By Jim McPartlin, Anna Akbari
Using Enneagram personality types to transform workplace leadership.
Subject
Themes
Jim McPartlin’s journey into the power of the Enneagram begins not in a classroom, but in the high-pressure hallways of the luxury hospitality industry. After decades of managing properties for names like Disney, Kimpton, and Starwood, Jim realizes that the most underrated currency in leadership is not technical skill, but self-awareness. He traces his own awakening to a 1993 seminar led by Helen Palmer. As a Type 6 “Loyal Skeptic,” Jim was stunned to hear his internal anxieties and “winning formula” of worry and hard work described with surgical precision. This moment shattered his skepticism and revealed a fundamental truth: while our personality patterns are “fully baked” by our mid-twenties to keep us safe, they eventually become limiting “trip wires” that stall our potential.
Jim McPartlin’s journey into the power of the Enneagram begins not in a classroom, but in the high-pressure hallways of the luxury hospitality industry. After decades of managing properties for names like Disney, Kimpton, and Starwood, Jim realizes that the most underrated currency in leadership is…
Jim McPartlin’s 'The Enneagram at Work' is deeply rooted in his three-decade career within the luxury hospitality industry, an environment characterized by extreme pressure, high turnover, and the need for seamless coordination among diverse teams. Jim began his journey at the Walt Disney Company in…
Jim McPartlin argues that the most underrated and essential tool in a leader’s arsenal is self-awareness. Drawing from thirty years in the luxury hospitality industry, he posits that technical skills and positional power are insufficient for inspiring a modern workforce. Instead, leaders must broker…
Jim McPartlin explains that humans possess three distinct centers of intelligence, which he refers to as the logical head brain, the emotional heart brain, and the instinctual gut brain. While most people associate the word 'intelligence' exclusively with the head, Jim argues that all three are…
A central premise of Jim McPartlin’s work is the distinction between our hardwired personality patterns and our true, unique core. Jim explains that every human being comes into the world with both a core life force and a personality. In early childhood, these two elements are equally weighted.…
Jim McPartlin introduces a structured model for giving feedback that aims to move communication away from the 'Power Struggle' and toward a collaborative 'Awareness Circle.' He notes that most leaders, regardless of their position, feel uncomfortable delivering criticism, often anticipating a…
Jim McPartlin redefines failure not as an endpoint but as a critical signal to awaken and reorient one's life. He uses his own experience of being fired from a general manager position in New York to illustrate how self-awareness can transform a professional wipeout into a rocket launch. For Jim, a…
Jim McPartlin begins his exploration of human dynamics by tracing the ancient Greek origins of the Enneagram, a system once considered “woo” but now adopted by corporate giants like Disney and Chanel. He recalls his own frustration with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) during his time at…
In 1987, Jim McPartlin walks into the office of Maxcine Bell at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, armed with a hotel school degree and a stopwatch. He is ready to optimize productivity through time-and-motion studies, but Maxcine, a legendary executive who rose from the ranks of housekeeping, delivers a…
Jim McPartlin introduces a tactical approach to feedback, moving leaders away from the “Power Struggle” of psychic tug-of-war and toward a collaborative “Awareness Circle.” He outlines a four-step model: Observe, Interpret, Feel, and Need. This structure is designed to ground high-intensity…
In 2009, amidst a national financial crisis, Jim McPartlin stands before three hundred new hires at the W Hollywood staff training. He recognizes that 90 percent of the group are aspiring actors rather than career hoteliers. Rather than ignoring this reality, Jim “ditches the counterfeit” and…
Jim McPartlin sits in a sunlit room at the Presidio of San Francisco, watching his carefully crafted meeting agenda for a Silicon Valley tech firm evaporate within minutes. Instead of following the scheduled “State of the Union” presentation, the CEO, a skeptical Type 6, and the COO, a visionary…
Jim McPartlin reflects on a missed opportunity from his childhood in Upstate New York that informed his relationship with fear for decades. Invited by his music teacher to sing a solo at the annual Christmas pageant, the ten-year-old Jim was paralyzed by anxiety and refused. He watched from the…
By Jim McPartlin, Anna Akbari
Subject
Themes
Jim McPartlin’s journey into the power of the Enneagram begins not in a classroom, but in the high-pressure hallways of the luxury hospitality industry. After decades of managing properties for names like Disney, Kimpton, and Starwood, Jim realizes that the most underrated currency in leadership is not technical skill, but self-awareness. He traces his own awakening to a 1993 seminar led by Helen Palmer. As a Type 6 “Loyal Skeptic,” Jim was stunned to hear his internal anxieties and “winning formula” of worry and hard work described with surgical precision. This moment shattered his skepticism and revealed a fundamental truth: while our personality patterns are “fully baked” by our mid-twenties to keep us safe, they eventually become limiting “trip wires” that stall our potential.