Embodied Leadership: The Somatic Approach to Developing Your Leadership

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That is what embodiment leadership is all about. In this article we will explain what we mean by embodied leadership. We'll uncover its core principles, explore how you can embody leadership, where you can acquire these invaluable skills, and the transformative outcomes it can yield. Our journey begins with a profound understanding of embodied leadership itself. Part one lays a solid and credible foundation to the claims made. It is rigorous, robust and well-illustrated and therefore compelling. The book cuts through the flakiness of so called scientifically grounded approaches to understanding the brain using neuroscience and exposes some of the dangers in this. Every claim that is made in the book is referenced and original sources shared. Whilst this book gives you enough reassurance to trust the validity and reliability of its claims, it is also like an entry point for the reader to access serious fields of study, such as mastery or decision making through somatic markers - allowing the reader to settle at the level that is important for them. At the end of most chapters there are recommendations for further reading if you want to pursue a topic further, which is very helpful. Are there parts of your body where you tend to store stress or tension? What might be contributing to this pattern?

Bring your attention to the ground underneath your feet. Feel the ground supporting your weight. As you feel the support of the ground under your feet, feel that support echo up through your body, imagine your bone structure strong and aligned and your soft tissue, muscles and internal organs, softening and relaxing. With this self-acceptance in place, we can investigate the driving factors of our beliefs and behaviors, and make changes that are more aligned.Physical Exercise Breaks: Encourage physical activity breaks during the workday. This could be as simple as a short walk or stretching exercises. Physical movement not only boosts energy but also stimulates creativity and problem-solving. Mindfulness also involves what we call beginner’s mind: Regardless of how much experience we have, we become mindful and, moment to moment, invite a beginner’s mind. Not assuming “I already know this,” but just being curious and open to the experience in the moment. Every experience is new. Mindfulness begins with awareness of the body The workshop will be led by Dr. Carmela Bennett, who teaches Embodied Leadership at Columbia’s Teachers College and has worked in human development and primary and higher education for the past 30 years. A former elementary teacher at TASIS International School and lifelong dancer, Carmela holds an EdD in Leadership from Teachers College, a Masters in Counseling and has worked extensively with family and educational organizations as a counselor, educator, curriculum developer, and trainer.

Let’s begin with a simple working definition of integrity. Perhaps we can say it is ‘to be congruent in thought and word and deed’: that I say what I think, and do what I say. If I am going to do that then, at a basic level, I need to be in command of my own actions, otherwise I cannot be consistent in doing what I say. The cognitive function of the neocortex (human forebrain involved in rational, creative thought and risk taking) is suppressed.

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We specifically encourage organizers who are a part of movements fighting for freedom from political repression and state violence (including criminalization, militarization, surveillance, policing, etc.) and those creating environmental justice (including just transition, land sovereignty, environmental racism, etc.) to apply. We also welcome politicized healers and other one-on-one practitioners who are looking to more effectively support movement leaders and organizations. Despite the value of embodied approaches in the development of multiple means of knowing and perception, Ropo and Parvianinen (2001) observe that mainstream management and organization theories fail to recognize the importance of body awareness in workplaces. The authors ask whether leaders listen to the voices of their bodies or are aware of stress symptoms within their own bodies as well as those of other organizational members; they further emphasize the need for appreciating the role of the body “as an acquirer and carrier of leadership knowledge” (Ropo and Parvianinen, 2001, p. 3). Through two case studies of Australian leaders who led major changes, Sinclair (2005) purports that leadership is observed as a bodily practice and physical performance at visceral and sensual levels, both dimensions largely overlooked in business writing and treated as degendered and disembodied by typical leadership research, which overemphasizes leadership as vision and charisma. Traditional leadership scholars fail to recognize that the practice of leadership is embodied through words and deeds and how we lead or influence change through our bodies. Stated in simpler terms, our leader presence or how we intentionally show up every day and use ourselves to lead change in organizations matters. Dr. Amy Cuddy, in her popular TedTalk (2012) discusses how our communication impact is based 7% on the content of what we say, and 93% on our presence or “being,” which she defines as a combination of attitude, how we hold ourselves, and our intentions. Using our minds to try and tell our bodies that the threat is not a physical one does little good, even if we have the presence of mind to do so. The awareness that comes from embodiment training can enable us to spot the warning signs of being triggered into the threat mode earlier, and embodiment can also give us the tools to intervene. If we want to shift our state, to move out of threat mode, working through the body is our best bet.