A practical guide to working with Enneagram Ones: their strengths, stress points, and the best ways to communicate (without driving each other crazy 😜).
Signs You’re Working With an Enneagram One
- They tend to overwork themselves.
- There’s an attitude of “If I’m going to do it, I might as well do it right!”
- They’re incredibly detail-oriented.
- You might see them gravitating to careers in HR, finance, software development, or law.
- They have a strong sense of right and wrong.
The Secret Superpower of Ones in the Workplace
This never ceases to amaze me.
Say you have a chaotic situation happening at work.
You were supposed to drop off an important document at your boss’s house, but you were tricked by her twins into going upstairs to their Upper East Side apartment, and you witnessed a marital dispute you definitely were not supposed to see.
So now you are tasked with obtaining the unpublished Harry Potter manuscript by 3pm the next day.
(Yes, yes, I am excited for the Devil Wears Prada 2)
If Andy Sachs isn’t available, you give that impossible task to a One.
Because they have an incredible ability to build systems that create excellence over and over again. They’ll pinpoint what’s going wrong and build a system to fix it.
Take this real-life example of a Type 1 from my book My Enneagram:
Jon approached his 1,000-acre potato farm like he did his life, asking, “How can I make this better?” He set up elaborate systems with conveyor belts, trucks, and trailers to ensure everything got where it should go. When they started experimenting with new varieties and test plots, he went digital. He bought all kinds of equipment, ran the wires through the tractor and planter, and sat back, music blasting, to watch his masterpiece work.
Where Things Get Murky
But there’s a downside to their amazing proficiency…
When other people aren’t following through on their commitments or if coworkers aren’t honoring the system they’ve created, Ones get cranky.
“Why can’t you see that I am leading us to the best and most efficient way to do this task?”
It’s why you’ll often hear Ones using the dreaded word, hated by all therapists: “should.”
“We should be doing it this way.”
“You should’ve fixed that last week.”
This black-and-white thinking can be difficult to navigate in the workplace, especially if you have a more free-flowing style like Fours and Sevens.
But let’s take a second and put on a Type One’s loafers…
Or, in potato farmer Jon’s case, sturdy work boots.
Literally nothing you can say is worse than what they say to themselves on a daily basis.
Ones have a core desire to improve themselves and the world around them.
So while you may experience some of that “world improvement” directed at you, there’s also a mountain of criticism inside their own heads.
Telling them that they’re not good enough.
They’re not perfect enough.
Try harder.
TRY. HARDER.
This inner voice—when Ones let it take over—preys on their core fear: that they will be wrong, inappropriate, or corruptible.
How to Communicate With Ones at Work
So, I would encourage you to approach Ones with more gentleness.
Try to open and close difficult conversations with something positive!
But that doesn’t mean you need to get all touchy-feely.
When I was coaching a Type One psychotherapist about the Enneagram, this is an “aha” moment we had together.
When critique enters the picture at work, it is already a very tender place for Ones.
So here’s the game plan:
Discuss the way things are rather than how things feel.
A Type One psychotherapist once told me this during an Enneagram coaching session:
When it gets too personal, Ones will react defensively. So, keep the conversation action-oriented and focused on practical solutions.
I’d be lying if I said this little blog post could tell you everything you need to know about Ones in the workplace. Because the truth is, there is SO much more insight that the Enneagram provides.
Want to Use the Enneagram With Your Team?
Which is what my Enneagram workshops are all about:
- Finding your type
- Using that knowledge to improve your work life
- Dealing with conflict and communication with all nine types!
And yes, it’s fun too. Through funny skits, interactive exercises, and guided conversation, this hands-on experience is guaranteed to make the Slack channel light up with: “OMG, that was so fun and actually helpful!!”
If this sounds like something that would benefit your team, let’s get the ball rolling!
