Enneagram: Do Type 8's Make Good Leaders?

hey guys welcome back today we're talking about the type 8 leaders and we're asking the question can they be good leaders and the answer to that is fairly obvious of course they can be in fact there's probably more type 8 or maybe type 3 leaders as CEOs of companies and organizations around the country then maybe any other type so type the grille question should be can type eights work for a leader work for someone else who is a leader because type eights naturally are going to gravitate toward leadership positions I don't think eights are always going to seek out leadership but they're going to be promoted and pushed forward into leadership often there may very well seek out leadership positions because most eights I talked to have a hard time thinking of themselves working for other people especially people that they think are incompetent so today we're gonna be talking about the type eight leaders type eight leaders are the big thinker type people big picture people they want to know what is it we're supposed to do and how can we get it done period bottom line then let's do it then let's move forward let's not give a bunch of excuses let's not get bogged down in red tape let's not get bogged down in bureaucracy let's not get bogged down in following a bunch of made-up rules by people who aren't here anymore in this company eights are gonna tend to think what's the objective once I understand the objective then let's go accomplish it let's go get it done they're not going to seek maybe they're not going to be inclined to seek a bunch of awards or a bunch of prestige because of it they want to control their environment and they don't want their environment to be controlled by others so if you give them the freedom to get their work done they're gonna get their work done give them some leeway give them some permission and they're going to get they're going to get stuff done they're going to detect when people are not being honest and not being direct and not being straightforward and it's going to bother them a lot of what they do looks like anger a lot of their emotions sometimes get translated into anger viii want to deny their own vulnerability they want to think of themselves as strong and competent and they're going to deny anything within them that feels like it's weakness and they just will forget that about themselves and that way they kind of forget themselves because they they get out of touch with anything that seems small or insignificant or weak that feels unpleasant and we'll just hinder them from being productive and so they identify with their strengths and they identify with getting stuff done they wake up in the morning they don't think about do people love me they don't think about am I a person of Worth and they don't really sit and and run a lot of strategy in their heads before they move forward they are just inclined to take action and then think later so action comes first and then thinking comes later and then last comes feeling so they're an action type a body type a gut type and they're gonna go with their gut with what they believe is right at the time and they don't want to be hindered and hemmed in by a bunch of established rules or regulations that are going to keep them from being productive once they know what the goal is or once they establish in their mind what the goal is then they're gonna want to move forward to accomplish that goal and they have a great ability to motivate others to to empower others and they lend their power or they sort of share their power with others and others are empowered by them to accomplish that goal they'll step first and their decisive people who will take action and step out first and so other people are willing and inclined to follow eights because they look confident because they are confident because they deny their own weaknesses and deny their own vulnerability so when you shut out your own weakness and vulnerability and you believe yourself to be stronger and you identify with strength and you're opposed to injustice and you want to protect the common man and especially those that are on the inside of your relationships on the inside of your fort they look like they have a lot of boldness and determination and eight are bold and determined people who don't sit around wasting a lot of time worrying about making you the skeptics happy they they know what they want and they move forward and get it they have big appetites their sin of course is lust and the way that gets translated is intensity and in everything and so if we're gonna argue we're gonna argue with intensity if we're going to accomplish a goal we're going to accomplish it with all of our intensity we're gonna deny our weaknesses and stay up late and we're gonna hammer after this thing until it's accomplished the intensity maybe and in how much food they eat or how they exercise or when they go on a diet that you know it consumes their mind and their actions and everything in their life will be set aside in order to accomplish that goal or to stay on that diet or to achieve that to achieve that that goal that they've set before them or that change in their life that they've set before them so they work hard they play hard they they may exercise hard or they may sit down to a meal and eat a lot because they're going to be big bold intense people even though they may be small in stature they're going to carry a certain size about them when they walk into a room they are assertive types eight sevens and threes are the assertive types that are gonna walk into a room and they're going to expect that I'm here now so let's get this party started let's get this project going let's get you know there they feel like this since they showed up now you know the lights are on in this room and people need to move and people need to act and things need to change eights are going to get frustrated