Here is a lovely paper from Donna Ladkin from the Cranfield School of Management exploring embodied leadership, management, acting and authenticity.
Good to see the embodied approach to leadership coming into mainstream British business institutions.
…………………….
Abstract:
This paper argues that although authentic leadership may be rooted in the notion of a
‘true self’, it is through the embodiment of that ‘true self’ that leaders are perceived as
authentic or not. In making this claim, we consider ways in which a somatic sense of
self contributes to the felt sense of authenticity, and how through engaging with
somatic cues, leadership can be performed in a way which is experienced as authentic,
both to the leader and to those he or she seeks to lead. In developing our ideas
further, we draw from the acting theory of Stanislavski (1936a, 1936b, 1961) to
explore how authentic dramatic performances are created, focusing on the role of
emotional memory, the magic ‘if’ and physical aspects of performances. We propose
three key components of a resulting theory of how embodied authentic leadership is
created: self exposure, relating, and making leaderly choices.
Discussion