At a networking event last month, I overheard two business coaches excitedly discussing Human Design. They had recently come across a social media post and were enthusiastically swapping insights.
‘I’m a Manifestor!’ one of the coaches declared confidently, while rattling off a list of traits that were associated with her newfound label.
I couldn’t help but wince.
After seven years of intensive study in Human Design, I’ve learned that this powerful system is far more nuanced than what you can glean from a quick social media diagnosis. And, that’s precisely what makes it so valuable.
Everywhere you look, Human Design is being integrated into coaching practices and businesses.
While part of me celebrates this growing awareness, knowing firsthand how transformative this system can be when properly understood, I’m also witnessing a concerning trend of mainstream oversimplification that risks undermining its true power.
Whether you’re a corporate leader or an entrepreneurial business owner, Human Design offers profound insights that can reshape how you lead, build teams, and serve clients.
You can run Human Design charts for you, your employees, your clients, and even your business, itself, mapping out synergies between each along with potential conflicts.
Human Design can be a highly effective tool for building stronger teams and more connected cultures.
It’s a sophisticated tool that can illuminate everything from individual decision-making patterns to team dynamics and organizational culture.
Human Design Is Becoming More Mainstream
On one hand, I love that so many people are digging into the magic of what this system has to offer, as I know how powerful Human Design can be when it’s aligned and integrated into your business.
On the other hand, I do have some concerns with the seemingly rapid surge that has everyone wanting to play in this space all of a sudden.
It has become the new fad, the new flavor of the month, so to speak … and, the thing that all the cool kids are doing.
Don’t get me wrong, part of my mission is to provide means for as many people as possible to access their charts, and thus really understand their innate wiring and design.
I think if everyone could access their individual Human Design, we truly would be able to effectively and powerfully change the landscape of relationships, parenting, education, and business.
That being said, I feel very passionate about also wanting to maintain the sanctity and integrity of the system in the process.
Which, unfortunately, I see that getting lost, more and more, as Human Design becomes more mainstream.
I see it happening all the time.
Someone sees a meme on social media or listens to a podcast … suddenly, poof, they are a self-proclaimed expert.
It doesn’t work that way.
Looking at a few images or listening to a few sound bites does not make one an authority or expert on the subject.
There is a depth that seems to be missing in a lot of what I come across.
What Is Human Design Really?
After nearly seven years of intensive study, and recently getting certified as a Level 4 Quantum Human Design Level Specialist, I can tell you that I actually feel like I am only just scratching the surface on understanding the nuances of what this system has to share with us.
There is an incredible depth and complexity to this system I love so much.
Maybe that’s part of what I love about it.
For each chart is like a puzzle unto itself. And, not a puzzle to be figured out, where all the pieces fit seamlessly. But rather, a puzzle to contemplate where we let the pieces rearrange themselves.
It’s an energetic blueprint, an operating plan of you, that meets you where you’re at. Each time you go into your chart, it guides you to dive deeper into your exploration, peeling another layer back and allowing new levels of understanding to emerge.
Just taking the time to understand the foundational elements within your a chart can be an investment of time, energy, and attention (and patience).
However, many people bypass this aspect of the chart and jump right into what feels sexy. They want to dive into and play with all the nuances of the gates, circuitry, and the variables (e.g., the four arrows at the top, your cognition, environment, and other aspects).
The problem is that all of the “sexy” pieces aren’t relevant if you aren’t living in alignment with your core functionality.
Meaning if you don’t understand your specific Type (whether you are a Manifestor, Generator, Manifesting Generator, Projector, or Reflector), along with your Strategy and Authority (the way you make decisions), then nothing else in the chart really matters.
Because it’s from the foundation that everything else connects and built upon. In order to really use Human Design in a way that is meaningful, you need to first look at each of the components before putting the puzzle back together to tell the story of you.
Let’s take a closer look at a few of those components …
The Core Components of Human Design
Each type brings an aura and archetype to the evolution of humanity, where each of us are a purposeful piece of the collective puzzle.
As we begin to understand the strategy for each of these archetypes, it’s important to add authority to the mix.
Authority brings another level to aligned decision-making.
1. Type & Strategy
Depending on the perspective you follow, there are either four (Ra Uru Hu’s approach) or five (a more evolved differentiation) Human Design Types:
- Manifestors: Catalysts for new ideas; translate inspirations into manifested form; Strategy: need to inform before initiating action.
- Generators: The builders; designed for meaningful work that energizes them, here to become masterful; Strategy: need to wait to respond.
- Manifesting Generators: Fast-moving hybrids of Manifestors and Generators; multi-potentialites here to master efficiency and compress time. Strategy: need, to respond, and then inform before taking action.
