Core Need/Motivation

To be strong and impactful and deny weakness.

How the Type Meets Those Needs

Type Eights are confident, assertive, decisive, protective, and challenging. They believe that they need to be strong and seen as strong to keep from being taken advantage of by others. Eights often challenge people to ferret out hidden agendas. They also challenge people to make them stronger so that they can face whatever life throws at them. This is why they prefer a direct style of interaction. The Eight wants unfiltered truth. Their gut tells them when someone is hiding or withholding something and will apply pressure in order to reveal it. They would rather hear bad news than be protected from it.

The Eight over identifies with their gut intuition and stays in action mode in order to not get bogged down by too much head data or heart emotions. Because they trust their gut, they present themselves as confident that they are right, or at least right enough to proceed.

As protectors, Eights will defend and fight for those in their circle. The world is measured on their scales of justice. Control of themselves and their environment happens without intention. At the end of the day, they judge themselves by how much they accomplish and often feel the responsibility to do what others can’t.

As a gut type, their core emotion is anger and they often feel comfortable expressing it. They move from the active energy in the body to their head in order to rationalize and defend, often denying their emotions except for anger or happiness.

The Gifts of the 8

The gifts of the Eight are many. They take on obstacles with exuberance and energy, and challenge others to do the same. If they set their minds to learn or accomplish something, they will do it. As a boss or parent, they will defend and protect those they care about. They become an advocate for others and are driven to empower them.