Leading with Presence under Pressure

Being an intellectual genius or having exceptional talent or ability is not enough to lead of people in today’s world.  Managers who are bright or intellectually smart and process information rapidly can get so far ahead of their team members that they create a state of disconnection and separation.  In a world where the ‘whole is always greater than the sum of its parts’ the engagement of the collective wisdom of a team is paramount in generating new ideas and innovative solutions to day to day situations.

For many leaders, showing up in their full potential and achieving results with and through others is difficult, often leaving leaders feeling isolated and alone. The practice of Leadership Embodiment engages leaders to become more mindful of their reactive tendencies and develop skilful, and resourceful ways of being that generate results.

Neuroscience has revealed that most of what we do and say is unconscious brought about by habitual ways of thinking and emoting that we are totally unaware of.  Whilst, skills, knowledge and positional power may carry some weight in our leadership efforts, the body, through its own volition, often delivers a completely different message.

93% of our communication is non-verbal

The way we hold our body coupled with the tone of voice we use has a major impact in delivering a message that is either on target or completely off beat. Although we might believe otherwise, when operating in high pressure environments or stressful situations, it is the body and nervous system, not the rational brain, that make the decisions about how we react. In a fraction of a second, before we’re able to consciously choose a response to an external event, the body is firing off a myriad of chemical reactions which triggers behaviour and emotions which are completely out of character with the situation.

Trying to change our habits and responses to stressful or pressured situations through the mind alone takes a lot of time and energy which we don’t always have when we are up against it.  To be a powerful leader today, it’s important to access resourceful and creative physical and neurological ‘states’ to reduce or alleviate the body’s stress response and quickly recover our ‘centre’ when confronting difficult or testing circumstances.

Recent research in Neuroscience has demonstrated that our physical posture, our breath and the way we carry ourselves not only influences our thinking and emotions but also the environment around us.  This has consequences for leadership.  The mood and interior condition of a leader impacts and influences those around them.   We may notice on the days when we are centred, clear and confident, we handle challenges and stressful situations with ease and poise. On days when we are overwhelmed and under the whip, we may find ourselves reverting to our baseline survival instincts involving variations of the stress response:  Fight, Flight or Freeze.

Fight –  Does not necessarily mean a physical altercation but rather the tendency to get aggressive, express anger, blame or judge others

Flight –  Does not mean physically running away but includes disengagement, leaning back, looking away, ignoring what someone is saying, or even spacing out

Freeze –  A bit like the rabbit caught in headlights where our movement is inhibited.  We may experience the feeling of being stuck or completely unable to decide on a course of action

We may spend years trying to get to the heart of dysfunctional emotional states through traditional forms of therapy, however, the body may prove to be the most beneficial and direct point of focus if we are to quickly build our inner resilience and reduce or with practice, completely alleviate the stress response.

Working with Leadership Embodiment practices allows us to quickly enter the most resourceful states to fully achieve our full leadership potential.