Here in the U.S. it’s Valentine’s Day, which means people are talking about love. This comes two days after I led a workshop for a group of leaders on the Enneagram.

It was a fun and insightful time, and it went way too fast. The goal was to help them understand themselves better and the value they bring at work.

The intersection of the workshop and Valentine’s Day got me thinking…what might each Enneagram type want to hear on Valentine’s Day?

If you’re...

CoachTalk.tv interviewed me about using the Enneagram for coaching. I use the Enneagram as an internal coach at my company and also with external clients.

In this conversation, we cover questions like:

• What are the nine personality types and core drives?
• How can we achieve health for the whole person?
• What types connect to other types?
• What is a wing?

We also talk about two coaching clients and how the Enneagram helped to improve productivity and set personal boundaries.

Watch the interview...

As I shared before, self-awareness is critical for success in life, work, and relationships, and there are plenty of great tools out there. If you commit to learn from just one tool, you will be farther along today than you were yesterday, and tomorrow you will be farther along than you were today. So, what tools do I use when I work with people?

The two tools I like best are CliftonStrengths® and the Enneagram—and I’m certified to use both. Rather than use them separately,...

Sometimes connections between ideas come when you’re not expecting them, even in front of a room of people. Recently I was leading an introductory strengths workshop for a team. While explaining the concept of talent, I shared Gallup's definition of talent:

Talent by Gallup

“Talent is naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling or behavior that can be productively applied.”

Each of us is naturally good at certain things, and these things fall into one of three...

As a strengths trainer and coach, I help folks to understand their talented behaviors so they can make the most of them. It’s exciting to see people come alive to their talents and apply them to relationships, work, and life.

For example, I’ve seen people start to give themselves permission for taking time to think because thinking is what they’re good at. I’ve seen people embrace their decisiveness because that’s their power. I’ve seen people foster their...

Previously I wrote about talent development. I love helping folks find their talents—and then growing them into strengths. I mean, I really love it. However, now that I’ve worked in the realm of strengths for a few years, I’ve identified a missing piece.

Talents can tell you what you’re good at, but they can’t tell you where they’re taking you. That’s the business of motivation. When it comes to self-awareness, it’s better to work on both. I...

When I was flying home from the Detroit airport a few weeks ago, I didn’t expect to create a hero dad moment for my teenage daughter, but that’s what happened. I have the Enneagram to thank…and Jerry from Parks and Recreation. Let me explain.

I was returning home from a training course on the Enneagram called “Motions of the Soul,” by Clare and Scott Loughrige, authors of the new book, Spiritual Rhythms of the Enneagram. As a Gallup Certified Strengths coach and...

The Enneagram is making the rounds in social media, self-improvement circles, and spiritual communities, but is it good for business? In this post, we explore that question.

But first, some background. The Enneagram (meaning "nine figures" in Greek) began in the fourth century as a psycho-spiritual tool by the Christian desert fathers who wanted to encourage spiritual growth and put down sin. The Enneagram describes the nine core drives of humanity that color our behaviors, relationships,...