Leaders: Listen to your body
You’re not the only senior leader who has moments of doubt. It’s possible to be confident most of the time and still have moments where you question yourself.
The distinction between a successful leader and a less successful one is not whether they have moments of doubt, it’s how they handle them.
We all have an inner critic that works hard to keep us on our toes. Leaders at the top of their game are highly aware of their inner monologue and take regular action to manage it to help them create the positive outcomes they want.
We’ve spoken about this before, and I’ll continue to share ways to build further. But this week we’re working on a ‘pro’ step.
Instead of just managing our mind with our mind (i.e. actively replacing a negative thought with a positive one), we can involve more of our physiology. Our nervous system influences how we think. We notice this in extreme situations where we listen to our body before anything else. For example if we’re in mortal danger, our body sends signals to us to act immediately.
But what most people miss is that our body is always communicating with us, not just in an emergency.
There is so much wisdom available to us and we’re often ignoring it.
For example, if I feel a dense energy around my chest, I know this is often stress related so I’ll ask my mind to question what the trigger is. When I locate what it is (perhaps something important I’ve forgotten to do or something coming up that I'm nervous about) I can take action to do something about it.
The physical feeling dissipates - both my body and mind have done their job.
If you’re wondering why this is important it's because our body often knows BEFORE our mind.
Here’s a leadership context where you’d apply this. Say you’re at a Board meeting and are feeling a bit sick. It could be:
you’re getting an intuitive sense that your recent decision was the wrong one
there's an angle that hasn't been considered
you suspect you're missing key information.
Consider it a way of connecting to a part of you that’s wiser than your mind alone.
The next time you get a physical sign that something is up, instead of thinking that you’re lacking confidence, pause and listen. What is your body telling you?
P.S. Noticing discomfort is helpful. Rather than running from it, tap into what it's telling you. Intuition is helpful in business.
P.P.S In quarter four, I have 2x 1-1 coaching spaces available for leaders who are either looking to create change in their business (restructure/ product launch/ transformation agenda) or move roles. If you're a change maker I'd love to hear from you.
