In this Fund81 podcast episode, we talk about something that has made our team at MergeLane better investors - the Enneagram Personality Typing System. We use the Enneagram in the work we do in Conscious Leadership. Understanding the Enneagram has forever changed the way I assess and support startup founders. To talk about how the Enneagram can help other VCs, I invited Kaley Klemp to join the podcast.
Kaley is a master Enneagram specialist, as well as a highly sought-after speaker, certified YPO Forum Facilitator, and a transformational executive coach. She helps individuals and organizations outperform their competitors by unlocking a deeper understanding of what motivates and drives people. Kaley co-authored The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, and The Drama-Free Office, and wrote The 13 Guidelines for Effective Teams.
To learn more about the Enneagram, you can start to identify your Enneagram Type by taking the Enneagram Institute’s RHETI test. I also highly recommend Kaley’s online Enneagram course.
We invite every startup founder that attends our free one-week startup Funderator program to identify their Enneagram type. This increases our understanding of the founders and their understanding of each other. For me, using the Enneagram and the work we do in Conscious Leadership helps me recognize red flags in cofounder relationships and unconscious commitments that can impede startup growth. I can better validate whether a team is truly determined to achieve the extraordinary. It helps our portfolio companies leverage their strengths to achieve seemingly impossible things and see the blind spots they couldn't see before. It helps me connect with our portfolio companies and offer support in a radically different and refreshing way.
I hope this work will help you as much as it has helped me.
Onward.
I allowed myself to include all of my “ridiculous” wants and aspirations on my list of 2023 goals, one of which was “finding a coach and co-collaborator who would agree to hold meetings from the chairlift.” Believe it or not, I was actually able to manifest that.
Read more ➞It is amazing what you can achieve if you get out of your own way.
Read more ➞I have learned the important lesson that being mediocre at anything is not a “safe” path to success. I now realize that the “safe” path for others may not be the best route for me.
Read more ➞In investing, and in life in general, an ability to foresee potential pitfalls has served me well. However, being able to see what can go wrong can prevent me from seizing an opportunity. I sometimes forget that most of my successes have been the result of seemingly impossible feats.
Read more ➞