The Enneagram and the Levels of Development

How is it that two Type Sixes with the same wing can seem so different? Why does your Three friend sometimes go from positive and capable to stressed and overworked? It’s all about the Levels of Development. Let’s explore this important aspect of the Enneagram.

The Levs of Dev, as I like to call them, were discovered by Don Richard Riso, co-founder of The Enneagram Institute and co-author of The Wisdom of the Enneagram. In 1977, he was ruminating on the kinds of questions I posed above when he realized that these differences in behavior within one type or between two people of the same type are the result of each person’s ability to be present.

Another way to say this is how bound up in the false self each person is. This changes over time and depending on circumstances and on how much inner work a person has done. Otherwise, no one would be able to grow – or to regress. We would be the same all the time. And we know that isn’t how human life works.

How is your Level of Development determined?

One thing I love about the Enneagram of Personality is that it helps explain that we are not on a level playing field in terms of emotional health and the ability to be present. That’s important to recognize because it helps us to be less judgmental. We assume, when we don’t understand how personality works, that everyone is like us or at least should be. Therefore, we judge everyone by our own standards. But when we understand that there are nine lenses through which human beings see the world, and that some of us are more wounded and unable to be present than others, it’s easier to summon compassion for others. We must never forget that everyone is fighting a hard battle.

The Lev of Dev you start out with is determined by the quality of your early childhood environment: the nurturing of your parents, your health, education and so on. You don’t get to pick these factors, so your default level of functioning isn’t your doing or your fault. So, there’s no need for shame about the level you find yourself at. However, upward change is absolutely possible (more on that later).

Discerning the Levels

Riso named each of the nine Levels to describe what each level is like. Here’s a quick overview from The Enneagram Institute:

The Continuum of the Levels of Development

Healthy

• Level 1: The Level of Liberation
• Level 2: The Level of Psychological Capacity
• Level 3: The Level of Social Value

Average

• Level 4: The Level of Imbalance/Social Role
• Level 5: The Level of Interpersonal Control
• Level 6: The Level of Overcompensation

Unhealthy

• Level 7: The Level of Violation
• Level 8: The Level of Obsession and Compulsion
• Level 9: The Level of Pathological Destructiveness

In The Wisdom of the Enneagram, Riso and his co-author, Russ Hudson, describe the Levels for each type in detail. I recommend this book as the gold standard for understanding the Enneagram, and the discussion on the Levels is in-depth and very useful. It’s far too much information to share in this blog post, so I refer you to this original source for further study. However, as you can see, as a person descends the Levs of Dev, the descriptions become increasingly negative. And if you start at the bottom and go up, they become increasingly positive. We definitely want to go up!

Ascending the Levels

Because the Levels of Development represent our capacity to be present, becoming more present enables us to see ourselves more objectively and to learn our personality type’s “tricks” and see them in action. As this happens, the personality’s egoic grip loosens, and we can spontaneously move up the Levels.

By the same token, when we aren’t aware of how our Enneagram personality type affects us, we mostly operate on autopilot. When something difficult occurs and we don’t have the emotional resources and support we need to handle it, we can slide down a Level. If this continues, we can end up in crisis.

I have a dear friend who had a difficult childhood, so her Lev of Dev was in the Average range at best. A series of painful situations, including a divorce due to her husband’s infidelity and the loss of their house, led her downward all the way to Level 9. Where she had once been a functional full-time employee and mother, she ended up getting fired, withdrawing from her loved ones and attempting suicide.

Her story took a miraculous upward turn; she got sober and now lives a fulfilling life. But not all stories like hers end well, so knowing the Levs of Dev is useful for ourselves and for those we love so that we can offer support when we see a downward trajectory.

A great tenet of inner work with the Enneagram is that the personality can’t fix the personality. So, you can’t just try to adopt the qualities and behaviors of the higher Levels for your type. Instead, you pay attention to your personality every day, with compassion, and organic change begins. I find the three-step daily practice outlined in Wisdom highly practical and helpful:

1. Become present and aware as much as possible throughout the day.
2. Observe your personality in action (they call it “catching yourself in the act”).
3. As much as it’s possible, don’t give into your personality-driven impulses.

These steps, done daily over time, will increase your level of awareness and presence, which will empower you to go upward toward Liberation from your false self. And that’s a journey worth taking.

If you’d like to join a free community of Enneagram sojourners and get a cool Quick-Reference Guide to boot, click here to become part of what I call the Dearly Beloved tribe. You’ll get a newsletter 1-2 times per month with information, encouragement and inspiration, along with helpful resources.

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