Type Six on the Enneagram has been called The Loyalist, The Skeptic, The Troubleshooter, and The Guardian.

While they may struggle with anxiety and fear of what could go wrong, that same energy allows them to be excellent troubleshooters and be prepared for all kinds of situations. 

They have an inner committee that's not necessarily negative, but provides a lot of feedback and varying opinions so Sixes can sometimes struggle to trust themselves and not question their decisions. 

Type Sixes are in the Emotional Reactivity group (with Type 4 and 8)  when it comes to handling conflict and challenges - meaning they want to vent to someone about the emotion they're feeling  in hopes that the listener will have the same strong feelings. 

The energy they bring to going after what they want, puts them in the Compliant/Dependent group (along with Type 1 and 2). This doesn't mean they're necessarily dependent on anyone else, but rather look outside themselves to a mission, a community group, a set of rules or expectations or a belief system. 

In this group, they are focused on the common good able to sacrifice, asking, "What's good for most of us?" This has a lot of benefits as a leader, coach, and even friend, but those in this group will have to be aware of not overextending and will need to put up boundaries to protect their energy and identify. 

Their  dominant Center of Intelligence comes from the Thinking or Head Center (with Type 5s and 7s) which means they tend to engage with life through mental analysis. Each type in this grouping struggles with fear and anxiety in some way. For Sixes it looks like constant scanning of people and situations for worst case scenarios.  

Below is a quick facts list of the Type 6 profile:

Core longing: to be able to fully trust themselves, others and their environment

Core fear: to be without support, stability or guidance

Vice: anxiety - there’s an underlying nervousness that something bad may happen that they won’t be prepared for or able to manage, and that others won’t be there to support or help them thru it.

Leadership strengths: honest, straightforward, humble, funny and quick witted, sharp analytic mind, excellent trouble shooters and problem solvers, can understand and explain complex issues, great on teams and keeping others engaged

Leadership struggles: self doubt and questioning can slow down their work progress, may flood their team/community with too much info, often struggle with deciding, can make things more complicated than necessary, too much skepticism can undermine their team’s confidence and enthusiasm

Calm in a crisis: While Sixes are worried and thinking of all the things that can go wrong, when something actually does go wrong, they tend to be calm and know how to deal with it. Most likely because they've been thinking and planning for this exact what-if! 

A superpower: They can quickly see & understand complex issues and problems. Sixes have a super power of distilling complicated ideas and problems into bite-sized nuggets that others can more easily digest. Their enthusiasm and ability to think outside the box also helps them be a creative problem solver to these problems. 

Do you have Six energy in you? What from here resonates with you the most?

P.S. When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:

---> Download the Enneagram and Sales Guide HERE to gain additional insight about your sales style - the strengths to embrace and the roadblocks to grow through. 

---> Listen and Subscribe to the Enneagram MBA Podcast HERE to learn from other business owner and leaders of all Enneagram types, on topics covering starting and growing a business, finding your purpose, and ways to get known and reach more people with your message, mission, and services. 

---> Book a Know Your Number Session HERE to start to uncover your dominant Enneagram type and/or learn how to use it in your business and life. Knowledge isn't power. It's what you do with that knowledge that's power. Inside here, we'll start to identify specific changes in habits, beliefs, or thoughts needed in  order to step into the best version of you.