when they see an organization or they see a company or they see a business that isn't doing well and people are trying to be careful and not hurt others feelings and they see the profits declining or they see the attendance declining and everybody's being careful so as to not hurt people's feelings eights want to call it out and say here's what the problem is here's what here's what needs to happen here's what needs to change I'm sorry it hurts your feelings I'm sorry you don't like it but it's time for you to get off and leave and it's time for you to move side and let somebody else and eights just they just see you know all of the shenanigans that are going on and they want to cut through all of that and they want honesty and truth and they want fairness and justice and they want you know just two people to quit playing games and people would just would just do what they ought to do if people would just keep the main goal the main goal and stay focused and not worry about you know all of these side things and hurting people's feelings then they could accomplish what their that they set out to accomplish and so eights are kind of like sledgehammers like that you know they just come into an organization or into a family dinner and where everybody's you know trying to be careful and not say something that's offensive and beat around the bush it's just want to throw it out there and and believe that if we could all just be honest if we could all just be direct if we could all just say what we mean and mean what we say everything in life would be so much easier and and so let's talk about a list here of some some some character traits that I think will help eight be good leaders first of all what's on their radar screen remember every type is looking around with their radar screen assessing something you know and for the eight I think what that is is they want to know you know who's in power who's really empowered not who has the titles but who is everybody looking to as the authority who has the power and are those people using the power that they have in a way that benefits the organization benefits the common man that benefits everybody are they misusing their power then they need to be called to reckon for it you know are they misusing their power then they need to be called out and they need to be dealt with are they using their power appropriately how do I gain power and then how do I use that power to empower others or to help others how do I create a power base and and then use that to to accomplish what needs to be accomplished what needs to be done and again they're very big picture oriented so they're going to come back - you know what's the purpose of this company what's the purpose of this organization what's the purpose of this church you know what's the purpose of it then let's quit playing games and let's get let's get settled and let's get real about this and let's mean what we say and let's do what we what we say and let's not play games so eights are gonna be leaders and they're going to be you know sometimes scratchy to people they don't intend to hurt people's feelings they just intend to get things right and get it done but people are sometimes going to be set back by the intensity and by the focus and by the power of the eight and sometimes they're going to be you know upset and hurt and angry at the eighth and the eights not always gonna understand why they're gonna think why would you be upset with me I'm just willing to say what needs to be said I'm just willing to do what needs to be done and they may not realize that they're coming across so direct so harsh in other people's perspective or so combative and in some ways I think the big lesson maybe you could take away from this video today I know we haven't gotten even even to the list yet but one of the things I think you could take away from this is probably when it comes to eights is the one thing that you're gonna have to learn is not how to be a leader because you naturally will be that's your strength set there your superpower is power your strength is strength okay what you're gonna have to learn throughout your life is how to moderate that strength it's how to temper that strength and use only what's necessary and not to overuse your strength or to overplay your hand so when you think about like Superman for example you know I mean Superman can do everything it's ridiculous I mean how can anybody how can anybody get in a fight with Superman I mean he literally shoots lasers out of his eyes blows ice out of his breath can spend the world backwards and go back I mean go back in time and it's ridiculous he can do any bullets can't stop and the only thing is kryptonite right so it's ridiculous he's got every superpower you could possibly imagine x-ray vision is just ridiculous is it overkill right but if you read through Superman comics or if you carry thing about Superman what you'll notice is the big problem for Superman is not how do I get this job done or how do I overcome this enemy it's how do i in order to fit the situation and I think in some ways eighths that's your real challenge is how do you how do you present only enough strength necessary to move forward without isolating people without pushing people back without scaring people without creating conflict without creating enemies without you know creating more frustration for yourself is learning how to moderate that strength and how to to be gentle you know how to be gentle I remember one episode of Gilligan's Island where he he ate some radioactive spinach seed and he could crush everything and pick everything up and he was trying to learn how to drink you know out of a coconut coconut milk out of a coconut and every time he'd pick up a coconut he'd crush it because he was too strong he'd just crush it all and eight can kind of be like that you know they don't know their own strength you don't know your own