A manager is promoted to a new job, because she is a powerful, driving project manager. It is a difficult project, with a very short time frame. Her organization thinks they have given her a nearly impossible task. They hope she is up to it. She pushes hard for results. Eventually grievances are received from her staff, accusing her of bullying. She is totally confused. She brought the project in, on time, and on budget. Didn’t she just do her job? She had no idea how deeply she was offending everyone while she was pushing to completion. Do you know this person?

A staff member attends regular staff meetings. Whenever a new idea is suggested, he immediately raises all the things that could go wrong, why it isn’t a good idea, and why we should keep doing things the way we have always done them. The rest of the staff are driven NUTS by this behaviour. He is loyal and dedicated, and believes he is just keeping his team safe. Is this person familiar?

In this keynote presentation, Hilary presents the Enneagram, an elegant profound and compassionate way to understand personality. The Enneagram describes 9 possible pathways that we follow, according to the ‘lens’ that we have on the world, and our core driver that results in us operating in certain predictable patterns. Each enneagram type describes natural gifts and limitations. Neither of the people described above are freaks. They are just two of the 9 types of people who make up our organizations, families, communities, and our world. The self-awareness gained from knowing your enneagram type is invaluable at work and at home.

This presentation will be enjoyed by every delegate at SPUSC007. Hilary received the Association for Tertiary Education Management (ATEM) President’s Award in 2005, for services to ATEM and universities. Part of the citation reads, “Hilary’s unique delivery style enthuses and inspires while she is providing knowledge and skills that really do add to the workplace abilities of ATEM members. The constant in Hilary’s programs has been her commitment to, and focus on, people as individuals, and the need to win their hearts and minds when we face changes and challenges.

Hilary Langford is also conducting a half-day workshop on Friday 30th November, “How meetings can destroy beautiful friendships!" using the Enneagram as a tool to map where things can go wrong.