The Road Back to You

The names Suzanne Stabile and Ian Morgan Cron may or may not mean something to you. When I heard they were writing a book about the Enneagram, I paid attention. Stabile is a well-known Enneagram teacher. I've never been able to attend one of her workshops but I've followed her online for a while. Cron is probably better known as an author and Episcopal priest, although he's done some speaking on the Enneagram in recent years. The combination of Stabile and Cron- her extensive knowledge plus his gift for the narrative- results in an easy to read and understand resource that will surely help many people identify and better understand their type.

The Road Back To You provides an introduction to the Enneagram, my favorite personality type system, and why it's beneficial to figure out your type. They then devote a chapter to each type. As I read, it struck me how truly readable the book was. I'll forever sing the praises of Rohr's The Enneagram and Riso and Hudson's The Wisdom of the Enneagram but they have a more academic, almost clinical tone. Cron includes many examples from his and Suzanne's lives, including their friends and family, and this roots the type descriptions better than other Enneagram resources. His writing style is engaging, though his attempts at humor didn't always work for me, including I must add one specific line in the Type 5 chapter that is ill-advised. This is written from a Christian perspective but for people who care, there are one or two light swear words in it. (This doesn't bother me but I can think of several people in my life for whom it matters.) But overall, Cron is able to depict the types in a way that is personable, gracious, and incising. People should see themselves reflected on the pages.

I have two minor complaints. First, Cron references his children's Enneagram types and the examples provided are generally when they are not adults. I'm in the camp that believes our personalities continue to form into our 20s so I'm very wary of typing children and teenagers. They may have the tendencies of a certain type but I don't want to put anyone in a box. (The Enneagram of Parenting does a great job of laying out the fine lines, while also providing guidance.) I think Cron is probably in this camp, too, but I don't want people to read about his children and then start typing their own children. So there's that. Second, each type chapter includes celebrity examples when we have no idea what their type is. It's unfair to caution people against typing/labeling others, than proceeding to do the same thing. In most instances, the celebrities are listed in a bubble at the start of the chapter but there are some actual examples, such as Bill Clinton being a Nine. For the record, that would not have been my guess, which brings me back to my original point. We can have a guess for what a person's type might be but they're the only one who knows their internal motivations- the very thing the Enneagram is built upon. Moving on...

I've lost count of how many descriptions I've read of my type (4) so I was not expecting to be so completely and fully pegged when I read these lines: "As you might guess, Fours are prone to melancholy. Like the Old Testament figure Job they can steep in lament. After all, it's hard to be chipper when the now-dated U2 song "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" or the Radiohead song "Creep" play like the soundtrack in the movie of your life." (p. 156) How did Cron know what songs I turn to on sad days?! I could not stop laughing. I also really liked this part: "Fours are the most complex of all the types on the Enneagram: what you see is never what you get. There are always more layers of things going on underneath the surface." (p. 158)

Finally, I liked the emphasis on how learning about our type is both a benefit for ourselves and for our relationships, as well as our worldview. Throughout the book, the call is to become more aware of how we go through life and what mistakes we continue to make so that we can "get out of your own way and become more of the person God created you to be.'" (p. 17) Figuring out my type has allowed me to have so much more compassion and understanding for myself and others. That's why I continue to encourage people to learn more about the Enneagram. I can't help but imagine a world where we all had this level of compassion and understanding.

Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile's latest book is a work of marvel. I admire the insights and wit brought into play in this book. I have never heard of Enneagram before; I am glad The Road Back To You is my introduction to this wonderful tool. Digesting this book's contents and putting them into practice is going to disrupt your life in a good way. You'll never see things the same again.

(I have taken the liberty of putting together a short webcomic about this book. You can see it via the link below.)

Once you know your number, two things can happen: you learn to be more compassionate toward yourself and others, and you appreciate God more for how he made us each unique.

Ian Cron and Suzanne Stabile explain each of the nine Enneagram types in The Road Back to You. They help you see that when you discover your type, you become more conscious not only of why you behave the way you do, but also how to move forward to become a more healthy you.

They remind us that no personality type is better or worse. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. But with clearer understanding of each type, our knowledge can lead to improved skills and heart changes in how we love each other.

Each chapter is informative, challenging, and entertaining. The writing style makes this book approachable yet deep. You’ll learn more about each type, how it feels to be each type, and steps to take for spiritual transformation within each type.

Of all the books I’ve read on the Enneagram, this one is the most personal while remaining educational. I highly recommend it.

The Road Back to You - An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery -published today by InterVarsity Press and written by Ian Morgan Cron; Suzanne Stabile is absolutely a book of self-help that you must read for the important topic that it treats: self-knowledge.
Sometimes we think we know who we are, and substantially let's hope that it is true.
Of course we know our personality. We know our lacks, we know our potentialities.

But, but, if there are still corners of your soul that you don't understand, if your relationship lately not harmonic with your relatives, friends, co-workers or community, go for it, and try to understand much better your personality.

This book was born because of the profound existential crisis lived by the writer of this book, mr Morgan Cron some years ago. A pastor, a man of God, once in Connecticut, he tried all his best with his parish and the people assigned to him, but without any result.

