Embodied Leadership

Pete Hamill is a consultant, coach and facilitator, predominantly working in the areas of leadership and organisational development. In this video he talks to Eszter Molnar Mills and describes his approach to leadership development, found in his book, Embodied Leadership: the Somatic Approach to Developing Your Leadership.

Hamill has a challenging take on leaders, saying “There are lots of people who know about leadership, there are very few people who know how to lead.” A key aspect of embodied leadership is that those people who know how to lead are those with the ability to stand up and lead when the pressure is on.

Embodied leadership is not just about cognitive processes and strategic models, it is about emotions, habits, conflict, relationships and pressure – what Hamill calls engaging “below the chin”. It is all about how you manage yourself, how you develop the capacity to respond in a wider range of ways, how you can build a productive relationships with others.

Our ability to lead is rooted in our patterns of behaviour and personality habits, and Hamill talks about his work with clients, helping them develop the capacities they need, practising how to change their approaches. Consider “What is your leadership for?” it is vital to think about what we want to achieve, rather than the importance of holding a ‘leadership position.’  Developing effective leadership is not easy – it is a hard path that may take years of in-depth work as changing deep-held patterns is difficult. As leading is about making a stand and engaging with conflict when necessary, it requires noticing the moments that require leadership. Hamill touches on mindfulness as a concept of being ‘in the moment.’ He encourages us to pay attention to what’s going on and respond to it, rather than thinking about past memories or future fears.

To find out more about embodied leadership and Pete Hamill’s wide-ranging and thought-provoking ideas on leadership and mindfulness, and to hear about his experiences as a coach and consultant, watch the interview above.

Pete is a consultant, facilitator and coach with an international background in leadership and organisational development. He is interested in leadership and personal development, including the role that conflict plays in organisations and society, and is author of Embodied Leadership: the Somatic Approach to Developing Your Leadership.

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