Daniela Zambrana Coaching
Anatomy of Leadership
A new BODY MINDset for
holistic personnel development
It all seems very simple: Our nervous system sends signals to our brain, which then produces appropriate thoughts. This is followed by actions. In the process, 80% of the information travels through the vagal pathways from the body to the brain. And not the other way around.
This means that the trigger for thoughts and ideas are physical sensations or sensory perceptions. Only then does the brain get involved.
At some point in the course of rapid business development, however, we have concentrated only on our mind and our brain, leaving the body and its function out of the equation. Yet it is our most valuable resource.
This knowledge is taken into account in the concept of Anatomy of Leadership: we restore the body to the importance it deserves, with the aim of being successful, creative, open and resilient, and achieving a good working relationship with our colleagues, superiors and employees.
Many companies have now provided health management with offerings for employees that engage the body: Yoga, Pilates, mindfulness training....
All this is a very good step, however, here the body is usually separated from the mind again. However, looking at it separately does not help us to the extent that we would like, because again, the body and the mind do not work together in the offered health measures.
The art is not to consider these trainings as a balance to the stressful everyday life, but to actually integrate the body into the daily work routine, so that there is always a balance and we don't need any additional compensation.
Problems that we try to solve with the mind should first be solved in the body. To do this, we need to get to know our body's signals and how our nervous system works and how strongly our subconscious triggers and guides us. Vera Birkenbihl has already intensively considered an interesting result from studies on the latter topic: 15 millimeters of consciousness stand against 11 kilometers (11 million mm) of subconsciousness.
Find out more in my blog.
Develop and experience awareness of the connection between body and mind
Our attitude and thus also our leadership qualities are therefore not only intellectual in nature, but also strongly biologically determined. It is not the conscious intention that determines our actions, but our physiological state!. That is why "Anatomy of Leadership" starts exactly there. With the help of knowledge and methods from neuroscience and body psychotherapy/bodywork, an innovative and holistic way of personnel development is created.
Even if we don't realize it most of the time: there is a huge discrepancy between our primitive instincts and our highly advanced technological capabilities. It's a problem for humanity that evolutionary biologist Edward Wilson described this way:
"We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technologies." These technologies are used by humans who have bodies that function with a biology that is over 300 million years old. Our biology still functions on the safety response patterns: fight, flight or freeze - We need to be aware of this. Permanent stress, anxiety and tension trigger these reactions in our nervous system unnoticed. If our nervous system remains in these states for a longer period of time, it affects our psyche and our body and thus, of course, also our performance and our interaction with each other. So if our (professional) environment is in conflict with the basic human need for security and connection, our nervous system reacts. Quite automatically.
Even if we are highly intelligent and fly to Mars, we still have a brain stem that can make life difficult for us in the form of panic attacks, stress, burnout, fears, lack of sleep, etc., without us having any influence on it at first. So we are intelligent beings whose intelligence is controlled by animal instincts and lots of subconscious. This must be clear to us, so that we can also develop holistically.
We also do not differentiate between work and private life, because our body is everywhere, whether at home or at work. It does not differentiate between these two worlds of life and always has the same basic needs for security, connectedness, etc.
Therefore, the goal of "Anatomy of Leadership" is also to create a culture of safety and connectedness in organizations that holds the anatomical human needs as the foundation for building performance, innovation, creativity and resilience. Such an organizational culture is healthier, more resilient, more inclusive and more collaborative. Because, there is much more that connects us than devides us - human biology.
In the trainings and coachings we involve movement as well as our senses, because through them we experience the world and our subconscious stores experiences etc. related to the senses. The experience happens by involving the body. It is a multi-sensory, discovering experience that enhances performance.
Already Da Vinci had understood: Every cognition begins with the senses.
Today we know from neuroscience that information is received sensory, so information comes through our senses. We know that our senses are distributed throughout the body.
However, what many do not know: Our sense-based abilities form the foundation for cognitive performance, such as logic, solution-oriented thinking, planning/organizational skills, language, emotional self-regulation, reading, concentration, abstraction skills, rhetoric, multidimensional thinking, creativity, etc.
More mental flexibility, resilience and creativity by embodied coaching
The "Anatomy of Leadership" concept is aimed at companies, personnel developers, managers and employees. The basis of the concept is that mind and body function in a closely interlocked manner and are not considered separately in order to achieve truly sustainable and holistic development.
It is essentially about actively experiencing body and mind consciously through movement and neurosensory training and integrating this into everyday life.
The goal is to gain access to a part of the 11 km of unconsciousness mentioned above and thus to increase the 15 mm of consciousness and to use it purposefully.
Through the conscious perception and physical experience of everyday problems, such as delegation difficulties, setting limits, responsibilities, dealing with stress, hardened structures, lack of creativity, interpersonal conflicts, conflicts of interest, over/under-demand, communication (body language accounts for 93% of communication: 55% body + 38% voice!), we manage to become aware of the unconscious part that influences our actions and thus gain a different perspective and scope for action.
This sounds complicated and may be difficult to understand - You just have to experience it.
​Accessing the subconscious mind through bodywork helps us understand why we act the way we do, gives us new opportunities to broaden our perspective, release mental and physical blocks, and communicate better because we are more aware of what we need. And: we automatically improve our body awareness. Our actions and feelings become more synchronous. THIS is called authenticity! Authentic Leadership, that's what we've been talking about for many years. And this is exactly what we achieve in "Anatomy of Leadership".
In addition, with the help of neurosensory training, we learn how to better regulate ourselves in everyday business life. We recognize signals of stress and discomfort in ourselves and others and know how to react to them. Different methods and techniques help us to regulate ourselves and to be more calm and resilient in problem situations.
Knowing how our nervous system works and also that of our counterpart helps us in interpersonal conflicts to take things less personally. We learn to see the conflict through a different lens.
Through more contact with our own body, a better body mindset, a relaxed nervous system and an awareness of why we act the way we do we are more resilient and calm. Communication, togetherness and performance improve. Because when people are less in fight/flight/stare mode, they have more access to their cognitive abilities.
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All in all, sick leave is reduced in the end, the mental and physical health of the employees and also the creative potential of the company increase.
Contents and topics "Anatomy of Leadership"
With the personnel development of the future, we learn a lot of things that don't really sound like business at first: neuroperception, neuroplasticity, sensorimotor perception etc.. But in business we will need exactly this know-how from the fields of neuroscience, occupational therapy, body psychotherapy and polyvagal theory in the future, because all these things are the basis for who we are and how we behave.
Know-How from Occupational Therapy
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Sensory perception: how do we perceive information and how do we process it?
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Primitive reflexes: why poorly integrated primitive reflexes are the cause of cognitive and performance deficits.
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How lifelong learning works in business.
Know-How from Neuroscience
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How does our brain work (stress regulation)?
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Neuroplasticity: Ability of the brain to change its structure and functions in order to be able to react optimally to external influences.
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Consciousness and subconsciousness
Know-How from Body Psychotherapy
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How early childhood behavior influences our adult behavior.
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How experiences are anchored in the body and determine our actions and decision making.
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Making the unconscious conscious through bodywork.
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Releasing mental and physical blocks.
Know-How from Polyvagal Theory
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How our nervous system works.
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How self-regulation and co-regulation with others works.
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Getting out of the stress spiral.
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Creating an environment of connection, support and safety.
Main components of the concept are:
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Counscious Leadership (11 km subconscious vs. 15 mm conscious).
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The brain - a recognition machine
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Polyvagal theory meets business
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Sense perception in everyday work
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Decision makers and their decision errors
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Lifelong learning in business