The Mind/Body Approach
For those who work in an office environment, continuing to work from home to keep ourselves and others safe has forced many of us to work in a different way. It seems simple enough - we still have our intellect - so long as we have a space and the technology we need to work remotely.
But is it? Some will enjoy the solitude of working at home only interacting with colleagues via technology from time to time. Many more will struggle, even despair at the loss of the physical presence of their colleagues…affecting their wellbeing and productivity.
This shows us that, even if we are apparently ‘only using our minds’ for the work we do, there is something physical at play. It’s hard to put your finger on it, understanding the Mind/Body approach to leadership might help.
Learning is all in the mind - right?
Neuroscience has proved that learning is largely a biological process, not an intellectual one. Learning develops from childhood into adulthood, setting what feels like our ‘normal way’ of acting and being. For example, being tenacious or people-pleasing become automatic habits because they are embodied and operate subconsciously to drive our actions.
Exclusively intellectual learning is clearly useful for gaining new information, but it is ultimately insufficient for transformational leadership development.
Engage your brain...
Feelings operate faster than our intellect and always influence our actions. How often have you spoken before thinking and regretted it? An automatic physical reaction to something your brain had not yet fully processed!
The three gifts of leadership
The increasingly complex and uncertain times we face put leaders under more pressure than ever to deliver sustainable performance of themselves and their teams. Essentially, they only have three gifts on which to draw;
- their experience
- the processes and structures they know have delivered results
- their ability to perceive the requirements of new situations, other people and themselves
For leaders to flourish, they can learn to successfully tap into the third domain of perception and be open to, and make sense of, internal and external stimulus and feeling. Becoming agile, creative and purposeful as they make their sensory perception fully available and start to recognise the ‘blind spots’ in their ‘automatic behaviour’.
Leaders can learn to tap into this physical approach, we call it ‘Moved to Lead’
Moved to Lead is a unique, refreshing, innovative and new approach to leadership development, created by Primeast and an experienced wellbeing practitioner and coach.
Grounded in the science of positive psychology, the science of wellbeing and the principles of embodied and somatic leadership, the content has also been mapped to The Leadership Circle creative competencies, which leaders must understand to be able to deliver a robust and sustainable performance.
The Primeast Moved to Lead learning experience is a series of bite-sized virtual facilitated modules and two 45 minute webshops. It combines deliberately designed physical activities, language, feeling and interpretation involving the whole mind/body to open up new possibilities for perception and growth. Find out more about the Moved to Lead programme here.
Want to know more?
If you want to have a conversation with us about people development, call us on +44 (0) 1423 531083 or drop us an email and we'll get in touch with you - contact us here.
Click the links to find out more about how Primeast Scaling Talent and Prime Leadership programmes can help your organisation develop high performing leaders, managers and teams.