strength or realize your own strength and sometimes maybe you bring more strength Nessa more what's the word not more strength because strength is a good thing but you may apply that strength too without as much thought as necessary okay because you act first and then you think later okay then you think what was that really the right thing to do or does you know you act and then you wonder oh I wonder if I should have talked to my wife before I made this decision for the family or wonder if I should have talked to the bank before I made this decision okay so let's let's talk about some lists of strengths and this comes from the nine types of leadership by Beatriz chestnut type eight leaders core characteristics number one big energy and big presence big energy and big presence eight server going to be tend to be very energetic people who can be imposing you know even little danny davito I think is an eight right and so think about Danny DeVito you know the guy off a taxi and off of so many shows and TV shows small stature but a big personality you know big imposing gonna get his will known and made and and get what he wants to happen in life although he's very small in his physical stature he's gonna make a big impression and eights are like that so big energy and big presence not afraid to work long hours to get their stuff done or to get done what they they they care about okay number two eights have a can-do mindset eights have a can-do mindset in other words eights don't wake up wondering you know I wonder if I'm able to do this I wonder if if I've got the ability it's never a question of their ability its will other people get out of the way well other people create so much roadblock and has you know and headaches for me that I can't accomplish this and you might CH quit not because they don't feel like they're capable of doing it just because they don't want to put up with all the nonsense of the people that are withholding them so H get the job done quote-unquote no matter what if you give them the if you give them the permission in a sense if you give them the keys to the company they're gonna get the job done no matter what they have an enormous confidence in themselves because they shut down anything that seems vulnerable or weak or sad they tend to like shut that stuff off and not pay attention to it and not focus on it that's what they want to move away from just start talking to them about being a little kid and you know watch them starting to get nervous talk to them about what it was a like to be a little kid and to feel like you know that they were being taken advantage of or that they had to grow up too soon or that they couldn't control their environment and somebody was getting the better of them and they decided that they weren't gonna let that happen anymore and that you know that that's the lesson that they took away from childhood is that they needed to grow up that not like a one who needed to parent themselves but they needed to grow up and they need to be powerful so that others couldn't hurt them or take advantage of and you might say hurt them or take advantage of them any longer all right so or maybe they need to grow up in order to take care of somebody else maybe somebody else was coming along and their family and they felt like they need maybe their parents weren't there for them and they needed to grow up so they could take care of which is a very eighth thing you know to be this powerful strong person who has this soft gentle inner core that wants to take care of and nurture you know the little ones that are under my care the little ones alright so they have an enormous confidence in themselves and they assume that they could do anything they put their minds to they don't sit around and wonder you know what if I got the ability to this they just kind of look at it like absolutely I could do it why couldn't I do it okay number three powerful strong and fearless well you can see those are gonna be great characteristics to take into leadership I mean that's what makes you a leader is confidence right you have a plan and you step forward and you just believe in yourself and that's what eights naturally do powerful strong and fearless no problem owning their own authority now I'm a seven and I'm close to an eight you know I've got that eight wing it's not my most it's not my strongest wing but I have that eight wing but I know as a seven I'm still in the thinking group not in the action group you know and I it's hard for me sometimes to you know to own my own authority I want to sit and think and you know spin and ask questions and you know if I'm doing right now kind of wringing my hands you know thinking through all of what could happen and then I try to work with people in terms of like flat line management like we're friends you want this to succeed right so how can I motivate you eight they don't do all that stuff true eight don't have a problem coming in and saying you need to have your work done by eight o'clock you understand not nine o'clock eight o'clock if you have a problem with that then we can deal with it right now and eight they they can they just I admire that that ability to just lay down the law and just lay down expectations to know that you're in charge and then to just communicate that I think people you know want that as long as you're not heavy-handed about it I think people long for that they want the the lines to be drawn and the expectations to be drawn and they don't want you know somebody trying to just hem and haw and hint it around at what they expect they they want somebody to give them clear expectations and I think eighths provide that in a good way for for their you know in their environment if they're healthy healthy aids will provide that in a good way decisive all right number four eights are decisive again something that I need I need to lean on that eight to be more decisive person