Eights: The Need to be Strong

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Eights: The Need to be Strong
Enneagram Personality Types
MTL Course Topics
ENNEAGRAM
PERSONALITY TYPES

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MTL Course Topics
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MTL Course Topics
ARE YOU READY?
OK, LET’S START!

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MTL Course Topics
INTRODUCTION
Eights - Rebels - are the natural fighters of the Enneagram.
They are the first type of the reactive group and see the
world not through thoughts and feelings but through their
instincts. Their world is one of basic black-and-white
responses: friend or foe, for you or against you. Conflict,
testing and fighting make up their world. In fighting they
come to life, in domination they feel strong. In many
organisations, these types will be natural leaders, devoted
to protecting those on their side, while seeing off anyone
regarded as an enemy. They are loud, fearless and
confident, a boon for those they lead, but a problem for
anyone against them.

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MTL Course Topics
SUMMARY OF EIGHTS
Group: instinctive or "relating" group
Label: rebels, fighters
Drive: the need to be strong
Orientation: moving instinctively against others
Childhood orientation: an uncertain view whether their
mother loved them or not
Problem: over-developed relating
Preoccupation: power; vengeance; seeking out enemies and
destroying them
Sin: lust and shamelessness
Routes to growth: compassion
Characteristics: controlling; dominant; in charge;
persuasive; argumentative; convincing; put people at ease;
socially confident; shocking; cut to the chase; loud;
flamboyant; wilful; gregarious; fearless; leaders
Strategy: the tough-generous character.

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MTL Course Topics
HOW TO RECOGNISE AN EIGHT
Eights are one of the easiest of the personality types to
identify and one of the hardest to deal with.
Eights like to be top dog: they challenge others, stand up to
others and unmask anything they see as unjust, unfair or
hypocritical. In short, they burst into life when they can
fight.
Eights are devoted to those on their side, relentlessly hostile
to those against them. Moods can shift dramatically though
and anyone can be one minute an enemy, the next minute a
protected friend.
Eights love to test themselves and others. The edge of
danger is their natural home. Many of their styles of dress
are intended to shock.
Eights have an unfailing instinct for knowing when others
are behaving tyrannically, even though they do not see it in
themselves.

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MTL Course Topics
ON THE COUCH
The controlling tendency in Eights stems from their
uncertain feelings about their mother when they were
children. One minute Eights were sure they were loved, the
next minute not so sure. This feeling may have arisen when
mother's attention was diverted to a brother or sister.
Eights learnt that they could obtain what they wanted if
they shouted loud enough or did something outrageous; but
then found that this didn't last long before having to do it
again.
Assertion, even defiance, became an early way of life. The
Eight child's strategy was to say to themselves: "I'll hide my
weakness, fears and insecurities by acting tough and
dangerous.

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A CONTINUUM OF HEALTH
Because Eights like to be top dogs, they need opposition
and opponents to feel alive. Eights hate not to be tested.
When there is no opposition, they lapse into unsatisfactory
states of boredom. A common view of an Eight is
"controlled wall-staring" in which they can spend a long
time blanking out any kind of thoughts looking into space.
With opposition, the Eight comes to life. At their
psychologically healthiest, the Eight deals with real
opposition, perhaps an unjust enemy, a cause célèbre, a
fight that needs to be fought. This fight is justified and in the
service of others who may not be as strong.
When they move to psychological ill-health, however, Eights
pick their own opposition. They prey on the very people
that before they defended: the weak and easily beaten. At
their worst, the Eights use their strength to destroy others
and any situation they don't like.

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MTL Course Topics
HEALTHY EIGHTS
Healthy Eights are protective, magnanimous and restrained.
Healthy Eights use their power and strength for the good of
others. This is in contrast to the average Eight who fights out
of boredom, or the unhealthy Eight who fights because they
believe they will be destroyed themselves if they don't.
Eights come into their own when they put their powers to
the service of those in need (a group or society under
threat), a good cause (seeking peace, building a school), or
those who are being unjustly treated.
Healthy Eights learn to exercise restraint. They know they
have power but they do not feel the need to show it.
Paradoxically, such restraint only serves to increase how
strong they are. Many healthy Eights have it in them to
become much admired, evoking a reverence for them in
their followers as father figures and great leaders.

