Personality Assessments: Which number are you—5, 9, 1, 2, 7, 3, 8, 6, 4?

 

There’s no denying that there is a lot of change going on in our world… And how you perceive and deal with that change can be based on your personality.

Recently, Camille and I have been sort of ‘geeking out’ on personality assessments. In fact, our whole team had the opportunity to take a series of professional and personality assessments. It was fascinating to learn more about ourselves and each other!

 

Did you know that everyone emerges from childhood with one of nine types dominating their personality? The Enneagram assessment taught us this!

According to The Enneagram Institute, “the Enneagram of Personality Types is a modern synthesis of a number of ancient wisdom traditions. It was originally a system that Oscar Ichazo put together from all he had learned and studied about inner work and self-realization.”

After many years of developing his ideas, Ichazo created the Arica School. The Arica School was a vehicle for transmitting the knowledge that he had received while teaching in Chile in the late 1960’s and early 70’s, before moving the United States where he resided until his passing in 2020.

When Ichazo was still living in South America, a group of Americans, including noted psychologists and writers Claudio Naranjo and John Lilly, went to Arica, Chile to study with Ichazo and to experience firsthand the methods for attaining self-realization that he had developed.

Among the highlights for the participants was a system of teaching based on the ancient symbol of the Enneagram. The symbol has roots in antiquity and can be traced back at least as far as the works of Pythagoras.”

The Enneagram symbol.

The Enneagram symbol looks like this and while it can appear to be complicated, it is actually simple:

 

It can be seen as 9 distinct personality types. However, it is common to find a bit of yourself in all nine of the types. Also, one of them should stand out as your basic personality type. And the more you know, the more you will appreciate it and use it in your life.

In Ichazo’s own words:

“We have to distinguish between a man as he is in essence, and as he is in ego or personality. In essence, every person is perfect, fearless, and in a loving unity with the entire cosmos; there is no conflict within the person between head, heart, and stomach or between the person and others. Then something happens: the ego begins to develop, karma accumulates, there is a transition from objectivity to subjectivity; man falls from essence into personality.”

Why should you take personality assessments?

There are many reasons why people take personality assessments. In general, personality assessments are helpful because they can help you understand more about your individual strengths and behaviors. They also help us understand how we relate to others, how we process information, and how we react to the outside world. All of this is useful in our personal lives, as well as in our careers. Having been in the careers industry for about 20 years now, I’ve seen firsthand that assessments are valuable.

Personality assessments can help you learn more about your talents and where they can best be used. When you are armed with the knowledge of your Enneagram type, you can use your preferences and natural strengths to your advantage.

The better understanding you have for how you operate as a human, the easier you’re able to see what your best—and worst—traits are. Knowing this information can be helpful in both your personal life, as well as your career.

Personality assessments can help you understand your strengths and weaknesses.

When you learn your top three Enneagram types, you start to become aware of patterns. You’ll have a stronger knowledge of your personality type which will help you validate the career path you choose or make a career pivot based on your personality type. It helps you understand your combined talents.

Personality assessments help you with key verbiage that can be incorporated in your personal marketing, i.e., your private sector resume, your federal resume, LinkedIn profile, introduction letter, elevator pitch, bio, or website. And in doing so, others can get to know you along with your skills and talents so you can get hired faster…and perhaps in a better job! It also just feels good to know yourself better!

 

Knowing our personality type is only the beginning.

According to The Enneagram Institute, “Ultimately, the goal is for each of us to “move around” the Enneagram, integrating what each type symbolizes and acquiring the healthy potentials of all the types. The ideal is to become a balanced, fully functioning person who can draw on the power (or from the Latin, “virtue”) of each as needed.

Each of the types of the Enneagram symbolizes different important aspects of what we need to achieve this end. The personality type we begin life with is therefore less important ultimately than how well (or badly) we use our type as the beginning point for our self-development and self-realization.”

If you’ve ever taken a personality assessment and reviewed the results, it’s highly probable that your response was something along the lines of “Yes! This is ME!”

Why does this matter?

As humans, we like validating who we really are as individuals. And the better we know ourselves, the more capable we are of assessing what we really need in life—and asking for it! This is true for our personal relationships, and our career relationships.

Should your whole team or family take personality assessments?

I learned that my Enneagram number is 2. As a “2”, I’m extremely motivated by wanting to help others. I tend to be attentive, appreciative, generous, warm, playful, and nurturing (SO TRUE!). I really like to make other people feel special. And loved. I’m generally outgoing and like to work with other people. I am also a team player. I also offer to take on extra work when other people are weighed down or need help.

By sharing this information with my teammates, they know what motivates me and what energizes me, but they also know what might burn me out, if I struggle to set boundaries, and they can try not to let me take on too much.

And by having the whole team take the series of assessments, we’ve learned how our work and communication styles complement each other. We know how each of us prefers to work and share information. We know what our sources of conflict are, and so much more. Knowing these things helps us from jumping to conclusions about what someone else is thinking or feeling, just because it’s not the same way that we might act ourselves. 😉

I’ve learned that one of my teammates and I can form an effective team by paying attention to similar values. Our similar values are: helping others, avoiding conflict, being supportive, and by balancing the contrasts.

I bring energy and drive to make connections with people, be with others, and am generally good at making decisions quickly. In contrast, one of my teammates can be somewhat methodical about making decisions, is less outgoing, and more flexible and accepting in various environments. We tend to balance each other and the work we do complements each of our work styles.

Can you see how this knowledge could be helpful to know for your personal and professional life?

You can probably understand why we love assessments at CC Career Solutions! They are often a cornerstone to successful workplace (and family) relationships—and life. We offer a variety of assessments to help you.

Do you need to improve your personal life, but not sure how to start?

Do you need to make a career change, or just improve the one you are in?

Do you just want to know more about why you do the things you do and your patterns?

 

Would you like to discover what your Enneagram number is…and your personality type?

Click here to take the FREE assessment and see what you can learn about yourself (and others!) You’re welcome! 😉

You’ll need to create a free account so we can send your results.

I would love to know what you think after you review your results. Comment below and let me know!