How the Ennegram Test Can Help You Market Your Business


The Kate Show | Episode 87

I am an achiever, a reformer, and a thinker. How do I know this? I've taken several different Ennegram tests and those results consistently appear. If you don't know what the Ennegram is, you're in for some breaking news:

The Ennegram can be traced back to ancient Syria and Egypt and is a personality analysis based on a person's weakest points or the areas they need to improve. Each of the nine personality types have their own struggles: Anger, pride, and envy are a few of the key components.

However, don't let the negative origins of the Ennegram dissuade you. If you decide to take the Ennegram test, you'll learn more about yourself, the areas you can improve and grow, and the reasons for your little quirks and nuances. It's a fascinating journey in self-discovery, and it can help you focus on what you are good at in business and let you know where you need to outsource.

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What is Your Ennegram Number?

After taking the Ennegram test, you will be given primary and secondary results that include a combination of any of these types:

  1. The Reformer

  2. The Helper

  3. The Achiever

  4. The Individualist

  5. The Investigator

  6. The Loyalist

  7. The Enthusiast

  8. The Challenger

  9. The Peacemaker

Each of these types sound wonderful - and they are - but each also comes with its own set of pros and cons that you should know. Go here for a full description of each:

Improve or Outsource Your Weaknesses

If you take the Ennegram Test, you'll quickly learn why you lose your patience with tough clients, while your work schedule feels (and looks) scattered, or why you brag about your projects making you OCD. If used correctly, the knowledge you learn about your personality type can be powerful. It can also be helpful to know the "number" (Ennegram types are numbered 1-9) of your spouse, business partner, and team members. This will help you communicate with them more efficiently, learn why some of them get offended by your abruptness, or why your people-pleasing attitude often attracts those who intend to misuse you.

When you take your Ennegram results and place them beside any other reputable and proven personal tests you've taken (Meyer-Briggs, DISC Assessment, etc), you'll see a more and more complete picture of who you are. It's not an excuse for the areas that you lack but rather an explanation for them and invitation to improve.

As business owners and entrepreneurs, we must improve and advance ourselves if we wish to experience the same things in our businesses. We should also allow ourselves to feel good about the positive aspects of our results, especially as women who tend to listen a bit too closely to our inner critics.

For example, I thought for years that my daydreaming and crazy ideas made me nothing more than a redheaded space cadet. I tend to see and experience both the emotional and factual sides of a situation and viscerally feel the pain, nervousness, fear, or joy of others in my own body. (This is why the nervousness of America's Got Talent contestants absolutely exhausts me!)

As it turns out, Meyers-Briggs says I'm an INFJ, which means I have the rarest personality type in the world. That's a completely different spin on my space cadet theory and brings to light a particular and important truth: Each of us have been gifted with certain natural abilities and modes of thought that were meant to make a difference in this world.

I sounds cliche. However, it would be naive to think our personality types, strengths, weaknesses, and talents were simply coincidences. They aren't. You were created for a specific purpose and you were equipped with the skill sets you needed from day one. It's up to you to hone them and to even improve upon your weak points.

My weaknesses as a Meyers-Briggs INFJ and as an Ennagram type 3 are...

  1. I might be overly sensitive or completely callus. Ugh.

  2. I'm either doing things or thinking about things I could be doing (and re-doing). Exhausting.

  3. I'm more focused on my own thoughts, emotions, and perspectives, yet I can take on the emotions of those around me without knowing it. This can get confusing.

  4. Deep down, I do care what people think of me and my worst fear is being seen as worthless. How is that for some vulnerability?

  5. I'm a workaholic (and currently working on not being that way - the iron of that isn't lost on me).

However, knowing these weak points helps me shed light on which areas of my business I need to outsource. I'm sharing them with you so that you can use this as an example to follow when determining how to improve or outsource certain areas of your business.

  1. Customer service - I'm too extreme and focused on the next thing to slow down and say the right thing more than 40% of the time. This is why I have hired multiple customer service specialists who are sweet, patient, kind, and not type 3's.

  2. Project management and scheduling - I need to write everything down or my brain will delete it. I use Asana to management both my business and personal life as well as to map out ideas that I have.

  3. Boundaries - I need to set limits on how people can contact me and when, and I also need to be respectful of other people's boundaries before I text, email, or call at all hours.

  4. Positive reviews - It is my responsibility to go back and read positive reviews of my brand if I just went through a tough business situation. It is no one else's job to console me. (I actually stole this tip from marketing guru Jenna Kutcher. She keeps a section of her inbox reserved for positive feedback. Ironically, she is also a type 3.) As humans, our tendency is to focus on the negative, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea.

Learn Your Ennegram Type & Improve Your Business

Are you ready to learn more about yourself, even if it means being faced with your weaknesses or bad tendencies? I know you can do it, and I know your business will be improved as a result.

Go here for a free Ennegram test:﻿