What is the Enneagram 8w7 personality type? What are its key traits, strengths, weaknesses and fears? We’ll answer these questions in this article.
This is one of the 18 Enneagram Wing Types, which don’t exhibit traits of just one profile, but blend two adjacent ones. The 8w7 is a blend of the Enneagram 8 and the Enneagram 7, meaning this profile falls into both the Head triad and Gut triad, which makes for a curious personality.
We’ll start by talking about how this profile is composed of 8 and 7, then talk about its core traits. We’ll round off with a field manual for the Enneagram 8w7: a summary of its core strengths, weaknesses, fears and desires.
What is the Enneagram 8w7 Type?
First, let’s clarify what the Enneagram 8w7 is. It means an Enneagram 8 with a 7 Wing. It helps if you understand the 9 Enneagram Profiles in some depth.
If you have a 8w7 personality, it means you’re predominantly an Enneagram 8, but exhibit some traits from the adjacent profile, number 7. It’s also possible to be a pure 8, or an 8w9.
If you want an approximation of what a 8w7 looks like, take the core 8 and 7 traits and blend them together, with 8 dominating. If you know somebody who is primarily an 8 but has significant 7 traits, they might well be an 8w7.
The folks at personalitydata.org found that 5.1% of Enneagram 8s exhibit a 7 wing. 84.6% are pure 8s, while the other wing type, 8w9, makes up the remaining 0.3%.
Remember, the 8w7 is predominantly an 8 but shows significant 7 traits.
8s desire power, and are hard-working, competitive and supremely pragmatic (The Challenger), while 7s are outgoing, larger than life and optimistic (The Enthusiast).
8w7s are predominantly an 8, so are bullish, self-assured and fiercely practical. The 7 wing means they’re extroverted, live for pleasure and love coming up with plans and ideas. They tend to be more adventurous and charismatic than a typical 8.
In a nutshell, the 8w7 is tough and independent, yet highly energetic and vivacious. It inspires others with its story and vision for a new world, and wants to be seen as powerful and fearful. It’s a complex character!
For your information, I refer to personality types as “it” because they’re abstract profiles derived from real-world data, detached from any one person. Though the Enneagram possess huge explanatory power, nobody is a cookie-cutter 8w7.
The Core Traits
The Enneagram 8w7 Type is called the Maverick because it’s firm, powerful and visionary, yet also a pleasure-seeker and highly energetic. Its basic desire is to make things happen, take charge and inspire others while living life to the fullest.
Like a typical 8, it fears being dominated or outwitted by others. It needs to be in charge and call the shots. Its frenetic rhythm and need to impose can exacerbate 7’s tendency for hyperactivity and perpetual seeking.
As with all Enneagram Profiles, there are downsides to the 8w7. For one thing, the Type 7 can be polyannish, always on-the-go and ultra-energetic.
Combine this with 8’s need to accumulate power and assert itself, and you can get a nasty combination. The 8w7 can wind up overworking and oversocialising and get burnt out. The 7 is poor at completing projects, which may jeopardise 8’s hard-hitting practicality.
The 8w7 really doesn’t want to be controlled. It needs to feel it’s in charge, respected, the orchestrator. As a result, it can be domineering, stubborn and paranoid. It’s prone to becoming isolated, because it fears that intimacy and openness may expose its weaknesses.
Whether we have a 8w7 personality or not, we can learn from its successes and struggles. It’s a universal fact that if our prime directive is to be accumulate power and call the shots while being perpetually sociable and active, we can end up overstimulated, anxious and worn out.
The best professions for the Opportunist are those that require leadership, reward charisma and are varied, like corporate executives or political leaders.
The Enneagram 8w7 Field Manual
The core fears of the 8w7 are to feel controlled, be exposed as weak, or be bored.
Its core drives are to get things done, leave its mark on the world and seek novel experiences.
The strengths of the 8w7 are its enthusiasm, energy and ability to get things done.
Its weaknesses include its rabid aversions to mediocrity, domination and boredom.
The 8w7 is at its best when it’s active, excited, on the move and in charge.
Master the Enneagram with my series of articles on the Enneagram Wing Types
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