[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and IVP in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
The book introduces the Enneagram and the author’s premise and then digs into stances (dependent – 1, 2,6; aggressive – 3, 7, 8; withdrawing – 4, 5, 9). Within the stances sections he talks a little about orientation to time and a lot about repressed centers. From there he talks about the importance of raising repressed centers and ties that into speech-making (teaching, sermons, speeches, etc.). Each stance section includes the text of a speech and tips for speakers in that stance.
Review
This is an interesting approach to the Enneagram and a valuable niche to explore. I’ve not read an Enneagram resource from this angle before. This is definitely a second-tier resource. I would not hand this to an Enneagram novice. This will make more sense to individuals who understand not only their own number but the basics of the Enneagram as a whole. Stance information is helpful, too, although this does provide more information on that level.
This didn’t go as deep as I was hoping when I first asked to read it. Large sections of the book are taken up by the three speeches, one for each stance, that the author includes to show a technique to help raise a certain center. I would have enjoyed this more and gotten more out of it if those speeches had at least been annotated. Even better might have been a lot more shorter examples or even one section of a speech written in three ways to show the difference in how to speak to each stance. An exercise to help readers craft a message that speaks to all three stances would have been invaluable.
Ultimately this feels like a good resource on stances, but only a starting point on growing as a communicator who can think and write to engage every listener regardless of Enneagram type.
Rating: ♥♥♥*
*♥♥♥ = Good, solid, fine