I have tried to read about the enneagram a few times and never really understood it till I read this book. The book had meaningful examples for me and concrete ways for me to use what I had learned. This is a practical resource for any leader in the workplace.

I am thankful to @netgalley for an electronic copy of this book. I purchased audio and print copies on my own.

Admittedly I didn't know much about the enema gram concepts prior to reading this book and not sure I know much more after reading it. It is filled with name dropping and his uses strictly within the hotel, hospitality industry. Not a lot of correlation of the practical use of this method into industry or healthcare, or even technology giants, After reading I am not convinced this is a way to categorize work or life traits as most people I know could easily drop into several categories and could never be locked into one. Antedotal stories are interesting but again its a lot of "all about me' situations. If you looking to learn about this theory of personality profiling in the workplace, you should probably look elsewhere.
I was.provided an advanced reader copy at my request and was under no obligation to review the book. The opinions expressed are my own. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to peruse the book.

I'm currently clearing out all of the books that were published in 2019-21 from my title feedback view!

As someone who has been interested in the Enneagram for a while, this book was the best! I loved the stories that McPartlin told of his career, they were very entertaining. The breakdowns of each concept by type was also very helpful; I will be using this as a quick reference going forward!

I really wanted to like this book, but I often found it repetitive and boring. I did not finish it, but I did skim through until the end. I think this book will appeal to a very niche market. I think this might be more effective if it was condensed and some of the repetition removed.

I received an eARC from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

My main challenge with this book is that I worry about its implications for readers very new to Enneagram. Without a firm foundation in the Enneagram, individuals may not fully appreciate that you cannot assume someone else's enneagram. To be effective, the primary focus on using the Enneagram in the context of work needs to be 1) understanding one's own tendencies based on one's own Enneagram, and 2) helping others at work to understand their own tendencies. These conversations and interactions are incredibly vulnerable, and a business needs to be aware that the Enneagram must be facilitated in its proper context.

Even so, I do feel that I learned more about how I might consider my own Enneagram in the context of my work with others. For that reason, I'm still glad that I read it. I don't know if I am sold on fully embracing McPartlin's themes here.

There wasn't anything wrong with this book, but as a person invested in the Enneagram, I didn't feel this added a whole lot to my knowledge of being a 9w1. For anyone just interested in leadership, this book had helpful tidbits.

I'm super interested in enneagram stuff and have read a few books about the topic. This was a well-written take on the enneagram viewed through a work setting. It offers insight into how each type can work with their strengths to excel in the workplace (including working effectively as a leader, getting the most out of a mentor relationship, etc.).

McPartlin writes this with tons of examples from his own career - it was helpful to see the suggestions in real-life situations. Because I'm the same type as him, I think I got a great deal out of the book because I could relate so much to what he was describing. I'm not sure if other types would be able to connect as much to the examples given.

I appreciated that this book had so many enneagram exercises to try out but I think it would be more helpful for people who work in more traditional work set-ups. As a freelance writer, I wouldn't be able to apply all of McPartlin's recommendations as easily as I could in more of a corporate setting.

I'd recommend this for anyone who wants to know more about the enneagram and how their career might be affected by it.

I think using the enneagram in the work place is a good idea, but I don’t agree when the author says you should try to guess what a person is based on a few questions. I think the enneagram is one of the better tools for learning what makes someone tick but should be one of many tools in a manager’s tool belt. This is a good book for a manager/leader of a workplace if they know what enneagram is & are willing to give their employees an assessment.

Thanks to the publisher, author, & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for honest review

As Someone who is studying the Enneagram it was interesting to see how the author applied it in the business setting. That said, if you haven't read other books or studied the enneagram this likely isn't the book that you are seeking. Understanding the enneagram and applying the learnings is really more about our individual journey and understanding what is driving us and with that awareness we can choose different behaviors. To focus too much attention on someone else's type quickly can turn to manipulation. The DISC tool is likely a better one on the workplace to foster good collaboration and communication.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

So, to start: amongst the various personality typing systems that are out there, I like the Enneagram. It starts from telling you that you are not just one specific box, but there are patterns you're more likely to fall into as a person. That's good! It's a great tool for personal development, catching yourself in bad habits, and generally trying to be a better person.

Given its rising profile in the last few years, it doesn't surprise me that someone's tried to turn this into the type of business book your boss picks up at the airport, but WOW does this do you a disservice if it's the first book you read about the Enneagram.

Do you like hotels? All of the author's examples are personal examples from their many years in the hotel industry, and on the whole, they're not the most universal examples. There's an attempt to try and bring examples of business leaders/celebrities in as examples as well, but most of those come off as the author name dropping a celebrity/business leader they met in the process of Doing Things As A Hotel Executive and don't really work, especially because the author is presuming that person matches the enneagram type they're talking about for a given example.

