I was in a small group gathering recently where our teacher ended his lesson about the proper use of authority with this statement: “Nothing endears like unused power.”  Now I don’t know if the speaker had enneagram type Eights in mind when he came up with that phrase but those words contain keen insight into the journey most type Eights must undergo.  Somewhere in life, for them to become their truest self, our beautiful Eights must learn how to lower their ‘power-shield’, remember their own innocence, and become present to the vulnerability of life.  Ironically, this movement to vulnerability makes them even more powerful on the behalf of others.

In this episode you can come along as Birmingham businessman, family guy, part-time track coach, and enneagram Eight Josh Reidinger, reflects on his journey.  From his natural bent toward early leading and fixing in the family system, his leadership and responsibility roles in business, through a painfully difficult fostering and adoption process - all amidst decades of trying to shield his family and save his beloved brother from the ravages of addiction - we can sense the tremendous burdens of both capacity and obligation beginning to take their inevitable toll.

Join us as Josh gives us some insight into taking apart some of the silos and walls he had been unconsciously building throughout his life.