In 2004, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) decided to initiate leadership development programs for young group leaders and senior post-docs in molecular biology research. Committed to excellence in scientific research, EMBO adopted the Enneagram as a model to support the personal development of these young leaders. The scientists were skeptical of being pigeonholed by some psychological model, so they were delighted that the Enneagram allowed them to both identify their own style and provided support for their further development. Since then, over 500 researchers from Europe, the Americas, and Asia have profited from these courses. Most use the Enneagram to understand themselves and improve their daily interactions in the labs, while others are starting to introduce the model into their teams in their search for excellence.

At about the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic, a leading biotech company adopted the Enneagram at all leadership levels in one of its divisions, integrating each of its leadership competencies with the Enneagram. This helped managers recognize their own and each other's strengths and development areas and provided a common language to discuss and resolve issues. It was only natural that the use of the Enneagram then spread to working with intact teams – especially in clinical trials – to improve team effectiveness through improving relationships and interactions, enhancing communication skills, and identifying and working on team-based biases to action, people, or planning.


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