A New Week | May 15th, 2023

Why do we need leadership that heals?

When someone asks me why “Leadership That Heals The World” and the methodology and mission behind is more important than ever, I always remind them that it’s because…

We will need it.
We will need it in our families.
In boardrooms.
Among co-founders.
Within teams.
In politics.

As a society we are entering a new gate of culture. Technology will revolutionize how we gather or not gather at all. And yet, we need to become more aware than ever that no automation or artificial intelligence will ever replace the nurturing love and commitment of someone who’s in your corner.

— A partner who truly sees you
— A co-founder who truly wants to sit at the same side of the table
— A leader who knows how to actively listen

Technology doesn’t co-regulate us. But it’s more omnipresent in our lives than ever. It reminds me of something that my father always said to me in a fairly judgemental way when I was a late teenager (I’ll forgive him :)). It resonates with me now. “Franzi, you can’t have hundreds of Facebook friends, but don’t know how to sit at the table with us.“

If he had known about nervous system regulation and would have used more non-violent communication, I would have most likely really listened more. And above all, I would have most likely felt what he was saying. But that’s an essay for another time.

As leaders of our families, companies, and circles of influence, we have a lot of sense-making to do and a lot of important decisions to make as technology takes up more of our cognitive load (yep, it will only go up from here). We will have to make a lot of hard decisions and remind ourselves who we are as a species, what connects us, what drives our productivity, and how leadership changes as a result.

Remote work was just the first tiny wave of that.
Imagine not knowing who’s behind the screen working for you.
Imagine getting to know an avatar, paying someone instantly on the blockchain, decentralizing organizational structures, and being solely incentivized to do your work based on the digital social and financial currencies and points you’re receiving.
Imagine only hiring for very niche talent and automating everything else because AI can. Imagine the increased speed of things and the transactional nature of it all. For some, this may sound like productivity heaven. And for others, this sounds like a chance to create new standards for ethical data design, data trust methodologies, and a new type of leadership development requiring to use their somatic and cognitive intelligence to truly advance AI in the spirit of advancing humanity and human connection, not at the cost of it.

Admittedly, this is the part of me talking that spent years in the field of data ethics, data trust, and data-driven social impact. I can’t recall the millions of conversations I had with colleagues in the field… so much of it was still an uphill battle, a lot of customer education and a lot of supporting leaders to understand that the way we design technology starts at the way we look at data, the data sets, the equity and inclusion data standards, what it means to create a more accountable and compassionate tech ecosystem (a former client of mine, and an organization I deeply admire).

Over the last few weeks, I spent a lot of time thinking about my continued thought leadership and what the different pillars of influence may be. Where can I deliver unexpected value? Where do I need to get out of my own way to say the things that need to be said?

It’s still unfolding, but the process is something I want to share more of.

Years ago, this would have been a “brainstorm“, and days long of mixing my thoughts with research on the internet. And this still has its time and place to occur.
Now though, this is a somatic process. I often get very silent in those days; it feels like I cave in in the best way possible. I consume less content and try to feel more. I walk more and sit less. I reflect on the hundreds of hours with my coaching partners (I don’t like the word clients) and what they are bringing into our container. I connect thought patterns based on how they trigger sensations in my body and, as a result, create new novel approaches, frameworks, and ideas.

In this moment in my work, I can literally feel the overwhelm of some of the folks I am working with and the way they are trying to be ahead of managing and leading others through a recession while making the most thoughtful steps for their business. What I perceive from them is translated in my body as a rising sensation in my head, my eyes start to squeeze as if I am trying to see better, and there is a sense of stuckness and immobility present.

When I feel that, I know my body is moving into a freeze response. She (my body) is dissociating. She can’t think. She can’t witness what’s possible. She can’t create from that place.

