When Excellence Meets Efficiency: Coaching Across Enneagram Types
One of the most valuable tools I bring into my work with coaches and business owners is the Enneagram. Not as a label, but as a lens. A way to understand why someone approaches their work the way they do.
Recently, I saw this play out in a very tangible way.
I’m an Enneagram Three, working alongside an Enneagram One. She was finishing her website, deep in the final stretch. The kind of stretch where you're tired, but also starting to see everything come together.
As a Three, I naturally look for efficiency. We’re wired to move things forward, find the fastest path, and get results. So when I saw an opportunity for a shortcut, something that would save her time and energy, I offered it. From my perspective, it made perfect sense. But from hers, it didn’t.
Because Ones aren’t just trying to finish; they’re trying to do things right. There’s a deep internal standard of excellence, integrity, and care. And this wasn’t just a project, it was her business. A reflection of who she is. She had already done most of the work. And even though she was exhausted, she was also deeply satisfied watching it come together the way she had envisioned.
In that moment, I could see it clearly:
This wasn’t about efficiency. This was about excellence.
And this is where the Enneagram becomes more than theory, it becomes practice.
Instead of pushing my way forward, I stepped back. I had made the suggestion - that was my role. But the decision wasn’t mine to make.
So I shifted.
I came alongside her, not with more ideas or shortcuts, but with support. Edits. Checks. Encouragement. I stayed in the work with her, without trying to redirect it.
She crossed the finish line. And I was there to cheer for her.
The Real Work of Coaching
This is the nuance of working with different Enneagram types, especially when you're supporting someone else's vision.
It’s not about doing things the way you would do them - it’s about recognizing whose dream it is.
Sometimes that means:
Letting go of the faster route
Respecting the process, even when it’s longer
Supporting the standard that matters most to them
Because your role isn’t to run the race for them, it’s to keep them running.
An Invitation
If you’re building something - your business, your ideas, your next step - and finding yourself either stuck, overwhelmed, or spinning…
There may not be anything “wrong.”
It may simply be that you’re working against how you’re wired instead of with it.
I’d love to help you understand your patterns, your pace, and your process—so you can move forward with clarity and confidence.
You don’t have to do it alone.