In this post, we’re going to explore Leadership through the lens of expression: how you bring your visions into the world through your voice, expression, behavior, and actions.
All of the energy that is coursing through your cells and body, sparking your drive and motivation, is trying to make it’s way to your Throat. And you, like everyone, have a unique way you’re naturally designed to lead and express through that energy, drive, and motivation.
Some leaders are designed to inspire and evoke emotion through storytelling. Others are designed to make the intangible easy to understand through data, details, charts, and statistics, charting a clear path forward rooted in facts.
Some are meant to guide a community or organization towards a new future, being the one that everyone turns to for the final say on the direction and choices, leading while empowering
Still some others lead through a powerful presence, through action and innovation that emerges from nothing, empowering others through that action.
There are a myriad of ways to lead and each person has the capacity to be a leader in their own right. You have your unique way of leading that is natural to you. And if you’re new to Human Design, or skeptical, that’s great. If you’re reading this, I imagine you’re open to the exploration. For this post, I invite you to look through the lens of your own eyes and to consider the leaders in your life.
Don’t take my word for it. You can see for yourself the unique variations of leadership all around you. This post is about supporting you in stepping into your natural leadership, and unwinding any ways you’ve learned to try to “do” leadership like others in your life.
In the Human Design system, if you have a Defined (colored in) Throat Center , that means there is a consistent way you’re designed to express your leadership and action. It’s natural to you and it’s a way of expressing you can lean into. It’s a voice that feels like yours.
If you have an Open (white) Throat Center , that means you have a very flexible way of communicating and you will communicate differently based on who you’re around and what’s going on at any given moment. This allows you to lead and express in different ways depending on who you’re leading in any given moment. You can more naturally sample many different ways of expressing to see what works and what doesn’t and to also guide/advise others on their expression and action. Notice anyways that you’re judging yourself for being a “chameleon” of communication as it’s actually a beautiful gift and advantage when you lean into it.
Inside the Throat Center of your chart, you’ll see 11 numbers. These are called gates and they represent natural gifts and talents. Each of these gates represents a different way of expressing. If you have a gate colored in (defined), in your chart, then that is a talent that will come naturally to you. Again, don’t take my word for it, look at your chart and see if the defined gates you have and their descriptions below match your experience.
Gate 62: If you have Gate 62 defined, then you have a natural talent to see the important details and use facts to make the intangible easy to understand. You’re able to organize information in ways that it can be clearly expressed and simplify complex situations.
Gate 23: If you have Gate 23 defined, then you have a natural ability to create quantum leaps in the teams and groups around you. It all depends on speaking in the right timing. If you wait for that moment when everyone is ready for this big shift, you’ll be recognized and deeply appreciated. It’s important for you to stay tuned into the people around you to sense their readiness. If you speak out of excitement, trying to “get” others to understand you, you’ll likely end up feeling bitter and misunderstood. But, when you wait for that perfect moment, when others invite you either explicitly or implicitly to share your thoughts, then your leadership will naturally come through your expression. Trust your instincts and intuition.
Gate 56: If you have Gate 56 defined, it’s about evoking and inspiring emotion and action through storytelling. It’s about fashioning your own life stories, experiences, lessons, and ideas into anecdotes that others can see themselves in, accessing their own inner leadership through yours.
Gate 35: If you have Gate 35 defined, then you’re likely very multi-talented, easily bored and thrive when you have a lot of different experiences that evoke emotion within you. You’re at your best leadership when you are in an innovative and creative environment where you can feel and express the emotional highs and lows that come with the unknown and change. And help others to navigate those same waves.
Gate 12: If you have Gate 12 defined, your mood can deeply affect others. When your mood is neutral or “high”, you can be extremely articulate and lead very powerfully. When your mood is “low”, it’s important to honor any instinct that you need to take some time alone to process that emotion. Your emotional tone is very influential and, even in silence, you can deeply influence others. Your deep emotional truths can inspire when spoken from a grounded, centered place. As a leader, take the time you need to get to that place before expressing.
Gate 45: If you have Gate 45 defined, you’re here to give the final seal of approval on decisions. And your communities and teams will likely come to you for that. You’re here to guide others on how to come together in more efficient ways that will benefit the future health and wealth of the community or organizations. It’s important for you to have someone by your side that can manage the day-to-day delegation so you can stay focused on the big picture.
