Typology

This week, my dear friend and gifted songwriter, Cindy Morgan, joins me for a great conversation about Enneagram Fours, including the push-pull dance of fours in relationships, the well of suffering we can get trapped in, and the importance of authenticity. We also discuss the story behind her debut novel, The Year of Jubilee, and explore how she integrated the Enneagram into the main characters' development.    About Cindy Morgan Singer/songwriter Cindy L. Morgan is a two-time Grammy nominee, a thirteen-time Dove winner, and a recipient of the prestigious Songwriter of the Year trophy. An East Tennessee native, her evocative melodies and lyrics have mined the depths of life and love both in her own recording and through songwriting for noteworthy artists around the globe, including Vince Gill, India.Arie, Rascal Flatts, Amy Grant, Sandra McCracken, and Glen Campbell. Cindy is the author of two works of adult nonfiction—the memoir How Could I Ask for More: Stories of Blessings, Battles & Beauty (Worthy Inspire, 2015) and Barefoot on Barbed Wire: A Journey Out of Fear into Freedom (Harvest House Publishers, 2001)—and of the children's picture book Dance Me, Daddy (ZonderKidz, 2009). The Year of Jubilee is her debut novel. Cindy is a co-creator of the charitable Hymns for Hunger Tour, which has raised awareness and resources for hunger relief organizations across the globe. Cindy has two daughters and splits her time living between a small town near Nashville and Holly Springs, North Carolina, with her husband Jonathan. To learn more about Cindy Morgan, follow her on Instagram, Facebook or visit her website.  Pre-order her new book, The Year of Jubilee. ----- Follow the Typology Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player to hear the latest episodes. You can also follow us @typologypodcast on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

As the New York Times bestselling author of 23 books and lead pastor of National Community Church, Mark Batterson believes that the foundation of all healthy relationships and successful careers stems from our proficiency in these three words: Please. Sorry. Thanks.  All three of these words require a posture of humility. All three of these words unlock the law of reciprocity and foster connection and understanding. As Mark puts it, “to me, ‘please’ is a way of being others-focused and honoring others.  It’s going against the tide of entitlement. I don’t want to operate in that way. I want to operate in a way that honors others.”   This week, Mark Batterson returns to Typology to discuss how these three powerful words impact leadership, relationships, and a healthy mindset.  We also explore the distinction between self-awareness and self-consciousness, and the role self-awareness plays in allowing us to give a timely “please,” a sincere “sorry,” and a heartfelt “thanks.”   — Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of the National Community Church (NCC) in Washington, D.C. One church in multiple locations, NCC owns and operates Ebenezers Coffeehouse and the DC Dream Center. NCC is currently developing a city block into The Capital Turnaround - this 100,000-square-foot space will include an event venue, child development center, and mixed-use marketplace.  Mark holds a doctor of ministry degree from Regent University and is the New York Times bestselling author of 23 books, including Please Sorry Thanks: The Three Words That Change Everything (Multnomah/Penguin Random House; on-sale 4/4/23) and Win the Day, as well as several books for children, including The Best Worst Day Ever (on sale 2/21/23; Multnomah/Penguin Random House), written with his daughter Summer. Pre-order his latest book, Please Sorry Thanks: The Three Words That Change Everything. To learn more about Mark Batterson, follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter or visit his website.   Follow the Typology Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player to hear the latest episodes. You can also follow us @typologypodcast on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

When Kate Bowler was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, she was forced to grapple with the cultural scripts that box us into a tidy story about how we “earn our lives and get what we deserve,” and that “anything is possible.” But what if those scripts aren’t true?  She joins me for an open conversation about her chronic sadness, suffering, and pain, and invites us to be honest about the lives that can’t be fixed. She reminds us that “we are people to be loved, not problems to be solved.”   Kate Bowler is the New York Times bestselling author of Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I’ve Loved), No Cure for Being Human (And Other Truths I Need to Hear), and Good Enough. She is the host of the popular podcast, Everything Happens. A Duke University professor, she earned a master’s degree in religion from Yale Divinity School and a Ph.D. from Duke University.

What actually makes a fulfilling and meaningful life?  Today, Dr. Robert Waldinger, Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, reveals the key to real happiness is the strength of our connections and relationships with others.  “The people who stay happiest, healthiest, and live the longest have the warmest relationships with other people, “explains Dr. Waldinger. Dr. Waldinger shares the findings of the longest scientific study of happiness, shedding light on the common misconceptions of happiness, how meaningful human connection impacts our health, and what we can do to strengthen existing or forge new relationships.  Dr. Robert Waldinger is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development at Massachusetts General Hospital, and cofounder of the Lifespan Research Foundation. In The Good Life, Dr. Waldinger teaches you how to proactively create happiness by focusing on what keeps you healthy rather than what makes you sick.

