What’s Hot in the Enneagram? Key Trends for 2024 from Leading Enneagram Teachers

With the Great Pyramids of ancient Egypt looming less than 15 miles away, the theme “Remember What You Are” was an apropos tagline for the third annual Egyptian Enneagram conference that took place in Cairo earlier this year. Leading Enneagram teachers delivered a wide array of workshops featuring ancient wisdom and modern applications of the popular personality system.

Attendees came from all corners of the world. I sat next to people from Denmark, South Africa, the United States, Kuwait and beyond for lively discussions surrounding the many uses of the Enneagram. 

With almost 40 workshops over the three day event, the conference featured a colorful maze of topics and speakers. Among the wide range of sessions, a few key trends emerged. 

Let’s take a look at what’s growing in popularity in the Enneagram world in 2024.

1. Your Issues are in Your Tissues (and the Enneagram Can Help You Release Them)

Ever heard of the embodied Enneagram? It’s a more body-based approach to the Enneagram where you add a physical practice, like meditation, yoga or body movement, to enhance your knowledge of the personality system. You literally “step into the shoes” of a specific behavior, like having better control of an anger response, because adding that physicality is key to changing those habits. And bringing the Enneagram into the body is super-hot right now.

Somatic Enneagram teacher Marion Gilbert delivered a fascinating workshop reminding us to get out of our heads and into our bodies. After a detailed explanation of how various emotional states light up different parts of the brain, she invited all the conference attendees into movement exercises to help release sadness, fear and anger from the body. Each of these emotions is associated with one of the three centers of intelligence, so the link to the Enneagram was powerful. 

According to Gilbert, each Enneagram type has a “first-responder preference” of reacting based on the driving emotions of each center of intelligence. For example, the body types (anger) lead with the “fight” response, head types (fear) with the “flight” response, and the heart types (shame) with the “freeze” response.

2. You Say Potato, I Say Potahto: Cultural Overlays Can’t Be Overlooked

The Enneagram doesn’t exist in isolation and many believe that nurture plays a role in our personality development, alongside nature. This year, we’re going to see a lot more focus on the influence of culture and its intersection with the Enneagram system.

In a lively workshop moderated by Enneagram expert Bea Chestnut, panelists shared how they adapted their behavior to match their culture. 

“As a Middle Eastern culture, Egypt is a religious country. No one wants to be a Type 3 or a Type 4. For example, “'envy' in the Islam religion is very bad—almost a sin,” shared Cairo-based Enneagram teacher Dina El Badry. “My students  want to be Type 7 or Type 9, which of course, might not be their true type.”

In the face of cultural expectations like this, it’s not surprising that many people struggle to identify their true type. “As a first generation Vietnamese-American whose family fled a war-torn country, I got my own type wrong for many years, believing I was a Type 1,” shared Enneagram teacher Nhien Vuong. 

Now squarely identified as a Type 3, she believes some of the confusion was because the literature around many Type 3 descriptions was reflective of a predominantly white-male America. After years of inner work, Nhien came to realize that her original identification as a Type 1 was itself a “persona”—a constructed identity reflecting what she believed to be a “successful” person within the context of her ethnicity, gender, and family’s norms.

While denial or internal confusion can be part of the picture, so can genuine misunderstandings. What seems loud and extraverted in one culture may seem quiet and demure in another. “A Brazilian studying the Enneagram might not recognize a Type 7 from the United Kingdom,” laughed Enneagram teacher Uranio Paes. 

He pointed out all nine types adapt to fit into their culture, so we need to have some cultural sensitivity to accurately assess someone’s Enneagram type. 

3. The Enneagram is Taking the Workplace by Storm

It is no secret that the Enneagram is becoming increasingly popular in the office and “The Enneagram in Business” panel discussion brought that to life.  

Moderated by the former Chief Marketing Officer of Microsoft Egypt, Marwa Saleh led a rich discussion between Enneagram teachers who have successfully brought the system into the workplace. Key themes included the importance of cultural sensitivity, the most effective way to sell the Enneagram to businesses, and how to measure success.

It was eye-opening to hear the different challenges that are present in different cultures, and panelist Khaled El Sherbini reminded us of the importance of reading the room and knowing your audience: “You have to really study the culture you are presenting to in order to understand what is appropriate to say.”

On the topic of how to bring the Enneagram into an organization, Bea Chestnut shared “I usually start with leadership coaching for a single individual and when they see how successful it is, they bring me into the broader organization.” The results, it seems, speak for themselves.

On the question of how to measure results, the answers were broad ranging, from using performance tools to relying on testimonials. The unifying theme was there is a diversity of approaches for how to use the Enneagram to unify and energize people in the workplace. 

While the approaches may differ, all panelists agreed that the Enneagram is an exceptional tool to get to know the needs of the team and the team leaders. “There is a huge opportunity for the Enneagram in the workplace if it can be presented in a way that the business can relate to. Bringing the Enneagram to businesses can change the world,” Marwa said.

4. To Understand the Present, You Must Go Back to the Past

With the Enneagram growing in mainstream culture, enthusiasts are now scouring the past to understand better the origin story of the Enneagram. 

While it is commonly agreed that Oscar Ichazo (1931-2020) and his student Claudio Naranjo (1932-2019) are the point of origin for the Enneagram of personality, the Enneagram as a verb and a symbol has more ancient roots. 

Numerous workshops during the conference highlighted the Enneagram’s links to ancient civilization and the wisdom that can be gained by focusing on what these lost societies can teach us about sacred numerology.

Enneagram expert Russ Hudson outlined that while the symbol itself may have its roots with Pythagoras in ancient Greece, it was based on the teachings of Egyptian number theory.  Further influences came from India and central Asia. “There is no singular lineage. The Enneagram is a modern flowering of a tapestry of teachings from Hermetic Traditions,” he said.

Enneagram teacher and Catholic priest Domingos Cunha from Brazil highlighted the contributions of the desert fathers to the Enneagram tradition, explaining how in ancient times, monks lived in solitude for long periods of time and then observed what eventually drove them out of their contemplative existence. These became the nine Enneagram vices or passions.

The notable number of workshops focusing on the Enneagram’s connection to the ancient societies was interesting. While some conference sessions focused on the practical applications of the Enneagram in the workplace, reflecting a growing trend towards tangible, real-world use, there remains a significant place for exploring the more esoteric teachings of the Enneagram. Perhaps it's a symptom of a broader cultural shift towards mindfulness and spirituality, but it seems there is something about the Enneagram that continues to draw us back to our ancient roots.

Final Thoughts

The conference showcased that the Enneagram community is a global one, and it underscored the importance of coming together to share ideas and gain new knowledge. Even as a student of Enneagram since 1995, I learned new things. The system is incredibly complex and comprehensive, and perhaps it is this complexity that keeps people interested for decades.