He wasn't able to find the proper connection with the community. Of course to him, a big problem this one. What was wrong with him? Why wasn't able to give his best but always his worst?

So, one day he searched for Brother Dave, a man he hoped could present him a lot of answers, sorting out his most profound crisis of consciousness.

Well at first the author talked, talked, talked about his messy life with Br.Dave, and then once he stopped, Br.Dave asked him: "Did you hear about Enneagram?"

Of course young Ian did. Once in seminary he had a book about Enneagram and he loved to read it, although when he share this passion with a priest, the priest said him of throwing it away, because the Church didn't believe at witches and other genre of stuff similar at this one. In the Enneagram book there wasn't that stuff...

The writer kept the book hidden in some remote corner of a shelf and forgot the existence of it.

Enneagram is a Greek word composed by two words: Ennea means nice and Gram drawing.

It's an old study very well known from the most remote past of nine kind of personalities and it is a philosophy, self-help method that it is considered very profound and of secure effect.

What does have Enneagram of magic? It will give you the self-knowledge power in your hands so that you will express in the future your personality.

For example asks the author of the book: we see the world through our eyes or the ones of the children we were? Do we really know ourself? How much our past interfere with our plans and our present? How can we change all of it setting us free?

Ian Morgan Cron is sure that when we are children we used to wear a mask called personality for protecting ourselves but in adult age personality has us. It's like to be hostage of ourselves.

The nine kind of personalities are these ones:

1- The Perfectionist
2- The Helper
3-The Performer
4-The Romantic
5-The Investigator
6-The Loyalist
7-The Enthusiast
8-The Challenger
9-The Peacemaker (in this personality there is also Pope Francis!)

At the same time these 9 personalities are divided in other three groups/triads: The Heart Group, the Fear or Head and the Gut.

In the Gut we find The Challenger, the Peacemaker and the Perfectionist.
In the Heart Triad: The Helper, The Performer, The Romantic
In the Head Triad: The investigator, The Loyalist, The Enthusiast.


At the same time all these personalities have a deadly sin.
Anger, pride, deceit, envy, avarice, Lush...

The book will then analyze in a very profound way the nine personalities giving at the end the best portrait you can desire, also for your children!

Very interesting. I am still in doubt: am I in the second or third triad?
And which personality exactly?
Mmm...
Oh well: this one is another story!

I strongly recommend you this book without any kind of excitation. It is brilliantly written, fun and entertaining, and at the same time it will give you lots and lots of informations for discovering much better your self. It's a great Christmas gift!

The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron and Susanne Stabile guides us to discover our personality type and realize the negative side of it in order to find Wholeness.


I think this is a great way to find out more about yourself and improve yourself to feel closer to oneness with all. We are shown each of the nine numbers personality types during childhood and in relationships. We are also shown each numbers “deadly sin” and how to overcome it.
This book will give you a greater insight into yourself and those around you. It also gives ideas to use to overcome your numbers main negative issue and know yourself.


I liked this book, traditionally the enneagram has been used by Christians and there is a Christian undertone to the book. We are given stories about each of the numbers through antidotes of people the author knows as well as famous people of each enneagram type.
I would recommend this book to those wanting to learn more about themselves and the ones they love.


I acknowledge that I received this book free of charge from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

Prior to reading this book, I knew little about the Enneagram system. I'm fascinated by the ways in which we can be typed into different personality groups, so I was happy to delve into this ancient system. The Enneagram is similar to the Myers-Briggs system, with more emphasis on behavioral patterns over thinking patterns.

This book is marketed as "Christian", but a specific religious leaning is not necessary in order to read, enjoy, and learn from the material. While the authors do occasionally talk about their relationship to God, the connection emphasizes spiritual connections more than a specific religion or belief system.

The writing style is conversational and flows well. The authors interject personal anecdotes throughout, giving the intimate feel of a friendly discussion rather than a dry textbook lesson.

I particularly like that the authors don't use The Enneagram to simply label us with a personality type number and a list of traits, but, more importantly, they teach us how to identify our negative behaviors and offer ways to work on correcting them. The authors stress that our personality types don't cast us in concrete. When we're self-aware, we're able to challenge ourselves to grow and become the best version of ourselves.

The enneagram has been hard for me to understand, so I appreciated how clearly Cron and Stabile explained it. I liked their emphasis on how learning your type can bless your life and your relationships with others.

This is the second book I've read about the Enneagram, and I think I'm making progress...where I previously thought I figured out my type, I now think I could be any of about half of them!

But I don't think this is a bad thing. It seems like it's part of the Enneagram journey. The authors walk through each type and provide a lot of interesting information and anecdotes. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. Though I think I need to read some of the other works they reference before I can decide what my go-to book for the Enneagram will be.

This is the first book I’ve actually read on the Enneagram, and I found it both helpful and humorous. The Road Back to You feels like a solid introduction for newcomers and a clear summary for the long-acquainted. The stories of children and adults exhibiting hallmarks of their numbers are didactic and memorable. As I highlighted passages or descriptors that resonated with me, I often felt surprise and relief that I’m “not the only one.” I would have liked a little more information about wings and manifestations of security and stress. Now that I have a basic grasp of each number, I feel more confident to approach some of the more in-depth works on the subject.