I'd maybe give that a pass, but the enneagram content is also given a very corporate rebranding throughout. Literally - the various enneagram numbers have a few different common labels, but the book tries to give them new business-y names...that don't really stick. Every time a type is mentioned, its new Enneagram At Work name gets put in parentheses (like this). Seeing these alternate names pop up 17 times in the same paragraph makes things feel like a George Saunders story, not a manual for using these tools successfully.

I'd maybe give this a pass too - okay, so it's trying to really sell the "business" angle of all of this, even if it needs to cram the Enneagram's round peg in a square hole to do it. Except that it's the blandest business advice that you could literally read in any other business book. I get what the authors are going for here, but there are better places to get both the Enneagram content AND the business content of the book.

Frankly, if you're wondering how to use the Enneagram to succeed in business: know yourself. Read something like The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery (and maybe pair it with The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey to Healthy Relationships so you understand enneagram types in relationships, and maybe throw in The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth if you want more of a spiritual development angle. Know how you work best, and how you relate to others best, and then read books about business stuff/leadership (if you must) to fill in the rest.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jim McPartlin, and St. Martin’s Essentials for the digital advanced galley. This is a great reference book for the workplace. Because you can only be one enneagram type, some of the discussions of the other 8 types were skimmable. I also found many parts repetitive. I enjoyed the author’s stories from the hospitality industry maybe more than the enneagram information! #TheEnneagramatWork #NetGalley

I thought this was a very well researched and story driven narrative on how to navigate the Enneagram at work. There are MANY books on the Enneagram by self styled coaches that have a lot of pop-psych references but little substance. Author Jim McPartlin studied under some highly respected and educated Enneagram teachers, including the late Dr. David Daniels and the late Helen Palmer. He knows his game. It's very corporate America heavy with his examples, but his self deprecating humor and an intense amount of self awareness makes this a must read for Enneagram devotees. Some general leadership principles are scattered throughout the Enneagram types as well, making this an easy read for readers who enjoy business leadership podcasts. As someone who's read literally dozens of Enneagram books--this is towards the top of my list.

I was really hoping this book would go into more detail about specific enneagrams. It did some at the beginning, but it wasn't what I expected. I would have loved sections dedicated to each enneagram and talking about how they are in certain situations and how they relate to other types on work projects. This book was more stories with enneagram information than an enneagram textbook.

DNF @ 43%

This is easy-to-follow and detailed, with tangible actionable exercises; however, it seems to have limited utility if you aren't actively trying to understand/ work with a colleague whose enneagram type you know or have guessed — which is not currently the case for me. Otherwise, it's a LOT of information to sift through, and I find the writing style somewhat patronizing.

This book had some great tips for work for each enneagram type. Throughout the book the author uses personal stories and examples to display how you can use your type and adjust to the world around you.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

”The pattern awareness helped each member better understand how to approach one another, which buttons not to push, and how to bring out the best in each other and ourselves.”

Jim McPartlin offers valuable advice on the importance of self-awareness, observation, feedback, and vision in leadership. I appreciated how his unique voice puts the enneagram into a professional context and invites leaders to lead their teams better by endeavoring to understand the people who work for them, and why they behave the way they do.

”Arming yourself with this knowledge allows you to anticipate the situation and practice your response ahead of time.”

”Incorporating the Enneagram as a mechanism for supporting and empowering your team transforms both you and the organization, with enduring impact.”

The Enneagram at Work is an insightful and enlightening portrayal of how business leaders and managers can utilize their understanding of the enneagram to become more self-aware in their own roles, and to interact with their employees in more productive ways.

”The pattern awareness helped each member better understand how to approach one another, which buttons not to push, and how to bring out the best in each other and ourselves.”

Jim McPartlin offers valuable advice on the importance of self-awareness, observation, feedback, and vision in leadership. I appreciated how his unique voice puts the enneagram into a professional context and invites leaders to lead their teams better by endeavoring to understand the people who work for them, and why they behave the way they do.

”Arming yourself with this knowledge allows you to anticipate the situation and practice your response ahead of time.”

I most enjoyed McPartlin’s breakdowns of how each type gravitates to one of three “centers of intelligence,” how each type navigates failure, and how each type deals with conflict. I can see all of these sections being particularly helpful in the workplace!

”The goal is not eradicating conflict (that is an impossibility), but, rather, knowing how to successfully guide yourself or a group through it.”

I noticed lots of name-dropping and personal anecdotes. These seemed designed to impress as much as to instruct, and did start to wear on me eventually, although this seems to be pretty typical in the self-improvement genre.

”The words we embrace and the stories we tell ourselves matter.”

I would recommend this book for those who are already familiar with the enneagram and know their own types (and, preferably, their employees’ types) in advance. This is not a “let’s-take-a-quiz-to-discover-your-type” book; rather it is a “let’s-synthesize-what-you-know-with-these-actions-you-should-take” manual. With those expectations in check, it’s a handy guide!

”Learning to work consistently well with other people in a positive common endeavor is what collaboration is all about.”

——

A huge thank you to Jim McPartlin, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I’m just learning about enneagram and this was really informative. I feel like I learned a lot myself while reading!