Enneagram 8 personality type people are mentally strong, confident, and capable of making things work the way they want. They love working on opportunities that challenge them to exceed their limits. Enneagram 8 workplace habits mention how people with this personality type behave when they carry out their roles as a colleague, a subordinate, and a manager.
The ideal workplace for an Enneagram 8 personality type is where they can leave behind their mark and make a significant impact on the business. They prefer working for an organization that is always ready to make changes and expand. It would give them great pleasure if they can get the opportunity to lead a team.
If you want to know your enneagram type, take the online personality test, the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator to know the same. This enneagram testing method will help you relate better to workplace habits.
Enneagram 8 Workplace Habits
People with enneagram 8 personality types are masters of using their wide range of ideas to good effect. They offer great help to oppressed individuals, who cannot stand up for their rights and suffer throughout their life. Their strength of character and confidence allows them to lead, apart from having the ability to be the backbone for the different communities at large.
Eights carry a great sense of humor. It goes along with the show of intense love and generosity toward their friends and family members. They are always ready to offer advice. It can help them develop in their personal and professional arenas. When they gradually learn how to care, happiness, and gratitude emerge from their inner selves.
When we discuss professional setups, enneagram 8s love working in those environments, which allow them to handle authoritative positions. They will love taking charge of situations and leading others toward achieving their goals. An ideal work environment for a type 8 personality gives immense respect to their ideas and opinions.
While playing the role of a colleague, an Enneagram 8 personality type individual will expect to receive the trust of their co-workers. Eights will always prefer working in a supportive environment, where they can offer encouragement and lift the morale of their team members to let them work to the best of their abilities. When they carry out their duties as a subordinate, they must find that their seniors show some sense of purpose while allocating some tasks.
An enneagram 8 must find its seniors or managers inspiring others to push their limits and attain success. Eights feel at their best when they get the chance to lead or manage teams. Under those situations, they live in their comfort zone. They will make full use of their gift of leadership in a benevolent manner.
Let us now discuss how an enneagram 8 tackles different responsibilities in the workplace –
Enneagram 8 as a colleague
When an individual with Enneagram 8 personality type works in the capacity of a colleague, they will always offer support to coworkers for performing their duties as per the requirements of the organization. They have the fascination to work independently.
Despite this fact, these Eights thrive in dynamic and challenging professional settings. It is imperative for these people to feel they are making a significant difference in the work environment. Otherwise, they will easily get demotivated.
They are not those who will get satisfaction from doing repetitive activities in their workplace. It happens to be one of Enneagram 8’s basic fears. Filling up excel sheets, or tallying data will not give them the thrill and excitement that an enneagram 8 looks for in an ideal work environment.
Things must go according to the needs and demands of eights. Then they will get energetic. It will also help them feel comfortable. Hence, their performance will drastically improve.
If the operations inside the workplace do not go as per their desires, the commitment level of an enneagram 8 will drastically go down. They will start looking for better opportunities in other organizations. It is primarily the reason why colleagues must make sure to keep these people busy with some work or other.
When that happens, they will not have time to think of any other thing other than the work at hand. The work ethic of an enneagram 8 is such that they love dealing with challenges. Hence, their colleagues should always share the challenging portions of projects with them. Then they will not only gain a different level of interest in their work but also drive the whole team along with them.
Enneagram 8 as a subordinate
As a subordinate, an enneagram 8 personality type individual would always enjoy working in such an environment where their manager makes their teamwork for a purpose. When a goal is attached to their responsibilities, it does wonders for the confidence level among these professionals.
If a senior has to manage type 8s effectively, he must adopt an inspirational style of management. They must show the enneagram 8 personality type individual a goal that they can look forward to with hope and optimism.
When managers fail to implement this specific style of management, it will not take long for enneagram 8s to suffer from disillusionment. They suffer from the same whenever they feel that they are undertaking meaningless responsibilities. Managers have to make good use of the energy and sense of purpose that enneagram 8s bring with them.
They can communicate the organization’s long-term objectives. Then they can let them fulfill those with a great level of precision. This step from a manager will give the challenger a clear idea of the bigger picture. It would act as an incentive for them to put their best foot forward.
A good, competitive work environment will help Enneagram 8s in energizing people who are working along with them. Managers should reinforce the importance of good professional behavior and enjoy their team’s success.
The burst of encouragement will motivate the enneagram 8s to work harder and make sure that the company enjoys good times more often. If managers genuinely want to get the best out of enneagram type 8 subordinates in their workplaces, they must give them complete independence for implementing innovative ideas in the best possible manner.
Enneagram 8 as a manager
The role of a manager is perfectly suited for an enneagram 8 personality type individual. The reason behind this is that they are born leaders. Therefore, whenever they get opportunities to work in leadership positions, they would always want everything to remain under their complete control.
These people often face circumstances when they feel that their sense of control is under serious threat. Under those scenarios, enneagram 8 managers can implement bullying tactics.
