Enneagram 8
The Leader | The Protector | The Provider | The Entrepreneur | The Maverick | The Rock |
The Leader | The Protector | The Provider | The Entrepreneur | The Maverick | The Rock |
Type 8 Overview
Type 8’s are bigger and bolder than life, and they’re not easy to miss. They are powerful, dominating, self-confident, decisive, willful, and can at times be confrontational. They tend to see things in black and white terms with a low tolerance for injustice, untruth, and incompetence. They enjoy taking on challenges and giving others opportunities that challenge them, drawing people in both physically and psychologically with their magnetism, charisma, and bold leadership. 8’s are strong leaders, though they must be careful about steamrolling others with their no-nonsense thinking.
8’s can be intimidating, whether intentionally or unintentionally, while being gentle, kind, and pure at their core. They have a strong, intrinsic belief that the strong and powerful in the world take advantage of the weak and powerless, and they see themselves as an instrument in changing that. They desire to feel and be perceived as strong, which can make vulnerability extra hard for them. They often see vulnerability as a form of weakness, and thus unacceptable, unable to recognize that showing vulnerability is actually a form of strength.
Basic Desire: To protect themselves and determine their own course in life
Basic Fear: Of being harmed or controlled by others
Holy Ideal: Holy Truth - Being able to seek and integrate multiple points of view into a higher or bigger truth, with a childlike innocence and a willingness to be vulnerable, open-minded, and open-hearted so that the need to protect self and others is no longer present.
-
Self-surrendering, heroic, strong, confident, leading
Healthy 8’s let go of the belief that they must always be in control of their environment, allowing them to let their personal guard down and heal their hearts. This allows them to achieve their basic desire of protecting themselves, freeing them up to be self-surrendering, forgiving, and even heroic.
They use their energy and willpower to become independent, vigorous, and action-oriented, reinforcing their self-image of being assertive, direct, and resourceful. They are protective of those they love, but not controlling, providing for others and bringing out their strengths.
-
Pragmatic, self-glorifying, dominating.
Can be confrontational, intimidating, bad-tempered, oppressive, fearful, threatening.
8’s in average health being to fear that they don’t have enough resources to succeed or provide for their loved ones. Because of this, they can become impatient, shrewd, competitive, and guarded.
They try to convince others of their importance out of fear that they won’t be respected, becoming boastful, proud, and even dishonest in their promises and plans. They feel the need to remind others of “who’s in charge.” Their fear of losing control might even cause them to lose control, especially of their tempers and those who they have pushed to the limit.
-
In extreme cases, unhealthy 8’s can become ruthless, dictatorial, terrorizing, sociopathic, and destructive.
They fear that others are turning against them, which might be true, causing them to be distrustful, predatory, vengeful, and even violent. They begin to see themselves as outlaws with a “me/us against the world” mentality.
They respect no boundaries and their delusions of invulnerability make them a danger to themselves and others. In desperation, their fear of retaliation causes them to attack potential rivals preemptively.
Their fear of the powerful enemies they have created causes them to destroy everything rather than let anyone triumph or have control over them, going on remorseless rampages that harm everything in their path. (Example: The end of Game of Thrones Season 8.)
Wings
8w7
“The Independent”
HEALTHY: Healthy 8w7’s Have a quick mind combined with a vision for practical possibilities. They’re often charismatic and able to attract the support of others who join them in their vision. They are action-oriented and strongly desire to have an impact on the world. They’re also good at challenging others to stretch their abilities and to surpass their own expectations so that their lives can be better in some practical way. 8w7’s tend to be more independent than 8w9’s, often entrepreneurial and interested in creating projects that will ensure their independence.
AVERAGE HEALTH: 8w7’s in average health are often adventurous risk-takers with “big plans.” They often enlist the cooperation of others with big promises, sometimes exaggerating the potential of their ventures. They are very social and tend to be talkative, outgoing, and have great self confidence. They are pragmatic, practical, competitive, and not overly-concerned with pleasing others or putting up with what they perceive as weakness or inefficiency. 8w7’s can be more impatient and impulsive than 8w9’s, and at times even aggressive and confrontational. They aren’t likely to back down from a fight, especially if it involves some form of perceived injustice on behalf of themselves or a person or cause they care about.