more decisive leader because because of my thinking first I can always you know well what about this scenario what about this scenario what if this happened well what about that and then as a seven you know we always like to keep our options open and have escape plans and keep everybody happy and keep everything you know light and encouraging eights you know they're willing to just move over here and follow their gut and say ya know enough that's the right decision that's the right choice and they might be a little heavy-handed and anybody who doesn't agree with that ought to be you know they might be a little heavy-handed with that but but I can admire she ate that ability to say this is what we need to do and they'll believe in it and they'll start moving forward and they'll start working toward that goal and accomplishing it without that indecision you know an indecisive leaders can be so frustrating it's frustrating to be a leader and to know that you have a tendency towards being indecisive and I know it's difficult and it's frustrating to try to follow a leader that's indecisive because they're always moving the goals you know to try to keep people happy well when you're an a you don't necessarily care about keeping people happy you care about getting junk done you care about doing your best and getting stuff done and act in a little folks you know and so you know what the goal is and once you identify the goal then people are either on board with you or they're not but when you move the goal when you're indecisive it's very frustrating for everybody so again something I need to lean on more in my eight wing and just say here's the goal we're not we're not apologizing for it we're not making excuses about it we've identified it there's our target that's what we're shooting for everybody on board that lets go any questions you know see Lorraine is outside the door you know pay the lady outside the door if you get any questions pay the office person out front and get your check and go home you know here's what we're gonna do being decisive is a very important you know element of leadership and eights don't have a problem making tough decisions you know they're willing they trust their instincts they don't doubt their instincts they've learned you know to not doubt themselves right so they don't doubt their instincts alright next unafraid of conflict how important is that in leadership anybody that takes on a leadership role can expect what conflict anytime you say we're gonna move in this direction then you've got the opportunity now for people to criticize that and people to challenge you on that and if you're afraid of conflict then you're gonna move back and forth you're gonna be what the Bible says a double-minded man unstable and all they do a double minded person and eighths are just not gonna be afraid to look you in the eyes and say no we're not doing that in fact it's probably their first instinct is to say no hey would you mind if we move these boxes over here no hey would it be okay if HR uses room 114 instead of no you know an a can just look at you and say no no that's a that's a real answer so many of us have such a hard time you know just looking at people and saying no having good boundaries and I think eights are gonna have good boundaries they're gonna protect their boundaries right and they don't have a problem with conflict by and large you know they don't have a problem with conflict they trust their ability to handle conflict conflict is it bad you know conflict isn't a bad thing criticism isn't a bad thing conflict just needs to be managed it needs to be handled and if you're you know a six or seven or a few of the other types you know you might really have a hard time you want to back down from conflict 9s hate conflict you know twos don't want to get into conflict so you might want to back down in the middle of conflict and try to hear every side and give everybody validation and all that but then there's a time when you just need a leader who will say I'm sorry we're not doing it that way and then it keeps going forward and everybody goes well okay that's the way it is and that's the way we're going and that can be that can eliminate so much conflict I know as of dad you know we have five kids and I remember when they were little and I would try to be nice by leaning into the back of the van and saying hey where do you guys want to eat for supper man that was a mistake because now I got five little voices all screaming for their restaurant you know one of them wants to go to McDonald's the other one says if we go to McDonald's I'm gonna kill myself I hate McDonald's I won't eat anything I'll eat anything but McDonald's and then another kid says I want to go to Fazoli's which is a little fast-food Italian place I want to go to the Folies because they can say it wrong I want to go to Fazoli's no I want to go to Chuck E Cheese I would always get thrown up we're like we're not going to Chuck E Cheese all right and what what I would do is by trying to be compassionate and loving and you know open-minded and all that I'd end up creating conflict because I'd give them too many options and they couldn't handle the options and they'd get to fighting with each other and then somebody be crying and before you know it it would kind of ruin the whole thing well 1/8 just would say here's what we're doing we're going to Burger King because we've got coupons there I don't like Burger King I don't know what I go to Burger Gate fine then you don't get anything okay I guess I'll need something you know and so you don't have a lot of conflict because you deal with it and you're not afraid of it and so there's a great benefit it's having somebody like that having that hammer you know in the organization that just deals with it and says sorry that's not what we're doing we're doing this and said unafraid of conflict they often manage it head-on