When precision and accuracy are a must, look to Enneagram Type 1 to lead the way. Type 1s are focused on getting it right(!) and are drawn to roles that reward this behavior. Unsure why Type 1s do this? Don’t be frustrated, this video explains the underlying motivation of Type 1 behaviors.
Excerpt from Teamwork 9.0
As the internal anger type, Enneagram Type 1s have an inner critical voice that guides their strong sense of right and wrong. They are alert to problems, and their inner voice persistently reminds them of what should and shouldn’t be. This internal critic drives 1s to examine a problem in excruciating detail and provides a clear vision of what the world should look like once the problem is solved.
Type 1 is the ideal type for leading Step 1, in which the team defines the problem. The 1s persist in examining a problem until it is completely understood. Once the problem description is complete, they can then turn to envisioning the beautiful world in which the problem is eliminated. This vision serves as the destination for the team—the goal for the problem-solving effort.
Do you value precision and accuracy? Are you drawn to roles that require great attention to detail? Is getting it “right” often your most important consideration, and do you become frustrated if others don’t agree? Do others rely on you to take care of the details?
[Video Transcript]
All right. So next is the Type 1. So now you have the Type 8 in your mind with that external anger, now imagine the anger is focused inward. Now if you ask a Type 1, “Do you relate to anger?” They’ll probably say no, but how that anger comes out for the 1 is more like frustration. And for the 1 there is a voice inside of their head that is just telling them, “That’s not right, it shouldn’t be that way, it should be this way.”
And that voice, again, it’s informed by their intuition, and it’s telling them what’s right and what’s wrong, and then it’s compelling them to work to get it right. So that’s the underlying motivation for the 1, they want to get it right. The 1 is often called the perfectionist because they are so focused on getting it right, they will work and work and work and work and work on it until, to all the rest of us it’s like oh my God, that’s like totally done but the 1 is still seeing, well, it’s not quite right yet.
So 1s are drawn to roles that require precision and accuracy, and that’s a very comfortable space for them. You often see them… Whereas a Type 8 might be in the CEO/COO role, the Type 1 seems to go into the CFO role where they can focus on lots of data and then make sure that the numbers are exactly right.
Another great example for the Type 1 is a surgeon, right? If you’re going to be having brain surgery, you want a Type 1 to be doing it because you want them to get it exactly right. You don’t want the Type 8 thing—oh, you know what, that’s good enough. You want the Type 1, like, I’m going to keep working on it until it’s exactly right.
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