What are your parenting goals?  What does a “win” look like for you?  Andy and Sandra Stanley determined years ago that their primary goal as parents was to build strong, healthy relationships with their children that continue into their adulthood. “Our legacy is the relationships, the health of the relationships, and the healthy people in the relationships we leave behind,” says Sandra. “We wanted to lay a foundation for our kids early of understanding that life is relationships. And, we wanted them to understand how to restore a broken relationship.” This week, Andy and Sandra join me to discuss their latest book, Parenting: Getting It Right, and we share an honest conversation about the importance of intentional parenting, equipping our kids for relational success, and the art of restoring a broken relationship.  ---- Communicator, author, and pastor Andy Stanley founded Atlanta-based North Point Ministries (NPM) in 1995. As host of Your Move with Andy Stanley, which delivers over 10.5 million messages each month through television, digital platforms, and podcasts, and author of more than 20 books, Andy is considered one of the most influential pastors in America. Sandra Stanley received her bachelor of science degree from Georgia Tech and master of arts from Dallas Theological Seminary. Sandra has a heart for foster kids and foster families, as she and Andy have been foster parents since 2010. Her ministry passion is promoting foster care in the local church. Much of her time these days is spent working on various writing projects and continuing her involvement with Fostering Together, the foster care initiative at North Point Ministries. In their new book, Parenting: Getting It Right, Andy and Sandra combine their experience and wisdom into a guide that helps readers understand and live by essential parenting principles. Visit Andy’s website and Sandra’s website to learn more about both of them and their new book.

Several years ago we had Lysa TerKeurst on our show and discussed not confusing the desire for peace with the disease to please. Today, Lysa joins us again for a deep conversation about learning to set good boundaries and where she notices her struggle to maintain them.   “It’s not that I don’t want to be clear,” Lysa says, “it’s that sometimes I care so much about what the other person is feeling, that I forget it’s not my job to own their feelings or manage their feelings. It’s my job to be kind but clear. It’s their job to manage their feelings.”  Listen as Lysa demonstrates the immense amount of work she has done over the past few years to establish solid boundaries and find groundedness as an Enneagram Nine. ---------------- Lysa TerKeurst is a New York Times bestselling author of more than 25 books with more than 6 million books in print. Her most recent books include Good Boundaries and Goodbyes, Forgiving What You Can't Forget, and It's Not Supposed to Be This Way. She is president and chief visionary officer of Proverbs 31 Ministries. Lysa writes from her family’s farm table in North Carolina. In her recent book, Good Boundaries and Goodbyes, Lysa helps you stop the dysfunction of unhealthy relationships by showing you biblical ways to set boundaries--and, when necessary, say goodbye--without losing the best of who you are. To learn more about Lysa visit her website or follow her on social @LysaTerkeurst and @Proverbs31Ministries.   Hear similar episodes here: Lysa TerKeurst episode in 2019, Panel of Nines, Type 9s with Beatrice Chestnut, Andy Gullahorn on Forming Own Opinions

As President of Belmont University, Dr. Greg Jones sees the importance of connection and community and puts a strong emphasis on molding character through storytelling. “I think that people are yearning for that sense of hope and that sense of community,” says Dr. Jones, “and, I think, to be able to hear one another’s stories, share one another’s stories, and find a story worth living.” This week, we talk to Greg about whole-person formation, learning to share our stories well, and looking toward a future full of possibilities.   --- Dr. Jones is an author, gifted speaker, media contributor and thought leader in higher education, social innovation and theology. His most recent book, Navigating the Future: Traditioned Innovation for Wilder Seas outlines his perspective on traditioned innovation as “a habit of being and living that cultivates a certain kind of moral imagination shaped by storytelling and expressed in creative, transformational action.” To learn more about Dr. Greg Jones, view his profile at LinkedIn or Belmont University.