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AVERAGE EIGHTS
Average Eights are dominating, bullying and adventurous.
Average Eights differ from healthy Eights because they put
their own needs ahead of others'. Their power and strength
are now used to advance their own causes which are often
aimed at ensuring their own dominance.
Average Eights like to get others to work for them. Power is
more important than the results of power. Eights like allies
who will keep them informed. They hate submitting to
others. Saying "yes" to what others want is almost
impossible for an Eight; saying "sorry" is even harder.
Average Eights have a tendency to bully. Once they have
dominated someone, they are caught in a spiral of having to
continue to bully for fear of reprisals if they stop or show
weakness.

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UNHEALTHY EIGHTS
Unhealthy Eights are ruthless, dictatorial and violent.
Unhealthy Eights are locked into a spiral of having to
continuously assert their dominance. Deep down they know
that it is fear that forces them to behave ruthlessly. The
awareness that they are really afraid only increases their
need to behave fearlessly.
We are now in the territory of the power-mad dictator,
whether in the home, in the office or on the international
stage. Instead of using their power for constructive
purposes and the betterment of others, unhealthy Eights
use their power to ward off their own fears. They can
behave in frightening ways without any feelings of guilt. At
their worst, they can be immoral, violent and terrible.

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MTL Course Topics
ROLES
The roles that Eights take on include...
• the top dog
• the paladin
• the tyrant, despot, dictator
• the champion
• the gladiator
• the protector
• the wheeler-dealer
• the empire-builder
• the spoilt princess
• the enfant terrible
• the tomboy
• the black sheep of the family
• the vigilante
• the tribal leader.

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MTL Course Topics
THE WORKING STYLE OF EIGHT
Eights are their own masters and typify the working style of
the BE STRONGS. This can make them either excellent
workers or problem workers.
When Eights are allowed to control their work environment,
they can channel all their tremendous energy into positive
projects. Many Eights are entrepreneurs who have worked
hard and become rich in a short space of time. As workers,
they are at their best when they can take charge. They are
the ones who dominate the work area. If you see a desk
which has the lion's share of resources, which is in the
power position, diagonally opposite the entrance, and has
all the trappings of power and territorial possession, it
probably belongs to an Eight.
Problems may arise for an Eight when they are forced to
tolerate a system which they disapprove of. Then they will
defy those in charge and mobilise against them.

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MTL Course Topics
THE TEAM EIGHT
In any team situation, Eights will be the official or unofficial
leaders. If official, and accepted by the rest of the team, the
team will become energised by the Eight's leadership.
If the Eight is not in a position of official or unofficial
leadership, there is the potential for serious conflict. This
might arise if one of the team is unfairly treated. The Eight
will immediately leap to their defence. In an argument,
Eights deny any point of view that doesn't fit in with their
own. Arguing is a power struggle which they are determined
to win.
An Eight tends to react loudly and excessively when little
things go wrong in the team such as a faulty photocopier or
a colleague who has missed an appointment. Big errors are
however much more appealing as they offer the chance for
an out-and-out confrontation.

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MTL Course Topics
THE EIGHT SUBORDINATE
Eights will only work well with a boss whose strength and
power they respect. If an Eight has a weak boss this will be
exploited at every chance. Any unfair treatment of
themselves or others will become a cause célèbre. They will
break the rules to see how far they can go.
Eights don't take kindly to criticism and can't admit
mistakes. If something doesn't fit into their world-view, such
as their own fallibility, it is denied.
One problem bosses of Eights will meet is their inconsistent
approach to managing their time. On the one hand, they
refuse to plan like others, since they have no anxiety about
getting jobs done. This means they are quite happy to leave
things to the last moment. On the other hand, they can
energise themselves to produce a lot in a short space of
time. It is as if they won't allow even Time to master them.

