Unlock the Wisdom Within to Power Up Your Leadership Skills

“Control is not leadership; management is not leadership; leadership is leadership. If you seek to lead, invest at least 50 percent of your time in leading yourself— your own purpose, ethics, principles, motivation, conduct. Invest at least 20 percent leading those with authority over you and 15 percent leading your peers.” ~ Dee Hock

Would you be surprised if we told you, without ever seeing your bookshelf, that you already own the most important Leadership Manual you could ever study? It’s quite possible you’ve been using this Manual for some time but haven’t fully utilized it yet.

What Leadership Manual gives you the fastest, most sustainable shifts in your leadership behaviors? It’s the wisdom you hold in your own body! The key to your success is knowing how to tap into it. Maria, who has taken leadership trainings from the Strozzi Institute is highly skilled at helping clients connect and learn from their bodies to grow in their leadership. Today, she’ll share some pointers with you…

Neuroscience research on the mind/body connection shows that our leadership behavior is embodied. To change your behavior requires that you become very aware and mindful of what’s happening in your body. You can then use this wisdom to shape your thoughts and behavior so you intentionally obtain your best outcomes. Based on your body sensations, you become aware that you have more options available to you, so you can make smarter, more skillful and more compassionate choices.

We tend to spend too much time in our heads, and not enough time accessing the intelligence in our entire nervous system. When you tap into your body’s wisdom, you power up your emotional intelligence and find your true self. You can, therefore, create faster and more sustainable shifts in your behavior. Understanding how to heal the mind/body connection – the embodied – somatic – whole person is powerful!

The first step toward greater emotional intelligence is to practice mindfulness daily, so you’re fully present in the moment and recognize how your emotions and thoughts are affecting your body – your posture – your energy.

Take into account that our biological structure is created in our first five to seven years of life, which sets certain responses as our habitual way of being. For example, to survive, you’ve formed unique responses to stress. Perhaps it triggers anger within you or maybe withdrawal and avoidance. These often unconscious responses will show up in your leadership behavior. And they’re not always easy to shake, because they have become your survival responses.

The good news is that you can reprogram your body and rewire your brain! When you change your body shape, you can change a deep-seated behavior, which significantly improves your leadership outcomes. Act like a winner, and you’ll be a winner. Act like a leader, and you’ll be a leader. Even if one brain circuitry has been damaged by inactivity, illness, stress, or trauma, you can often consciously train a different brain circuit to work around the broken one.

Leadership is the fourth step in our Newave PADLE leadership model. When you declare what is important to you and how you’re going to act daily, you begin your journey into leadership. Leadership is the process of becoming more deliberate and purposeful by bringing daily practices that are aligned with your embodied purpose. We invite you to take our thought-provoking questionnaire and power up your leader within.