They can become extremely demanding in nature to get things back under their control. On the other hand, a manager with this personality type stays at ease whenever they get the feeling that they are in charge and have total control of the proceedings inside the workplace.
It enables them to make good connections with their colleagues and subordinates. They will not allow vulnerabilities to have any say in their work process. When eights are at their best, they can turn out to be strong leaders with big hearts.
These managers can easily motivate their team members to bring out their best to fulfill their assigned responsibilities and complete projects on time. Type Eight managers can pose a challenge to all those co-workers in offices who do not possess the required level of motivation for doing hard work and completing their tasks as per requirements. They carry a great sense of intuition. It enables them to recognize such employees who fail to utilize their talents for achieving the best results.
Hence, an enneagram 8, while working as a manager in an organization will always make sure to confront the employee who straightforwardly lacks integrity. They will not hesitate to ask some tough questions and find out what has gone wrong in their approach toward work.
Whenever the type eight individual works as a manager, they will always stand up for what they believe is right. One can always expect them to do complete justice to their teams and the industry at large.
Enneagram 8 Communication Style in the Workplace
Enneagram 8 personality types are confident professionals who are always aware of their responsibilities. They are natural leaders who make sure to lead others toward fulfilling their duties and hence meet the obligations of an organization. These individuals want to make things happen and not wait for things to unfold in their way.
An eight will never take a no for an answer and it becomes evident through their clarity of communication regarding the same. These challengers want to ensure that their co-workers know ways through which they can convert their ideas into realities and achieve their dreams even when the going gets tough.
They have the habit of paying attention to using their power for getting the best results. Hence, their style of communication is bold, straightforward, authoritative, and expansive. These individuals will always express their views and what they want from their teammates. Eights will also not hesitate to point out the kind of approach that their co-workers can adopt for carrying out duties as per expectations.
Type 8 professionals can be quite selective in the words they choose for carrying out communications with their co-workers. They will never beat around the bush, but be upfront with their views and opinions.
The straightforward manner of expressing their thoughts can intimidate co-workers, even when eight have no intention of doing so. These people will never shy away from facing conflicting situations and resolve them through grit and determination. They believe in getting right down to the bottom of an issue and hence digging out crucial information.
Problems arise when their high intensity and succumbing to anger result in a style of communication that is intimidating and combative. Under those situations, type eights can be so particular about not giving away much through their talks that they can easily keep others away from their sight.
How Does an Enneagram 8 Manage Business Meetings?
When an individual with the enneagram 8 personality type is part of a professional setup, they will always give an organization plenty of options to explore new avenues. These people are self-competent and always remain prepared for taking up challenges across workplaces.
They never mince words and hence express their viewpoints with complete authority and clarity. Type 8 professionals know what they want from their work life. These enneagram types are extremely logical in their approach and see things from practical points of view.
Therefore, when they hold business meetings with others, eights are straightforward in their approach toward communicating the way forward for the company. They will chalk out a business plan, explain its short-term and long-term benefits, and let everyone share their inputs regarding how to execute the same most profitably. The freedom they will give their employees to express their thoughts would do wonders for their confidence and make them believe that they are an integral part of the organization.
The roles reverse and they can be one of the employees attending a business meeting held by their manager. In that situation, they will expect that their seniors will give them plenty of freedom for expressing their ideas. They will be extremely rational and clear-cut in mentioning the roadmap he has set along with his colleagues for the company.
Moreover, he will also state the action plan he has chalked out for the completion of the present project, the way forward for dealing with other projects, and delivering them to clients on time. Even when he is sitting at the other side of the table, the enneagram type 8 personality will struggle to get rid of the leader’s hat from his head.
Conflict Resolution of Enneagram 8 in Workplaces
Enneagram 8 personality type individuals are comfortable when it comes to dealing with conflicts in workplaces. They see confrontations as opportunities to win. According to these professionals, compromise is nothing but a manner of submission.
These people will make things worse whenever others will look for a compromise. They never remain subdued in any situation. Eights express their anger freely. All those who face problems with direct communication can find it tough to openly express their anger.
Type Eight professionals enjoy elusive and straightforward communication styles. Their sole purpose is to work for clarity and make things clear for others to understand. It helps them a great deal to avoid conflict.
They have difficulties in revealing the softer sides of personalities. It is all-or-nothing for them. There is nothing in the middle that one can settle for. Eights show great sensitivity toward unfairness and dishonesty.
An enneagram 8 professional can resort to personal attacks and avoid vulnerability. They have complete faith in believing what they know is right and nothing else matters. These people invest their time and energy in influencing others. When things do not go as per their wish, they will not hesitate to criticize.
Final Words
Enneagram Type 8 professionals are leaders and adopt a direct approach toward doing what they want. They never leave an opportunity to lead their teammates and offer valuable inputs for enhancing the quality of work.
These people are positive and remain optimistic even under the most difficult situations. It is common to find this type eight person not taking a no for an answer.
They are ready to face challenges and overcome them with flying colors. Their confidence level is sky-high. Hence, these professionals can easily surpass some of the toughest situations with utmost ease.
