s point of view, than our own; easier to notice how others feel, than how we ourselves feel. And because it is, to us, as natural as breathing, it’s difficult to imagine that others don’t have this gift also.
So, as a coach, it’s important to point this out to us when we do it. It’s a good idea for you to share how you find it difficult to see all these points of view (if that’s true for you – don’t pretend! If we notice, it can get messy.) However, since that might encourage us to stay in our Style, it is helpful if you, as coach, support us in identifying our own point of view and integrating this into the search for the most suitable shade of grey.
If you’d like to see the other eight answers to this question, head over to the Enneagram Learning Portal. If you’d like to share your answer to the question, or discuss my answer, please leave a comment or trackback.