SFCG Staff Search for their Authentic Leadership

By Juontel White

“Heavy is the head that wears the crown,” wrote Shakespeare in King Henry IV. While Ol’ Henry may have been speaking from a purely figurative standpoint, it’s likely that his royal responsibilities quite literally caused his head to feel heavy and ache.

On Oct. 15, SFCG staff participated in a half-day workshop to learn about how physical attributes are directly connected to leadership. The “Somatic Practices for Leaders” served as a crash course for approximately 20 staff to discover how to embody their leadership roles, skills and vision.

The workshop was sponsored by SFCG’s Leadership Wisdom Initiative and led by Paul Louis, a somatic leadership coach and senior consultant for the Outward Bound Center for Peacebuilding.

Louis directed the group through a series of physical practices, encouraging them to analyze how their body responds—are their shoulders heavy when they walk or do their eyes tend to drop when making a statement, for instance.

These responses, when assessed within the context of leadership, can be altered and/or strengthened to help an individual become a more effective leader.

I was enlightened by one particular exercise in which group members were asked to make an assessment of each other.

It was my turn to share what I’m most committed to when another participant noticed that while making the statement, my voice was strong and convincing but my eyes did not meet with anyone else’ in the room—a sign that while I am firm in this commitment, I have yet to fully engage with others to assist in fulfilling my mission.

The assessment was valid and because it was revealed, I am now implementing ways to improve this quality.

On the surface, somatic practices may seem trivial—make eye contact, walk from your core, etc. But as chaos theory suggests, even the smallest changes can lead to drastically different results. By making small somatic changes leaders, can strengthen their voice/vision and even garner more followers.

For some participants, the workshop was a tool for strengthening their personal leadership style, while for others it was a motivator to discover just what that style is.

Still, all learned how to embody leadership. And,  there was a collective understanding of how Search for Common Ground as a leader in peacebuiliding can incorporate somatic practices in its work.

When fostering peace between parties in conflict, it is vital to understand the emotional extremes those parties may be experiencing (vulnerability and anger for instance).

In order to balance the two extremes, peacebuilders must be grounded mentally and physically . Here, somatic practices are key because when peacebuilders  exude a calm state, the greater the ability they have to effectively mediate and truly foster peace.