Why the Body Belongs in Leadership
The Demands of Leadership Have Changed
We need leaders who can navigate unprecedented complexity and rapid change.
Leaders who can face into challenge with resilience.
Leaders who can build trust and create the conditions for teams to do their best work and generate new solutions.
Most organizations agree on what is required.
Where we fall short is how we develop leaders to meet those demands.
The Gap in Leadership Development
For the most part, leadership development still focuses on acquiring knowledge.
Concepts. Frameworks. Insight.
There’s nothing wrong with this approach. It’s valuable.
It’s also incomplete.
We don’t just bring our thinking minds into leadership moments.
We bring our whole selves.
State Drives Behaviour. Behaviour Drives Results.
When leaders face pressure, conflict, or uncertainty, the body responds first. Heart rate changes. Breath shifts. Muscles tighten. Energy rises or collapses.
From that state, behaviour follows.
Instead of building relationship bridges, leaders avoid the conversation.
Instead of addressing the most critical work, they focus on what feels safe and familiar.
Instead of thinking strategically, they become reactive or overly controlling.
Only then does the mind step in to explain or justify the behaviour.
When leadership development ignores the body, it misses the primary driver of how leaders actually show up under pressure.
Why Embodied Intelligence Matters
Embodied intelligence is the ability to notice what’s happening in your body and use that information skillfully rather than being run by it.
Leaders with higher embodied intelligence are better able to:
Stay grounded under pressure
Respond rather than react in challenging situations
Build trust and psychological safety on their teams
Make clearer, more aligned decisions
Lead with purpose, presence, and integrity
This isn’t about replacing the mind.
It’s about expanding leadership capacity by including the body as a resource.
Doing things the way we’ve always done them and expecting different results is a recipe for frustration. Developing leaders for today’s reality requires a broader approach.
A Proven and Emerging Discipline
Embodied intelligence isn’t new, and it isn’t fringe.
It has been used for decades in leadership and performance contexts:
At the Strozzi Institute, where embodiment has supported leadership development in the military and public sector
Through Otto Scharmer’s Theory U, helping leaders sense and shape emerging futures
Across organizations in the UK and beyond through Leadership Embodiment, supporting leaders to build resilience, presence, and influence
What’s new is how relevant this work has become.
As complexity increases, the ability to work with our internal states, not just our strategies, is becoming critical for effective leadership.v