What is the Enneagram 8w9 personality type? What are its key traits, strengths, weaknesses and fears? We’ll answer these questions in this article.
This is one of the 18 Enneagram Wing Types, which don’t exhibit traits of just one profile, but blend two adjacent ones. The 8w9 is a blend of the Enneagram 8 and the Enneagram 9, meaning this profile falls fully into the Gut Triad.
We’ll start by talking about how this profile is composed of 8 and 9, then talk about its core traits. We’ll round off with a field manual for the Enneagram 8w9: a summary of its core strengths, weaknesses, fears and desires.
What is the Enneagram 8w9 Type?
First, let’s clarify what the Enneagram 8w9 is. It means an Enneagram 8 with a 9 Wing. It helps if you understand the 9 Enneagram Profiles in some depth.
If you have a 8w9 personality, it means you’re predominantly an Enneagram 8, but exhibit some traits from the adjacent profile, number 9. It’s also possible to be a pure 8, or an 8w7.
If you want an approximation of what a 8w9 looks like, take the core 8 and 9 traits and blend them together, with 8 dominating. If you know somebody who is primarily an 8 but has significant 9 traits, they might well be an 8w9.
The folks at personalitydata.org found that 0.3% of Enneagram 8s exhibit a 9 wing. 84.6% are pure 8s, while the other wing type, 8w7, makes up the remaining 5.1%.
Remember, the 8w9 is predominantly an 8 but shows significant 9 traits.
8s desire power, and are hard-working, competitive and supremely pragmatic (The Challenger), while 9s seek tolerance, calm and interpersonal harmony (The Peacemaker).
8w9s are predominantly an 8, so have a bullish, self-assured and fiercely practical side. The 9 wing means they’re great at resolving conflict and building connections with people. They tend to be calmer and less imposing than a typical 8, which aids their fantastic leadership skills.
In a nutshell, the 8w9 is imposing and independent, yet welcoming and quietly confident. It inspires others with its passion, and wants to be seen as powerful. It’s fiercely protective, yet can also be reckless. It’s a complex character!
For your information, I refer to personality types as “it” because they’re abstract profiles derived from real-world data, detached from any one person. Though the Enneagram possess huge explanatory power, nobody is a cookie-cutter 8w9.
The Core Traits
The Enneagram 8w9 Type is called the Guide because it’s firm, powerful and visionary, yet also socially endowed and people-oriented. Its basic desire is to make things happen, take charge and inspire others while looking out for others and being a pillar of strength.
Like a typical 8, it fears being dominated or outwitted by others. It needs to be in charge and call the shots. Its desire for control and its need to impose can clash with 9’s drive for harmony.
As with all Enneagram Profiles, there are downsides to the 8w9. For one thing, the Type 9 can be stubborn in its insistence that everyone should get along.
Combine this with 8’s need to accumulate power and assert itself, and you can get a nasty combination. The 8w9 can wind up like an angry bear, believing it’s doing what’s best, while actually creating conflict and discord. The 9 often forgets to look out for itself, which may jeopardise 8’s need to direct, control and conquer.
The 8w9 really doesn’t want to be controlled. It needs to feel it’s in charge, respected, the orchestrator. As a result, it can be domineering, stubborn and paranoid. It’s prone to becoming isolated, because it fears that intimacy and openness may expose its weaknesses.
Whether we have a 8w9 personality or not, we can learn from its successes and struggles. It’s a universal fact that if our prime directive is to be accumulate power and call the shots while seeking harmony and connection, we can end up torn and divided, tangled up in contradiction.
The best professions for the Bear are those that require leadership and interpersonal skills, like diplomats and managers.
The Enneagram 8w9 Field Manual
The core fears of the 8w9 are losing control, being dominated, and causing excessive interpersonal discord.
Its core drives are to be in charge, call the shots, create harmony and be a pillar of strength.
The strengths of the 8w9 are its passion, presence and calm confidence.
Its weaknesses include its stubbornness and inability to express emotions.
The 8w9 is at its best when it’s in charge, respected by others, and able to rally others around a cause.
Master the Enneagram with my series of articles on the Enneagram Wing Types
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