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 fifth question in the series.
Question 5: What is the most exciting or stimulating part for coaches of working with clients of your style? How can coaches leverage this to help their clients move?
My answer: Many people of Style Nine are overlooked or overlook themselves. This is due to not thinking about drawing attention to ourselves; if we can do it, it’s not so special. So, it’s pretty exciting when we begin to see ourselves and our true strengths for the first time and our surroundings begin to notice this also. Acceptance is a prerequisite for this: Style Nine clients need to know that their coach accepts them as they are, is truly helping them and not pushing the coach’s own agenda. Once this acceptance is no longer questioned, the coach can suggest approaches that really help the client to stretch and grow. There’s no need to hold back: the client, imbued with the naïve fearlessness of Style Nine, is willing to try out almost anything.
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.
What is the most exciting or stimulating part for coaches of working with clients of your style? How can coaches leverage this to help their clients move?
Many people of Style Nine are overlooked or overlook themselves. This is due to not thinking about drawing attention to ourselves; if we can do it, it’s not so special. So, it’s pretty exciting when we begin to see ourselves and our true strengths for the first time and our surroundings begin to notice this also. Acceptance is a prerequisite for this: Style Nine coachees need to know that their coach accepts them as they are, is truly helping them and not pushing the coach’s own agenda. Once this acceptance is no longer questioned, the coach can suggest approaches that really help the coachee to stretch and grow. There’s no need to hold back: the coachee, imbued with the naïve fearlessness of Style Nine, is willing to try out almost anything.