Gate 33: If you have Gate 33 defined, it’s important to take regular alone time to reflect on your past. When you glean the underlying lessons and secrets underneath your experiences, you can then reveal those lessons to others through speaking, writing, and teaching. You can be a wise storyteller. is all about, you know, privacy and it’s about taking time and alone time to reflect on your past, to think about your past.
Gate 8: If you have Gate 8 defined, you’re a natural promoter. And it’s important for you to have something you believe in to promote: whether it’s your creation, the creation of another, or the creations of your team. You’re naturally skilled at drawing people’s attention to a truth. It’s important for you to feel fully expressed in your contribution as well as for those you lead to feel that way. You may turn around and find a lot of people following you, even if you don’t want to be a leader. This is natural as they’re drawn to your unique and natural expression, creativity, and promotion.
Gate 31: If you have Gate 31 defined, you’re at your best when you’re showing others how to attain their goals. You can be very influential if you wait for others to recognize your natural leadership and invite or elect you into a position of influence. If you’re patient, this will happen as you’re natural leadership ability is designed to guide others towards a new future. And, when you speak of the future, others will want to listen. It’s important to speak in the correct timing when people are ready to listen. Then, you can be very influential.
Gate 20: If you have Gate 20 defined, you’re meant to lead from the present moment. Your actions and words are meant to emerge from being fully immersed in the present moment and trusting the wisdom of your body to guide you. This is about trusting yourself, the insights, and the words that come when you are doing work you love. It’s important for you to have people around you that can watch the details and help you consider them.
Gate 16: You are skilled in having many skills that you master over time. It’s best for you to lead through these skills and in helping others develop these skills over time through dedication and practice. You’ll be at your best as a leader when you are learning new skills and using them to better lead your teams and navigate changing market conditions. You are a natural action-oriented leader.
You may find that you have a combination of these gates defined in your chart. If so, explore that combination.
For example if you have Gates 56 and 62 defined, you are someone who can use details and facts to complement your stories and make them even more impactful, driving home the lessons and making them tangible and relatable while inspiring and evoking emotion.
If you have Gates 20 and 62 defined, you’re someone who can naturally see the details of any situation. and you can use those details and facts to support you as you’re following the inspiration and action that arises in the present moment, helping you move through the tasks that emerge.
If you have Gates 8 and 31 defined, you’re someone wo can naturally promote and draw people’s attention to creative projects you believe in, while also being able to guide a group towards bringing those creative projects to life towards a new future.
You get the idea. Explore the combination of Gates defined in your chart and begin to lean into the type of expression as a leader that is natural to you. And notice where you may compare yourself to other leaders and try to force yourself to express or lead in the way they lead, even though you may not have the Gates that correspond to that kind of expression.
Begin to question any belief systems about what you think, or were taught, is “correct” leadership and step into your leadership.
Now, if you have an open throat center, you may still have some of those Gates defined. If so, everything said about those gates above applies. It’s just that, in your case, you may experience those natural leadership talents and expressions as “turning on and off”, not always available every day. For example, if you have Gate 56 defined, you may feel like you’re an excellent storyteller and can truly inspire people. And on some days, that gift flows out of you with ease.
Yet, on some days, it may feel like you simply can’t access that ability. It may feel frustrating or like something is wrong. Yet, it’s completely normal. In these moments, you have an opportunity to sample and explore one of the other Leadership Expression Styles explained in this post. So don’t try to force the storytelling (or corresponding leadership expression to your Gates) in those moments.
Allow the flexibility of your Open Throat Center and notice what kind of leadership expression is naturally moving through you in those moments. You’re designed to naturally sample all the different leadership expression styles so you can draw on them in different moments and guide others in how to best use them. and the waves of when that energy is available or not available.
I hope this post supports you in stepping into your unique Leadership Expression, the one that is most natural to you. The Leadership expression that will allow you to fully express the drive, motivation, emotions, and instincts in the way that will empower and inspire others while feeling easy, fun, and powerful for you. That is when you’ll have the biggest impact, letting go of any ways you’re trying to lead like others or like you learned in a book.
Leave comments, questions, and thoughts below! And I hope you’re having a beautiful day!
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