Enneagram Type Eight personalities are known as The Challengers, or The Boss. They are goal-oriented and highly competent, the trail-blazers of the Enneagram, if you will. Type Eights take great pride in their independence and self-sufficiency. They can also be intense, confrontational, argumentative and intimidating.
What is an Enneagram Type Eight?
Enneagram Type Eight personalities are protective, resourceful and very direct in their approach. They like to take charge and are natural leaders. They often butt heads with those in authority and dislike being told what to do. Impatient with rules and regulations, they prefer to do things their way.
Type Eight strengths
Type Eights are self-confident, strong, capable and assertive. At their best, they can be highly successful and also help others to achieve their goals. They are often generous and inspirational, and can be a champion for worthy causes.
Type Eight Weaknesses
Eights can be egocentric, domineering and controlling. They often have problems controlling their tempers and rarely reveal their vulnerabilities to others. Their fear of being controlled can cause them to become antagonistic or even tyrannical.
An overview of Enneagram Type Eight
Eights enjoy taking on challenges as well as helping others challenge themselves. Eights are charismatic. They have the ability to persuade others to assist them in all kinds of endeavours, from starting a company, running a household or even waging war. Enneagram Type Eight personalities have enormous willpower and vitality. They are most alive when they feel they are making their mark on the world.
On the flip side, Eights can be defensive and fear feeling hurt and rejected. They struggle to admit their vulnerability to themselves, let alone anyone else. They fear being humiliated or criticised, so they may try to protect themselves by rejecting others first. Ego can make them very sensitive to real or imaginary slights. This can cause them to shut down and become hard-hearted towards others.
In order to achieve a healthy balance, Type Eights can learn from getting in touch with their vulnerability and letting others in more. Type Eights have a tendency to go off at the deep end at the first sign of opposition. However, they will benefit from moderating their behaviour and approaching conflict in a level-headed way. Focusing on physical exercise will help boost feel-good endorphins and clear their mind. Meditation and visualisation will also help dissipate their worries.
Famous Type Eights
According toThe Enneagram Institute, high profile Type Eights include leaders, change makers and politicians likeFranklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Fidel Castro, Martin Luther King, Jr., Lyndon Johnson, Mikhail Gorbachev and Indira Gandhi. Then there’s the creatives, artists and performers like Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso. Norman Mailer, Toni Morrison, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Keith Richards, Queen Latifah, Courtney Love, Jack Black, Chrissie Hynde, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bette Davis, Mae West, Sean Connery, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, Russell Crowe, Sean Penn, Harvey Keitel, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin and Roseanne Barr. Journalist Barbara Walters and athlete Serena Williams are also considered to be Type Eight.