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Romney Revisited

This blog could also be titled, “You Get What You Ask For.” I follow politics to a degree, and I certainly did in the last presidential election. During that period, I guessed that Mitt Romney was an Enneagram type 3 (self-preservation subtype) for a number of reasons. Clearly ambitious, playing to his audience (saying different things to different groups), changing what he said he stood for over the years based on public opinion, and looking like he was born to be successful.

Now, I am not so sure. Recently I was in Portland, Oregon doing consulting for Salesforce.com, and my dear friend and colleague, Matt Ahrens, told me a man in the hotel elevator had told him Mitt and Ann Romney were seen walking into a nearby hotel. I literally told Matt, “I wish I could have seen them.” My reason was that I simply get a better sense of a person’s type when I actually experience them and interact with them in some way.

The next day at the airport, guess who was directly in front of me as we went through security? Ann Romney was directly in front of me, and in front of her was Mitt. What I experienced was not at all what I expected.

About Ann
She is very tall (5’8”+) and very slim, with a trim and toned body that should look great in any clothing she wears. She also has a full head of gorgeous hair sans any hair spray, and her makeup was there but minimal. She stands very tall, appears quite elegant, and seemed to be fully in her body. I also had a face-to-face non-verbal interaction with her, where I smiled and she was not warm, but instead, very cool and aloof.

When I saw her on television or in photos during the election, she did not appear this way at all. Her hair was teased and hair sprayed, her clothing often looked ill fitting, and I had the impression that she was slightly overweight with a somewhat slumped body posture. In person, she could not have been more different. What was this?

I had guessed her as a type 2, but after experiencing her, I am wondering if she might not be a type 1 with a 2 wing. Her full-bodied energy, her elegant stature, an almost perfect casual dress style, and her lack of warmth made me wonder if she might not be a 1 with a 2 wing (one-to-one) who played “good wife” for the cameras.

About Mitt
My friend and sister Enneagram teacher, Judith Searle, has always thought Mitt Romney was a 5 (a one-to-one), and I have to now agree she might be right. Being a type 1, Judith is often right, but I hadn’t thought so in this case until I actually saw him in person and, more importantly, how he interacted with others, including Ann and the security guard looking at tickets and photo IDs.

Although he was directly in front of Ann, they had almost no interaction, which I will describe in a moment. Energetically, he has zero energy emanating from his body, and some energy from his head. Although the statistics on him say he is 6’2” tall, I saw him standing right next to Ann, and he appears only three or so inches taller than she. His body frame is more than slim and trim; he is almost skinny with very, very small shoulders.

His interactions consisted of making a series of awkward jokes with the security guard that were not particularly amusing, and here’s when it became a bit strange. When he went to the conveyer belt, he pointed in that direction to Ann, as in “I’m over here.” However, she did not follow him and instead used a separate line. This did not seem very Two-like (not really One-like, either) and certainly not very couple-like. I can’t remember a time when I (or anyone I know) came to the airport with another person with whom they were travelling with and used a separate line for the conveyer belt.

In general, he did not seem interpersonal in any sense I could see, hear, or feel. I know many, many Threes of all subtypes and have never seen one so interpersonally disconnected. So I am wondering if my friend Judith was right after all.

In sum, could Mitt be a 5 and Ann be a 1? But in a bigger sense, how can we really be certain that a public figure is one type and not another?

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Nila Huskey
10 years ago

I enjoyed reading your experience at the airport observing the Romney’s. It would seem to me that very public figures, as they very much still are, would act in a guarded manner when in public. This could explain Ann’s cool aloofness. For my own personal experience, when I traveled 6-8 times a year with my husband, we would often choose separate lines for the conveyor belt mostly to save time, but also so that each of us could finish gathering our things at about the same time. I must add that my husband is my best friend and I would… Read more »

Nila Huskey
10 years ago

I enjoyed reading your experience at the airport observing the Romney’s. It would seem to me that very public figures, as they very much still are, would act in a guarded manner when in public. This could explain Ann’s cool aloofness. For my own personal experience, when I traveled 6-8 times a year with my husband, we would often choose separate lines for the conveyor belt mostly to save time, but also so that each of us could finish gathering our things at about the same time. I must add that my husband is my best friend and I would… Read more »

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