- Home
- Preface
- Introduction
- Three Zones and Nine Sectors
- Three resources *
- Meeting the world
- Nine strategies *
- Nine types
- Gut types
- EIGHT *
- NINE *
- ONE *
- Gut types review
- Corruption and redemption
- Heart types
- TWO *
- THREE *
- FOUR *
- Heart types review
- Symmetry of the board
- Head types
- FIVE *
- SIX *
- SEVEN *
- Head types review
- All nine sectors
- Discerning home base part 1
- Gifts and temptations
- Developing all three resources
- Taking the advice of the opposites
- The path to redemption part 1
- Celebrating all of who we are
- Neurology
- Wings and Moves and other functions
- Biblical Journeys
- Prayer
- The Enneagram
- From the Enneagram to the Strategy Board
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THREE
THREEs – in the middle of the heart zone – have a particular talent of the heart for working with the complexities of group dynamics. Others may find it difficult or artificial to have to work within a group or as part of a team, but this is where THREEs can thrive: the group is THREE’s favored environment. The strategy of heart type THREEs – to stir up love – is to be inspirational in the group: achieving something significant on everybody’s behalf, or working to bind the group together.
THREEs inspire friendship and fellowship within a group, and draw people together around shared goals and ideals. THREEs turn a group into a team. The natural team leadership of THREE is not domineering from outside the group, but inspirational from within.
Redeemed THREEs work within the group for the group – not only being the best that THREE can be, for the sake of the group, but also identifying and promoting every other talent and ability in the group, encouraging every other person in their potential and in their gifts. THREE inspires hope: the sense that things are possible, that great things can be achieved. And THREE brings a unique gift of gentleness: redeemed THREE knows just how to draw alongside someone, as an equal on the team, to bring encouragement, or to help make everything all right. Redeemed THREE can indeed be ‘all heart.’
For corrupted THREEs, colleagues become rivals and team-mates become opponents, as the goal in interacting with the group changes from the good of all to the good of the self. Corrupt THREEs’ lives are dominated by the conscious desire to impress and to lead – and their skills in group dynamics are undiminished, so they may well succeed. In the process, corrupt THREEs can become viciously competitive, trampling on rivals in order to win the position of the most admired, the most loved. Corrupt THREEs may invest so much energy in creating a desirable public image for themselves that little else remains. As for all the heart types, it is good for THREEs to remember to invest at least some of their resources in nurturing, strengthening, and cherishing the genuine self, rather than investing everything in their public image and its relationship with others.
The national stereotype for group-minded, leading, and achieving THREEs is the mainstream USA. It’s in their blood. When the settlers reached the Americas, there were no separate kings or lords or rulers among them – just equal human beings and one vast project. Achieving anything meant working – or competing – within a team of equals. That remains the THREE culture of the mainstream USA to this day.
A cartoon animal for THREE is the eagle – just one of many birds, but soaring higher than the rest, achieving more, visible to all, and inspiring: the best thing on two wings. Another is the chameleon: for better or for worse, for corrupt reasons or redeemed, THREE can change its colors quickly to match each new environment.
There is a lot of team-leader THREE in western politics – corrupt and redeemed: the spirit and practice of democracy promote the idea of leading from within. Count in Bill Clinton, and the public image of New Labour. Inspirational charismatic leadership is THREE. Playing the crowd is THREE. Presenting oneself as the epitome of people’s dreams for themselves is THREE. And THREEs love praise – achievement and praise.
The temptation of chameleon THREE is deceit – to say or to do whatever plays well with the audience of the moment. In western politics, call it spin. In the Bible, Jacob is THREE: Jacob the deceiver, competing with Esau for top ranking – but going on to be the gentle team leader for the nation.
Heart type THREEs are always conscious of their audience. To move along the path from corruption to redemption, it is important for THREEs to spend some time in contemplation – with no audience. The temptation for THREEs is to sit contemplating how they are going to tell everyone what good contemplating they have done, or wondering whether God is impressed yet. Neither counts. On the path from corruption to redemption, THREEs will be examining, with no audience, the false self-image or self-images – and then finding and valuing instead the real self, which is loved by God without any need for a mask or a performance. THREEs can then develop healthy non-competitive relationships, promote and celebrate the gifts of others, and learn from their less successful projects without worrying what the audience may think.