and they're not afraid to go after somebody where there might be conflict and tap them on the shoulder and say hey I heard you got a problem with this you want to talk about it let's talk about it instead of letting it just kind of stew over here in the corner you know and the person then goes and builds a coalition and then the coalition starts to make their demands you know and formal complaints the eight might just go after them and put it into it and be done with it all right and the last thing on my list here is honest and direct honest and direct and all the eight said of course of course why would you do anything else well look if you're not afraid of conflict and you're all about the big picture right and you're decisive then of course be direct you know this be straightforward with people in the eyes and tell them exactly what you think tom is that what you mean shoot shoot them straight and you expect people to do that to you but you see if you're if you're not so decisive and you don't like conflict like if you're nine and you don't like conflict or you're a - and you're a pleaser and you want to just please everybody and be pleasing to people it's very hard you know - or you're a seven and you want to raise the positive energy or a six you're afraid people are gonna turn against you right it can be very hard for you to be direct or not fives I think could be very direct and honest because they don't care either you know I mean they they don't they're so yeah I think eights can be very direct and straightforward and again so that's a strength when it's used appropriately but sometimes maybe it can be a weakness if it's not tempered if it's not tempered it could come across you could come across this harsh hurtful rude angry and then you might find that people are your own workers are turning against you and you don't understand why because you were just being honest by the way I think Billy Joel is an eighth listen to his music from that perspective think about his song honesty right you remember that song I can find you know people who will tell me whatever I want to hear but honesty that's what's really hard to find somebody who'll be honest with you just listen to his music yet I think I mean you'll see he's he's an eighth alright um anything else that I didn't cover that I want to say I think that pretty well covers what I wanted to cover today so until next time guys be present to life for an eighth what does that mean it means to be present to life means maybe you got a maybe not everything is an argument to win maybe not everything is a challenge to overcome maybe some things are just to be enjoyed and you know everybody's not to be protected or to be fought against everything is not a conflict everything's not a challenge some things are just there to enjoy and if you can let people talk about ideas and concepts without getting into arguments and bantering by the way you know eighths banter because they love you they banter because they care about you if they didn't care about you then they wouldn't they wouldn't spend any time arguing with you because they don't argue with people don't matter you know you don't go up to people on the streets are arguing with them you argue with people you love from an aids perspective so being present to life means letting that softer side that you know eight goes to two right in their health and their on health they go to five which is like going out and reloading their weapon you know reloading their arguments reloading their energy to come back you know and eights also you'll see them go to that investigator mode we know they back you up into a corner and they said hey you were supposed to be here at 12 o'clock where were you I called your office and you weren't there I talked to your friends and they said they didn't know where you were investigator mode see under stress you'll see if eight go down into confessed investigator mode like that but then you might see them just check out and say peace out I'm done and they'll just leave this is disappearing they'll go dark like you know like like a 5 just withdraws you'll see this assertive 8 just withdraw and just they've just had enough they've had their fill you'll also see a Tesco - - you know when they're when they're loving and gracious and being compassionate and taking care of somebody you know protecting someone I think being present for an eighth means of course they trust themselves and they they believe in themselves but it's it's maybe putting yourself on the line and and letting yourself love and be loved knowing that that makes you vulnerable but if you don't let yourself be vulnerable then how can you really love and be loved by others and so kind of get out of that she'll you know I think I always talk about H being like a fort and they keep their safe people on the inside and everybody else's hostels or settlers out there and they don't other people out there don't matter what matters is that we keep the safety of this fort right in some ways H themselves are like that little forward you know they got this hard protective shell and inside you know they've got this soft vulnerable person that's built this wall around themselves that's so tough and so strong because why they're self-protective they're afraid of getting hurt so to be present to life means you got to come out of your fort sometimes and you got to love people and that means you might at time to get hurt you might at times have to be vulnerable with them and you know that can be a challenge for you alright I'll see you guys next time have a blessed day

Channel: Dr. Tom LaHue

Views: 2,365

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Enneagram, Family, love, relationships, home, personalities, Type 8, Type eight, enneagram type 8, parenting, leadership, leaders

Id: Pr0mqV9XSQE

Length: 29min 56sec (1796 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 04 2019