I’ve been a trainer for over 45 years and training people in various aspects of the Enneagram for nearly 25 years. I also have an extensive background in instructional design, both academic (an MS and PhD in education) and from on-the-ground experience in a wide variety of settings. In addition, I’ve supervised and given feedback to hundreds of teachers over the decades. From this varied perspective, there are three key areas to consider if you want to be a great, not just a good, trainer, particularly with the Enneagram: Be prepared, use variety, and answer the why (why the client wants this and why you are doing this)! This first blog overviews what it means to be prepared.

Be prepared

Contracting

Perhaps being prepared is obvious, but the meaning of this is quite nuanced. First, are you well-prepared in terms of your knowledge base, your experience, your ability to work with clients in an organization setting? To break this down further, do you know how to effectively contract with clients so their needs are clear, you are capable of meeting these needs and within the time allotment they request, and you understand how the Enneagram can actually support what the client wants to accomplish?

Designing

Second, once you have a clear contract or working agreement, can you design an effective training program in a way that suits your training contract? To break this down further, can you sequence a series of learning activities that build on one another, take into account the group’s readiness to explore and learn, and use a variety of teaching options and techniques?

For example, how do you plan to help people identify their types accurately if they are newer to the system? If the client wants you to use a test, how are you going to make sure most people correctly have their types, given that tests are 65-70% accurate at best? What about type panels as a method for typing? These are wonderful teaching methodologies, but there is a significant issue regarding type panels in organizational settings. Where do you get people for the panels, people who already know their types accurately? Importing panelists from outside the organization is challenging for many reasons, the least of which is that organizations are generally not keen on bringing in people they consider to be “outsiders.”

Designing programs is an art as well as a science. Can you design for optimal participant learning and, even better, optimal retention? How much do you include regarding teaching the system and typing? What do they need to know and when do they need to know in order to accomplish the objectives of the program? Where do subtypes fit in, if at all? Are you making the program (both content and processes used) overly complicated? Are you oversimplifying the system and its applications, running the risk of misinformation and/or stereotyping types? Do you have an integrated design, with a beginning, middle, and end? Have you over-planned the design for the time you have? This is the most common mistake trainers make, but they can also under plan, which presents a different kind of problem. What do you do with extra time? Do you have relevant, productive space fillers that support a seamless program?

Executing

Then there’s the execution of the program. If there is a flaw in the original program design, which can happen to anyone no matter how much you prepare, the program execution will be far more challenging. The first thing to consider is that if you are prepared, yet something does not go as planned in a way neither you nor the client wants, can you be flexible enough to veer from the plan? Can you do something productive in its place?

Do you always check out the room space and the electronics before the program, just in case? Make no assumptions. Test computer hook-ups and PowerPoints, do microphone checks, make sure the room arrangement is as you requested. Nine times out of ten, it’s fine, but then it just may be the time it is not!

In addition to your flexibility and its cousin, agility, can you keep to your plan in terms of timing? Are you realistic in your estimated timing for each activity? Is your timing effectively aligned with group needs and parameters such as breaks, lunch, start and end times? Speaking of time, rookie trainers often make the mistake of saying that they didn’t (or won’t be able to)  cover all they wanted to due to time. This is not a good idea because it implies one or more of these things: (1) the trainer did not manage time well; (2) the organization did not give the trainer enough time, and/or (3) participants are somehow getting short-changed, not able to learn all they could. I never post a strict timetable per activity when I train just because I want the ability to lengthen or shorten what we are doing as the need arises. An agenda, yes! A timetable with exact times, no!

Of course, there’s so much more to the art of execution. Here is just the beginning: depth of Enneagram knowledge; experience and concepts in application area such as conflict, leadership, teams, etc.; really good presentation skills, which involves voice tone and modulation as well as concept knowledge and the ability to effectively communicate what you know; presence enough to command the room without commanding/demanding; strong facilitation skills; a non-judging orientation and balanced perspective about each of the nine types; and a clear demonstration that you have done a lot of self-development work yourself. With respect to this idea, you don’t tell them how much work you’ve done (as in ”I walk my talk”); instead, you are an example of comfort in your own skin, humble and not arrogant.

Finally, a word about PowerPoint slides. I’ve seen some excellent trainers, excellent in most respects, who just don’t notice that their slides are not up to par. Their slides are not attractive, contain typographical errors, use fonts that are hard to read, have little color contrast between the background and the font color so the words are challenging, contain too many words and too few graphical elements, etc. Slides that are lacking make it hard for participants to learn what you are teaching. Highly recommended is a platform called Canva, which makes slide preparation easy, professional-looking, and is fun to use once you learn how, and the learning curve is not too steep.

Enneagram in Business Certificate Programs

We offer best-in-class Train-the-Trainer programs to teach you how to teach the Enneagram and have been offering these since 2004. We are also an IEA Accredited School with Distinction, the IEA’s highest school designation.

“Power of the Enneagram at Work” – Enneagram’s core business applications March 4-15, 2024  (virtual)

“Build Wise, Talented, and Humble Leaders with the Enneagram” – Enneagram and leadership  June 3-14, 2024 (virtual)

Enneagram Global Survey Report

Do you want to know the key benefits of the Enneagram’s use in organizations? Take a look at the Enneagram in Business Network’s 2022 Global Survey, which has been translated into eight languages. EnneagramSurvey.net

Ginger Lapid-Bogda PhD, author of nine Enneagram books, is a speaker, consultant, trainer, and coach. She provides certification programs and training tools for business professionals around the world who want to bring the Enneagram into organizations with high-impact business applications. TheEnneagramInBusiness.com | ginger@theenneagraminbusiness.com