Sensorial Body in Leadership

Drawing on my experiences as the Head of a Dance Department, choreographer, and a dance educator, I will explore embodiment as a critical component of leadership. It’s all etched into the body – our heart stores our stories, the gut directs our creative instincts, and our skin and bones absorb the generative wisdom gained from a lifetime of experiences. For leaders seeking to build transformative and compassionate communities, the journey begins by looking inward. Unfortunately, those who have been leading for over the past 2000 years or so, have not embraced the body as a source for creativity or guidance. The body has been viewed as subservient to the mind, and the MBA is the leadership degree. Thus, leadership of the past has been built on hierarchical and binary thinking – mind over body, masculine over feminine, dominant cultures over marginalized. The norm says a leader is organized, logical, and most importantly, in control! The rational mind dominates…so what’s the problem? The problem is balance…it takes two to tango. So, what if a paradigm shift allowed leaders to invite the sensorial body back into the dance? What if leadership was a process led by the body and the process changed not only the community, but the leader as well? Leadership should mean unleashing the sentient being…analysis and data working in tandem with goosebumps.