As a former at-risk foster kid, Shipp found it difficult to trust adults: “The way I defined trustworthiness was: are you gonna not give up on me when I show you what I'm capable of? When I show you all my ugliness and all of my past and everything you didn't cause, but now you're gonna be dealing with…can you handle all of that?” Josh Shipp wants to pass that experience on to as many others as he can, so those adults can care for the kids in the way he needed: “Every kid is one caring adult away from being a success story.” This week, we talk to Josh Shipp about how growing up in foster homes and being a counterphobic six has impacted his current work as a global youth empowerment expert.  Josh Shipp is an author & youth advocate, and television producer of a documentary TV series on A&E that follows his groundbreaking work with youth and families. He has written two national bestsellers, “The Grown-Up’s Guide to Teenage Humans,” winner of the Nautilus Gold Award for Parenting & Family – and “The Teen’s Guide to World Domination.     Episode Links:  YouTube  Apple  Spotify

Two years following his departure from the band, NEEDTOBREATHE, Bo is releasing a candid look at his past with childlike wonder and self-realization under a new name, Coy Roy:  “I got into therapy and began to dig into my childhood and why the trajectory of my life took a different path. I left my six-year-old self back there, and we went different places. [Now I’m] recognizing that I'm not going anywhere and that I'm gonna have to face this. I'm gonna have to deal with it.”  This week, we talk to Bo Rinehart about emotional depth, his ability to bare his soul to his listeners, and what it means to take an honest look at his past while diving head first into his future endeavors.  Bo Rinehart is a founding member of the Grammy Nominated band NEEDTOBREATHE. He is also an accomplished visual artist.  To learn more about Bo Rinehart follow him on Instagram, check out his artwork at Bo Rinehart Studio and listen to his latest single as Coy Roy, “I'm Right Here”. Episode Links:  YouTube  Apple  Spotify

Throughout her 20+ years of teaching,  Professor Bonnie Smith Whitehouse, has seen a significant change in her students' ties to religion.  “I've seen them completely abandon spirituality because that drug of certainty has just gotten too toxic for them,” says Whitehouse. “And so, what is really powerful to me is wonder. It's always been really powerful to me, as an Enneagram 2.” This week, we talk to Bonnie Smith Whitehouse about how being an Enneagram 2 has opened her eyes to an alternate posture toward spirituality.  — Bonnie Smith Whitehouse, PhD, is a writer and professor who studies storytelling, creativity, contemplation, and wonder. Check out her book, Seasons Of Wonder To learn more about Bonnie Smith Whitehouse, follow her on Instagram, or visit her website.

As the director of adolescent counseling at Daystar Counseling in Nashville, TN, Sissy Goff has seen first-hand how anxious behavior in children has been fueled by unrealistic social expectations. But according to Goff, one way to address that worry in kids is by teaching them self-talk: “I have them give the worry a name, because we all think of the voice in the back of our head as truth until we learn differently. And so to separate it out. I'll call it the worry monster. I have one girl who named her’s, Bob. But adolescents come up with their own names. [So they can say] I'm not listening to you. You're always wrong. You always make me feel incapable.” This week, we talk to Sissy Goff about how being an Enneagram 1 helps her in her work with young girls.  — Sissy Goff, MEd, LPC-MHSP, spends most of her days counseling girls and their families alongside her assistant/pet therapist, Lucy the Havanese. Sissy serves as the director of child and adolescent counseling for Daystar Counseling Ministries(Nashville, TN) where she has worked with girls and their families for more than 25 years. Check out her book, Raising Worry-Free Girls: Helping Your Daughter Feel Braver, Stronger, and Smarter in an Anxious World. To learn more about Sissy Goff, follow her on Instagram, or visit her website.

No matter where we fall on the Enneagram, intentionality is a crucial posture to take into the new year. This week, we model how you can think ahead in the new year by drawing a few questions out of a hat and reflecting on the year to come.

A special offer for our podcast listeners: sign up for the Typology Institute today to get access to all 3 courses and other monthly perks. Go to typologyinstitute.com/workplace and use the code TYPOLOGYPODCAST for 30% savings through the end of 2022 only. The Enneagram is all about self-knowledge, self-reflection and learning about ourselves. We close out the year with today’s episode, and talk through some questions that will help us reflect on our year and look back on what we learned.

A special offer for our podcast listeners: sign up for the Typology Institute today to get access to all 3 courses and other monthly perks. Go to typologyinstitute.com/workplace and use the code TYPOLOGYPODCAST for 30% savings through the end of 2022 only. This week, we take a phone call from a friend. Also: the benefits of the Enneagram for those in recovery.  Tune in to hear our discussion on these topics, plus a few more.  And for a chance to have your questions answered on-air, leave us a comment on social or email us at typology@ianmorgancron.com.