- Projectors: The guides, seers, and sages; visionaries who see potential and orchestrate others toward greater alignment. Strategy: need to wait to be recognized and for the right invitations.
- Reflectors: The mirrors; they reflect the health of the collective. Strategy: require a full lunar cycle to make aligned decisions.
Each type brings a unique aura, archetype, and purpose to humanity’s evolution. But understanding your Type alone isn’t enough, which is why we need to evaluate Strategy and Authority together.
2. Authority (How You Make Decisions)
Authority refines your decision-making process:
- Emotional Authority (50% of the population): Needs time to ride emotional waves before making clear decisions. No power in the now.
- Sacral Authority: Has an immediate visceral gut response; thrives on yes/no prompts. Their power lives in the now.
- Splenic Authority: Receives instant intuitive whispers but must act quickly before the knowing fades. In-the-moment feeling.
- Self-Projected, Mental & No Authority: Need to verbalize thoughts out loud for clarity and to know what is correct for them (Projectors only).
- Ego Authority: (Rare, found in Manifestors) Must wait for external signs and confirmations before taking action.
As you can see just in looking at the type, strategy, and authority that the system starts to become complex and that there are multiple layers.
Decisions made from correct use of both your Strategy and Authority ensure alignment, reducing resistance, frustration, anger, bitterness, disappointment, and unnecessary conflict with others.
It’s not as simple as a basic social media meme makes it seem, and there are always multiple nuances to take into consideration.
How I Approach Human Design
When I introduce Human Design, I focus on five foundational elements:
- Type (Your core archetype and aura)
- Strategy (How you engage with the world)
- Authority (Your decision-making process)
- Profile (Your role and life theme; the ‘flavor’ of you)
- Centers (Understanding your defined and undefined energy centers)
We start here before layering in deeper components like gates, channels, and variables, along with general life themes and conundrums.
My approach ensures clients walk away with meaningful, actionable insights they can integrate immediately.
It’s a progressive process in many cases.
Even in basic foundational readings, I leave clients with rich, impactful insight that feels meaningful and actionable.
It’s important that they have practical strategies and tools as they take time and care to further explore their chart.
So, let’s bring it back to my opening debate …
Why an Investment in Understanding the System Matters
I refuse to see this system I love bastardized into another watered-down coaching gimmick, and the value of what it has to offer be diminished.
There is a study and practice required that takes time. An investment of time to apply the knowledge and integrate it. There is a vast difference between knowing Human Design and living Human Design.
This is not a quick-fix tool. It’s a lifelong experiment.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint … as it is a journey over time. It’s more than memorizing a few facts, making a few memes, and calling it a day.
Guiding someone through their chart is an art and a science.
It requires intuition, presence, finesses, and the ability to weave multiple aspects together to tell a cohesive story. To help them take what resonates most and then be able to put that insight into practical application.
Human Design is, at its core, a storytelling tool. One where:
- First, we illuminate the current narrative: where conditioning, fears, imprinting, and programming have shaped their identity.
- Then, we introduce new perspectives through deeper chart elements by layering in the nuances of the gates, channels (circuitry), variables.
- Finally, we reconstruct a more empowered, authentic narrative aligned with their true essence and who they truly are.
The magic comes in knowing how to weave all the parts of the whole together in such a way that you can convey the story it tells.
And, from there, be able to guide them to rewrite their current narrative holding them back into a more empowering, expansive and enriching one.
This is the work of real transformation.
The Choice: Trendy Fad or Intentional Transformation?
Just as those two business coaches I overheard were eager to embrace Human Design, I invite you to explore this powerful system.
But, I also urge you to do so with the depth and reverence it deserves.
When properly understood and applied, Human Design is not just another assessment or personality tool.
It is a profound framework for unlocking human potential, transforming leadership, and creating more conscious, connected teams.
It’s a journey to be experienced.
As this powerful tool becomes more mainstream in business and leadership, we stand at a crucial junction.
- Will we treat it as another passing trend?
- Or will we honor its depth and apply it with the dedication it deserves?
We can choose to treat it as another fleeting trend or fad, or we can embrace it as the profound methodology it truly is.
Like any powerful system, Human Design asks something of us: patience, dedication, and a willingness to go beyond surface-level understanding.
The reward for this investment is profound: not just a new understanding of who we are, but the ability to consciously author the next chapters of our personal and professional lives.
We have the ability to rewrite our narrative and tell a more empowering story about who we are, and how we get to show up in this world.
When we approach Human Design with the reverence and dedication it deserves, we unlock its true potential: the ability to create more authentic leaders, more aligned teams and cultures, and organizations that operate in harmony with their natural design.
Effectively and powerfully, we then change the landscape of business.
As a result, we help elevate the collective consciousness and effectiveness of our entire organization, and that of humanity overall.