The Story of a Benefactor

The Story of a Benefactor

ENNEAGRAM TYPE 2

Mumtaz, a benevolent personality as Type 2, has been running a financial consulting firm for twenty years. Although his company was quite successful, Mumtaz could not move his company beyond a company with ten employees.

Mumtaz, who used Enneagram as a framework for himself, realized that he was focusing on his relationships with his existing customers and trying to please them, rather than reaching new customers. He noticed that when his clients were satisfied, he felt a strong sense of relief. When his clients had problems, he could not stop projecting the negative energy he received from them into his life outside of work.

He always thought he couldn't take the company any further. However, he could not understand the reason for this. But there were other factors that were the source of Mumtaz's energy outside of work.

Mumtaz had been happily married to Selma for eight years. They had barely been apart for eight years because Mumtaz doesn't like being alone, he even hates it. He has adapted very well to this situation since the day he married his wife Selma.

One day, Selma had to go to a four-day conference outside the city on her own because of her job. After long discussions with her husband, Mumtaz was finally convinced that it was a good idea for Selma to go to the conference. Because he knew how important the conference was to Selma, and he really wanted her to be happy. Although he knew how difficult it would be for him, he convinced himself that this separation could also be good for him.

Finally, Selma went to Ankara for the conference. On the first night of their separation, Selma did not call Mumtaz. He wanted her to be alone for a while. Of course, he was enjoying some alone time. On the second evening, he called Mumtaz and asked what he was doing. Mumtaz said: "I enjoy being alone so much... by the way, I even called my friends from college, who I haven't seen for a long time." said.

Selma said, "Mumtaz, this is not really being alone! Why do you always have to have someone around?" he asked.

This question of Selma surprised Mumtaz very much. Although he defended himself on this issue, Selma's words made him think seriously about it. After a long time of thinking about it, he realized that he was really worried about being alone and always tried to have someone with him. He needed other people's positive perspectives on him so badly that he saw that he couldn't feel good when no one was around him. After this confrontation with him, he decided to spend two hours alone a week to get to know himself better.

The first weeks didn't know exactly what to do in these lonely times. But after a while, the feeling of feeling half and incomplete began to disappear. A few weeks later, he began to look forward to these lonely periods of time.

This development not only strengthened Mumtaz as a person but within ten months, he doubled the number of employees of the firm he was managing to fifteen and his income as well.

In the process, he realized that he was too focused on the happiness of his clients. For example, he made weekly calls to check on them and make sure they were satisfied, or even arranged meetings with them. This excessive customer satisfaction was stealing from the time he had to devote to finding new customers. Now he only calls his old clients once a month, and he spends his time developing new businesses.

Mumtaz, meanwhile, noticed that she was spending too much time socialising with her colleagues to make sure things were going well. His behaviour towards employees caused them to become more dependent on him during work. When Mumtaz halved his interaction with them, his team began to take more initiative than before and became more successful.