Barack Obama

Following on from my last post I thought I would look at Barack Obama as an example of someone who is often mistyped in his direction of integration. I have seen him typed as a Nine and also as a Three - which is not surprising as they are linked. Nine integrates to Three, Three disintegrates to Nine. This is where typing people can become difficult because we all, at times, manifest as those Types in our directions of integration or disintegration depending on, for example, how much stress we are under, how secure we feel or how much work we have done on ourselves.

So let's have a look at some qualities of the Nine. Nines are good at holding space for others and seeing other points of view. They are emotionally stable, easygoing and calm in a crisis (his nickname 'No Drama Obama' was perhaps based on something), they are good mediators, tending to look at things holistically and want to unify and bring things back to wholeness. Nines, however, don't like conflict so tend to avoid it whenever possible even when it is necessary. They can also hang back from involvement, be ineffectual, become disengaged and go onto auto-pilot. Some qualities of Threes are that they are interested in developing themselves and their talents to be the best that they can be. They have belief in themselves, are goal-oriented and effective in their pursuit of what they want. They are also highly adaptable, diplomatic and charming. However, they can also be self-promoting, expedient and grandiose. When Nines integrate to Three they invest time and energy in developing themselves and their talents and so find greater self-esteem. Threes, when they disintegrate to Nine, lose their focus, do not want to be bothered and shut down, having little of the energy and enthusiasm that we associate with Threes.

So we can see how Types can meld into each other with their directions of integration and disintegration. At the end of the day, we can't be 100% sure of anyone's Type especially if we don't personally know them. We can't see motivation so all we can do is look at attitudes and behaviours across a period of time and, taking in the whole picture, ask ourselves whether these behaviours are at the healthy (conscious) or unhealthy (reactive) end of the spectrum. We have seen how both Three-ish behaviours manifest in the Nine and Nine-ish behaviours manifest in the Three. Obama is both a Peacemaker (Nine) and an Achiever (Three) so we have to decide on a balance of probability based on his behaviour, what he has said about himself and what others have said about him. The Enneagram Institute believes - and I agree - that he is a Nine. But you must decide for yourself!