Do you always have to be right? We all experience the need to be right from time to time but there is one Enneagram type where this need is super important. If you’re an Enneagram Type 1 the need to be right plays a major role in how you experience conflict in the workplace.
How Enneagram Type 1 Experiences Conflict
Enneagram Type 1’s often struggle with the belief that there is only one way to do things. Trouble arises when people come and do things differently and hold other views. This is inevitable in a workplace filled with diverse personalities. Type 1 is compelled to not only stick to their guns but also hold their view of things as the only legitimate view.
The Enneagram type 1 is most concerned about honesty and morality. For type 1’s conflict is not just two sides wanting to get their way. The Enneagram type 1 usually looks at conflict primarily as a moral issue. It’s not just that you have a different way of working but my way of working is right and your way of working is wrong.
Often type 1’s need their side to win not just because of their own self-interest but because it would be an injustice and a triumph against morality. In other words, everything is black and white and there is no gray area.
A mindset like this makes negotiation and compromise unacceptable. The solution to the problem is not just practical but it lands in the realm of ethics. While not explicitly thinking this the type 1 would see it as a defeat against their moral integrity.
Oftentimes type 1’s with a nine wing stuff down their anger because although they believe they are right they are also challenged by their understanding of anger as wrong. So they are often left with resentment and the feeling of their values being violated. This can manifest itself as passive-aggressiveness in the workplace.
Type 1’s with a two wing can often be critical of themselves when they don’t meet certain benchmarks or goals in the workplace. They can also be judgmental while at the same time giving praise when others fall short of their standards. This can come off as deceptive and manipulative.
So how can type 1’s become open to other people’s opinions and not always see the world as a struggle between good and evil?
How Enneagram Type 1 Can Better Navigate Conflict
Well as a type 1 your anger or resentment can be used as a clue to some other underlying issues. Whenever you feel these emotions take some time to examine their source. There could be some other things you are angry about from present interaction that have roots in the past.
Another thing you can do is to think about the other. You have to remember not everyone shares the same values. So as you are navigating conflict ask yourself the question: Am I pursuing this to satisfy my own moral purity or for the benefit of everyone else?
Your role in the workplace is to benefit the team and the organization. Being part of an organization means working with people who are different from you. They all come with different views and perspectives. They are not wrong or right in and of themselves. Just different.
What We Can Learn From Enneagram Type 1 and How They Navigate Conflict
Staying aware of your anger and resentment and understanding there are a variety of valid perspectives and no one is right are helpful principles for navigating conflict as a type 1. These principles can help you begin to experience openness to different views and beliefs and to not see everything as a moral battle.
We all at times hold tightly to being right and so we can all learn from the Enneagram Type 1’s growth in navigating conflict. We can hold our views and opinions while also accepting other people have views different than ours. In life, there are only a few things that are black and white and it is up to us to discern the hills we are willing to die on.