The Creative Enneagram Type 9: The Collaborator

As a Creative Enneagram Type 9, The Collaborator, you are easy going and self-effacing, the classic encourager that everyone wants around. You unite people of differing backgrounds and giftings in order to create something truly amazing together. It’s not easy managing egos, soothing hurt feelings, and making sure everyone on the team feels heard and understood, but you handle all of this with aplomb, often without any recognition. Usually you don’t even mind, but sometimes it frustrates you because you just want everyone to get along.

You give of yourself and of your creative gifts, but in giving so much you often don’t take the space, direction, or boundaries needed to accomplish your own personal calling. You are humble enough to know it’s never all about you, but you do yourself and your Creator a disservice when you don’t take yourself or your calling seriously enough to stay the course with tenacity.

When you step into the opportunities and giftings God has given you then you can propel world-changing teams farther than they or you could ever have imagined.

The Creative Enneagram Type 9, The Collaborator, has both healthy and unhealthy manifestations.

The Creative Enneagram Type 9 – Healthy

You bring out the creative best in yourself and others by working together. You find that people come to you often to bounce ideas around and you usually offer insights that make those ideas even better. You image our Creator’s nurturing, peaceful, and self-giving nature.

The Creative Enneagram Type 9 – Unhealthy

You don’t take yourself and your ideas seriously enough to dare to accomplish great things. You resist the limelight when often getting out of your comfort zone is the very thing missing from your creative growth.

Famous Enneagram Type 9 – Anne Bogel

Anne Bogel is an author, the creator of the blog Modern Mrs. Darcy, and host of What Should I Read Next? Podcast. A classic Collaborator, one of her favorite questions to answer: “Can you recommend a great book?” has propelled her to literary tastemaker status among readers, authors, and publishers. But in her desire to make others around her successful and happy, she can often put off making the courageous decisions required for her own creative success. Anne explains how she has learned not to overthink things.

“I can think and think and think and think so long, that it’s not productive, and the opportunity itself can pass me by.” [1]

Anne demonstrates that working with others can not only magnify the impact of creative work, but that there is a propulsive effect as well. However, as with all Creative Types, this strength can easily turn into weakness when one waffles on important decisions instead of stepping courageously into the risk-filled life of faith that our Creator calls each of us into as we create for change.

[1] https://www.typologypodcast.com/podcast/2020/12/03/episode03-033/annebogel