70: Leading, Learning. Laughing, and Loving with an Enneagram Type Six

The Enneagram Type Six: The Loyalist

It’s EnneaTalk Tuesday and this week I’m continuing our series with all things Type 6. I discuss The Loyalist’s strengths, greatest skills, how many of the most important people in my life are sixes, and how to develop your relationships and build trust with them. I go over their fears, what their superpower is, and how to lead, learn, laugh, and love a six.

Listen to this episode to hear how to communicate effectively with a six, how to show up for then and build trust, and how to ensure every six feels safe, secure, supported, seen, heard, and understood.

Thinking through every situation and outcome

The sixes are part of the head triad, which means they are incredibly analytical, problem solvers, and skeptical troubleshooters. I discuss how the six is the only type in the Enneagram that can show up in two very different ways and how these two characteristics differentiate them significantly.

Sixes are intuitive, witty, thoughtful, loyal, loving, and reliable. They are constantly analyzing every variation of each situation, and are driven by the need to feel safe, secure, and supported. I discuss how to connect with them, how they look for depth in trust, and seek vulnerability, honesty, truth, and hold people to their word.

Getting past fear and building self-awareness

I dig into the benefits of having a six on your team, how they play devil’s advocate, can seem to question authority, but really, are taking the time and space to feel secure under your leadership. If you love a six, I describe how to communicate in a way that makes them feel supported, how to speak their language, and encourage them to trust their own intuition.

I share different ways to distinguish if you are a six or not, the most important things to keep in mind if you are a six, and how to develop your self-awareness in order to grow your superpowers and become the best version of yourself.

Quotes:
“6’s are always seeking trustworthy and consistent partners who help quiet their constant self-questioning.” 4:58

“The driving force in everything that an Enneagram 6 does is certainty and security and safety.” 9:12

“When you are in the healthy range and the healthy part of your enneagram type and you care about people, look how effective you can be in the matter of seconds.” 15:09-15:19

“Like 1’s, 6’s prioritize honesty over almost everything and no truth can be worse than a lie. So, if you are leading or loving, parenting a 6, no bullsh*t is the way to go even if you know they ain’t going to like what you have to say don’t lie to a 6.” 16:25

“A lot of times even in a romantic partnership, because the 6 tends to build emotional connections on a foundation of friendship they aren’t the quickest to enter a love, romance...for the most part, relationships that go the distance are built on a solid foundation of friendship first.” 21:16

“When it comes to business, and leadership and working with 6’s, their attention, their superpower is reading people in situations to determine how trustworthy and safe things are.” 27:04

“The one emotion that all 6’s do experience is fear. Although, you can have two 6’s right next to each other and they’ll express it and experience it in different ways, some will be very aware of feeling that fear and can name the things they are afraid of. While, other 6’s kind of lowkey find ways to manage their fears so it doesn’t register.” 35:33

“If you love and lead a 6, this is the most important part is making sure that you keep the lines of communication open at all times, so you can talk through problems as they arise. So, you can learn to work together whether it’s a team in love or a team of leadership and business.” 39:41

“Trusting your gut, this is the greatest thing about leading and loving 6’s, is when you can help them trust their gut as a good source of information, because they’re such head types they rely on data all the time that they generate through thinking and analyzing and oh-my-gosh, over and over and while that’s their key strength. Um, that 6 might undervalue their emotions and gut.” 43:51

I love that 6’s are such good problem solvers, but because I care so deeply about people, whether I’m loving them or leading them, you know letting them know that just because they’re a problem solver, that just isn’t why they're so lovable and valuable, and letting them be emotional and know that you’re a safe place. Like you're safe, supported, you’re loved, and I got your back and you know those are some of the strongest things you can say to a 6. 47:11