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MTL Course Topics
THE EIGHT BOSS
If the Eight boss is at a healthy stage of development, their
power merges with that of the team. They and the team are
one mighty force and they feel they can conquer the world.
If the Eight boss is at an unhealthy stage of development,
they will appear as ruthless tyrants. The subordinates will
either leave or submit themselves to the boss's
megalomania. Subordinates who are weak and dependent
may actually bring out the best in the Eight.
Eight managers don't like participative decision-making
because it means they have to compromise. They like to
make decisions impulsively and go with their gut feel. That is
why an Eight manager performs better when the heat is on
and a crisis has arisen than when there is no pressing
problem. Eights will even push a crisis to a breaking point in
order to bring out the best in themselves.

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MTL Course Topics
MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
An Eight organisation has the following characteristics:
1. strong dynamic leadership
2. the style is loud, brash, up-front
3. a lot of bullying, shouting, table-thumping
4. management by decree
5. react to situations rather than proactively set goals
6. work is great when there is a buzz of activity, tension,
arguing, fighting; not so great when it runs smoothly
7. "we work to overcome, not to acquire"
8. huge amounts of self-confidence
9. entrepreneurial: push problems and people aside to get
what they want
10. at all levels the style is direct and clear
11. control is absolute
12. little self-introspection or self-doubt; everything is black
and white; decisions are easily and quickly made with
no going back.

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SYMBOLS
The symbols of Eights include the following:
• strong animals such as the rhinoceros (for its thick skin),
the bull (Eights are like bulls in a china shop) and the
tiger
• the colours black and white (Eights see things as black
and white, friend and foe, for us or against us)
• tough-guy movie stars
• the countries of Serbia and Spain
• power.
Power is the hallmark of the Eights. Power is used by Eights
to pursue pleasure, to defend the weak and to make
themselves feel invincible. When an Eight is not in an official
position of power, he or she will demonstrate power by
going against the rules. Then when the Eight is in an official
position of power, they will demonstrate their power by
making rules which they would have once broken but which
they now expect others to obey.

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AN EIGHT IS SOMEONE WHO...
An Eight is someone who plays games to feel the pleasure of
beating an opponent.
An Eight is someone who enjoys living on the edge of
danger.
An Eight is someone who is always the last to leave an all-
night party.
An Eight is someone who has no anxiety or self-doubt.
An Eight is someone who likes fast cars and fast men and
women.
An Eight is someone who likes to pit themselves against the
odds.
An Eight is someone who will leave things to the last
moment and then energise themselves to get things done.
An Eight is someone who thinks nothing of getting others to
do things for them.
An Eight is someone who thrives on setbacks.
An Eight is someone who believes that you get to know a
person properly when you fight or test them.

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AN EIGHT'S DEVELOPMENT
The root sin of the Eight lies in their lack of guilt about how
they live their lives. At their worst, they simply don't care
what hurt they inflict on others. This shamelessness is the
old deadly sin of lust. The hard route for Eights to take is to
recognize the vulnerability in others and themselves, the
position of the personality type Two.
Here are three ways to start personal growth.
Not: myself first and foremost;
but...seeing the validity of other people's needs.
Not: obsession with justice;
but...readiness to consider compromise.
Not: excessive entertainment, food, sex, drugs;
but...moderation.

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NOTEWORTHY EIGHTS
Some noteworthy Eights include:
• the Biblical Samson
• King Saul and King David of the Bible
• the Greek god Zeus
• William the Conqueror
• Boadicea
• Joan of Arc
• Florence Nightingale
• tycoon, Robert Maxwell
• Ernest Hemingway
• Winston Churchill
• film star, John Wayne
• actor, Jack Nicholson
• Don Vito Corleone (of the film "The Godfather")
• Margaret Thatcher, UK Prime Minister
• John Lennon, Beatle
• Boris Yeltsin
• Saddam Hussein.

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THAT’S
IT!
WELL DONE!

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MTL Course Topics
THANK YOU
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn

Eights: The Need to be Strong

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