8w9
“The Bear”
HEALTHY: Healthy 8w9’s combine the strength, self confidence, and determination of the 8 with the quiet groundedness and laid-back energy of the 9. They are noticeably steady in the pursuit of their goals and not as openly aggressive or as easily perturbed as 8w7’s. They are also warmer and more family-oriented, asserting their power and leadership through protectiveness. They appreciate independence and enjoy doing things at their own pace and are good at reassuring and calming others in their capacity as leaders.
AVERAGE HEALTH: 8w9’s in average health seem to have a dual nature, manifesting themselves differently in different areas of their lives. For example, they can be warm and affectionate at home, but highly determined and aggressive at work. 8w9’s generally like to live quietly and unobtrusively, preferring to control their affairs from behind the scenes. They also tend to speak slowly and are highly attuned to the nonverbal cues and body language of others - friendly while secretly sizing people up. They are strategic, watchful, and almost dare others to underestimate them. 8w9’s can be stubborn, impassive, and quietly menacing. When they lose their tempers, the explosion comes suddenly and violently, then is gone.
Subtypes
There are 3 instincts: Self-Preservation, Social, and One-to-One (AKA Sexual). We each use these instincts throughout our lives to survive and thrive; usually we use one of them quite often, one not much or not enough, and the other is somewhere in the middle. The strongest instinct is known as your “Dominant” instinct, which determines your subtype. So for each Enneagram type, there are three subtypes.
Many people know more about the wings than the subtypes, but each subtype can look very different from another subtype, even if they share the same core type. For example, Self-Preservation 3’s look VERY different from Social 3’s.
Self-Preservation 8
“Survival”
SP 8’s get what they need for survival, scoping out the scene particularly related to power and influence, becoming highly frustrated, intolerant, and angry when the fulfillment of their needs is thwarted in any way.
Social 8
“Solidarity”
SO 8’s vigorously protect others from unjust and unfair authorities and systems and challenge social norms while seeking power, influence, and pleasure. (Can be confused with a SO 2)
One-to-One 8
“Possession”
SX 8’s are rebellious, provocative, emotional, intense, and passionate. They draw others to them and get power and influence from being at the center of and controlling events and other people. (Can be confused with a 1-to-1 4 or a 1-to-1 6)
Arrows
Each Enneagram type has 2 arrows connecting it to 2 other types. These arrows express your direction of Growth and Stress, determining how you will likely act int hose situations. Understanding your type’s arrows is one of the best ways to use the Enneagram as a tool for growth (learning about your growth number) and how to cope with stress (learning about your stress number).
Growth Arrow: 2
When moving in a direction of integration (growth), lustful, controlling 8’s become more open-hearted and caring like healthy 2’s.
Attributes of the 2 for 8’s to adopt:
Compassionate and helpful
Open-hearted and nurturing, especially to those they perceive as vulnerable or in need
Open and accepting of others’ perspectives and opinions
Can let go of the need to be right and in charge
Allow others to take care of them without feeling vulnerable or at risk
Stress Arrow: 5
When moving in a direction of disintegration (stress), self-confident 8’s suddenly become secretive and fearful at 5.
Unhealthy attributes of the 8 a 2 might adopt under intense or prolonged stress:
Withdrawing and becoming even more disconnected from their feelings and the impact they have on those around them.
Become more rigid, fearful and further convinced that others are out to get them
Refuse to entertain different ideas as an attempt to maintain some level of power
Isolate themselves and start to see themselves as loners
Want to dive deeper?
Get support on your inner work through 1-on-1 coaching, relationship coaching, group workshops, or figure out your type in a typing interview!
Resources:
The Wisdom of the Enneagram:
Book by Don Richard Riso & Russ Hudson
Do It for The Gram Podcast:
Podcast by Coach Milton Stewart
The Art of the Enneagram:
Book by Dr. Ginger Lapin-Bogda
The Enneagram Institute:
Organization & Website
The Art of Typing:
Book by Dr. Ginger Lapin-Bogda
Random Acts of Caroline:
An Enneagram Podcast