A special offer for our podcast listeners: sign up for the Typology Institute today to get access to all 3 courses and other monthly perks. Go to typologyinstitute.com/workplace and use the code TYPOLOGYPODCAST for 30% savings through the end of 2022 only. Every month, we record a secret ad-free podcast episode exclusively for Typology Institute Members. This week, we’re giving you special access to a conversation between Ian and Anthony about the nature of anxiety and how it relates to the Enneagram.  In addition to the Enneagram in the Workplace Course and monthly podcast episodes like this, the Typology Institute Membership includes:  A monthly live Town Hall Q&A session with Ian about a specific topic.A monthly newsletter from Ian that shares thoughts around personal development, Enneagram insights, and spiritual formation.The “Hidden Gems of the Enneagram” video series (more video series coming soon).

A special offer for our podcast listeners: sign up for the Typology Institute today to get access to all 3 courses and other monthly perks. Go to typologyinstitute.com/workplace and use the code TYPOLOGYPODCAST for 30% savings through the end of 2022 only. I receive so many questions from our listeners via email and social media that I don’t get to respond to them all. But I want you to know I’m paying attention!  So, this week, Anthony pulls a few more audience questions for me to answer. I share some thoughts about how “right action” works for an Enneagram 9, the ins and outs of meditation, and how to tell whether you are a 1 or a 5. Tune in to hear our discussion on these topics, plus a few more.  And for a chance to have your questions answered on-air, leave us a comment on social or email us at typology@ianmorgancron.com.

Podcast listeners: sign up for the Typology Institute today to get access to all 3 courses and other monthly perks. Go to typologyinstitute.com/workplace and use the code TYPOLOGYPODCAST for 30% savings through the end of 2022 only. Hey folks! Last week, I shared one of my favorite episodes in which the host of The Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, founder of North Point Ministries, and author of Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets, Andy Stanley and I talked about how your type makes decisions.  This week we continue our conversation and cover how each Enneagram type responds when decisions are made for them that impact their life circumstances.

We’re off for Thanksgiving, but while we’re gone, I wanted to share one of my favorite conversations I’ve been a part of about the Enneagram. Make sure to check us out next week for part two!  In this episode, The host of The Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, founder of North Point Ministries, and author of Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets, Andy Stanley takes over as host and interviews me on how each type makes decisions.  To learn more about the Enneagram and how to use it in the business world, visit typologyinstitute.com/work/

We’ve got a special treat for you this week. Every month, we record a secret podcast episode exclusively for Typology Institute Members. But this month, we’re letting you listen to one of our favorites, a conversation with Andrew Chapman, psychotherapist and meditation teacher, about the nature of mindfulness and how it relates to the Enneagram. You won’t want to miss this deep dive into how transformational mindfulness impacts your daily life.  Check out the Typology Institute Membership to access a monthly podcast episode like this, plus: A monthly live Town Hall Q&A session with Ian about a specific topic.A monthly newsletter from Ian that shares thoughts around personal development, Enneagram insights, and spiritual formation.The “Hidden Gems of the Enneagram” video series (more video series coming soon).

Mother & Daughter duo Nancy and Samantha Beach are both leaning into their Enneagram number by tackling one of the most audacious goals possible: addressing the mass exodus from the church, and working to make it more inclusive.  As a millennial, Samantha suspects there may be a disconnect within the generations when it comes to messaging: “We're seeing this all across society, all the -isms, right? Racism, sexism, homophobia, all these things. And, I think my friends just wanna know, is the church having these conversations too?” In this episode, we chat about how to create a healthy dialogue between people of different views and age groups, and how working together on that message was the best way to model community for those in the church:  “The texture of community is vital. There’s something different about confessing sins together…singing together, even learning together in a room side by side. Then there's something about the conversation before and after, that can happen.” — Nancy Beach (3w4) serves as a leadership coach with theSlingshot Group and on  the teaching team at Soul City Church in downtown Chicago. Previously, Nancy served as the programming director at Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago. She is also the author of An Hour on Sunday and Gifted to Lead. Nancy and her husband Warren have two adult daughters, Samantha and Johanna. Samantha Beach Kiley (3w2) is a writer and performer working at the intersection of art and faith. Samantha's creative work has appeared in theatres, churches, and non-profit spaces. She has taught at Northwestern's National High School Institute and Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, where she is the co-education director. She and her family have recently moved to Raleigh, NC where Samantha is associate pastor at Church on Morgan in Raleigh. Check out their new book, Next Sunday: An Honest Dialogue About the Future of the Church. To learn more about Nancy Beach, follow her on Twitter, or visit her website. To learn more about Samantha Beach Kiley, follow her on Twitter, or visit her website.