So I get up. I mobilize my body. I step outside. I workout. I do a walking meditation. I envision and body how the overwhelm is making itself through my torse, stomach, hips, legs, and feet until it leaves into the ground. This is what exercise does - it mobilizes energy. And you can do the very same thing with heavy cognitive energy.

So what came out of this process for me?

The only constant in an AI-driven world (and this recession) will be in our bodies and the way we can find truth in them. The way we will be able to listen to ourselves and others despite the noise.

While technological advancement and progress are exciting, it also holds opportunities to understand our leadership better.

Why? Because with every opportunity comes new responsibility.

Let’s look at this from a trauma perspective:

Trauma is described as one or multiple adverse events in the absence of a compassionate witness. This also means that without intentional practices, technology leaves us more isolated than ever (this is nothing new!). This type of isolation IS the absence of a compassionate witness.

So, while we feel the effects of our individual traumas, we do not experience trauma in a vacuum. And it also means that our healing cannot happen in a vacuum either. This is where our leadership kicks in (and our responsibility to asses how we contribute to, as I like to call it, “tech grief“).

We need to understand the social context of everyday life to explore, practice and spread resilience and survival strategies. These can come from a wide range of places in our lives and provide us with a more holistic way to heal and also transform our future. For instance: family, community, workplace, religion, political systems, and our unresolved personal, collective, and intergenerational trauma. So, the better we are present in our own lives and understand ourselves and others, the better we can lead and avoid tech grief (I know that sounds awfully simple… but look at it solely conceptually… you’ll have to do the work yourself, with your team, mentors or with a coach)

”Connecting personal and social change helps us to see the bigger picture and find more holistic ways to heal. Only through developing an awareness of the ways we are shaped by personal and societal experiences can we truly identify our deepest needs and desires and embody these in our daily life.” (S. Haines)

This is where somatics comes in as a holistic approach to healing using neuroscience, body-based practices, and radical self-inquiry. It aligns our vision and values with our way of being and actions. After all, we are the practices that we most often do.

I see three pillars around this new type of (somatic) leadership development:
1. Radical Self-Inquiry
2. Active Listening
3. Somatic Intelligence

Starting with Radical Self-Inquiry this week:
When you are designing products, services, and offerings in your respective industry, you will have to start asking different questions.

Questions in favor of all of us and our healing and thriving:

• Is this idea, product, company (etc) going to connect us or divide us more?

• Is it going to take us further apart from our bodies and into the metaverse or connect us deeper?

• Is it going to heal and nurture our sense and the human need for belonging, safety, and dignity or not?

• Is it inclusive of the many realities each of us is experiencing in this world, or do I need to highlight that we’re working on that?

• What are the mission, vision, and values that we base our decisions on? How do we ground ourselves in it every single time?

• How do we want to feel about our legacy now, thinking about when our children are 85?

• What kind of sensations does this product, feature, idea, or service elicit? Not just for me, but for a diverse set of others around me?

• What’s the cost of automating this or that part of the process?

• Am I willing to contribute to the speed of this organization over its reliability and excellence in the community?

• Which parts of our systems and processes are human-centered by default?

• What are our data sourcing principles?

• How am I, and how are we complicit in creating the conditions I and we say we don't want? (J.Colonna)

Consider this a non-exhaustive list. Consider this list as an inspiration. Consider this list as a start. Challenge me on it. Challenge yourself on it. Answer them and see what else becomes available. Become the thought leader we need you to be if your work is going to be part of how we perceive and live our lives moving forward (chances are high that it will :) ).

This is a big journey and I hope that within my lifetime I can gather the leaders and people ready to contribute their time, thought, capacity, and bodies to defining what it means to lead in favor of all of us 🔥.

I will continue on this thread unpacking somatic intelligence and active listening next week.

All the love, all the power,
Franzi

PS: I am opening up my coaching container to two more people this summer. Please get in touch with me, if you would like to explore your own leadership through the lens of aligning your visions, actions, stored emotions, and nervous system capacity.
I am excited to spend time with you!