Embodied Leadership: What are the implications and applications of

embodiment for leadership development?

Arabella Smirnova-Beroskin

Supervisor: Rachael Skews

Word count: 9,716

Submitted on 24th August 2017 in partial fulfilment of an MSc in Occupational Psychology.

Declaration of Originality

I hereby declare that this research project has been prepared on the basis of my own work and
references to the work of others have been made appropriately.

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Table of Contents

page

Abstract 4

Introduction 5

Leadership 5

Embodiment 6

Embodied Leadership 10

Method 12

Design 13

Hypotheses 15

Procedure 21

Findings 23

Implications 24

Applications 27

Discussion 31

References 35

Appendix A 39

Appendix B 40

Appendix C 41

Appendix D 42

Appendix E 43

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Abstract

The history and scope of leadership research is extensive. However, the need for
continued research remains, as organisational leaders continue to face problems of growing
complexity, magnitude and significance. This research project calls for the investigation of
embodiment and its applications and implications for leadership development. The aim of this
qualitative research is to generate a theoretical contribution to this developing subject, through
a theoretical thematic analysis of in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews with
practitioners in the field. Situated within a contextual phenomenological paradigm, the research
design broadly reflects the features of the topic under study. The findings show imp lications
for the practice of leadership development and ways in which embodiment can be applied to
this end. Ultimately, it is hoped that the knowledge generated through this research can be a
useful contribution to scholars and practitioners alike.

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 Leadership theory and research has expanded and developed significantly over time, in
Chemers view (2000), influenced by periodic fashions in research theory (p. 39). A broad
range of leadership models and theories have been proposed, each prioritising different aspects
of leadership. Chemers (2000) offered a functional integration of preceding leadership theory
and research, arguing that image management, relationship development and resource
deployment are the three major functions that leaders need to fulfil to be successful (pp. 37-
38), whereas Gilbert (2005) proposed that integrity, authenticity, trust, values, providing
direction, inspiration, empowerment, and delivery are the aspects which leadership
throughout the centuries seems to be about (p. 5). Overall, therefore, is little consensus
amongst scholars when defining leadership in terms of who exerts the influence, the intended
beneficiary of the influence, the manner in which the influence is exerted, and the outcome of
the influence attempt (Yukl, 2013, p. 36). Nevertheless, most behavioral scientists and
practitioners seem to believe leadership is a real phenomenon that is important for the
effectiveness of organizations (Yukl, 2013, p. 19).

In line with this view, it is assumed that the definition and practice of leadership will
vary from setting to setting. Embodiment as a field, however, is versatile and does not
necessitate a precise definition of leadership; any and all of the variety of characteristics, skill
sets and behaviours which are purported to constitute leadership can be applied in the context
of embodiment (see Hypotheses for full discussion).

Leadership development
Leadership development is a common function of a Human Resources (HR) or
Learning and Development (L&D) department in an organisation, under the premise that
developing leadership capability is beneficial for individual performance and ultimately the
performance of the organisation as a whole. Leadership development can take the form of
structured or unstructured activity. For example, formal training programmes or informal
experience such as leadership learnt through observation or on the job experience. Other formal
and informal ways of leadership development include: 360 degree feedback, networking, action
learning, observation, mentoring, qualifications, job assignments and promotions. In the
context of this research, leadership development is understood to mean formal, structured
activity as a function of organisational HR and/or L&D departments for developing leadership
in specified employees.

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 Schedlitzki and Edwards (2014) argued that the traditional view of leadership
development reflects the notion of self-development where we, as leaders, are expected are
expected to work on creating high levels of self-awareness to enable us to carry out the role of
leader most effectively (p. 189). It is also suggested that leadership development initiatives
strengthen the voices of alternative leadership models rather than the masculine, competitive,
aggressive, self-reliant, individualist one as well as reconnect with context and community
(Kempster & Steward (2010); Ford et al. (2008), as cited in Schedlitzki & Edwards, 2014, p.
197). These two aspects are shown to have particular relevance to embodiment (see
Hypotheses Ethical implications; Awareness).

Embodiment
Central to this research project is the notion of embodiment, requiring both a definition
and contextual framing in order for the content of this research to be effectively conveyed and
most fully understood by the reader.

(Dis)embodiment
Mr. Duffy lived a short distance from his body. (Joyce, 1914)

Whilst not a literal statement, it is assumed that many, particularly within a Western
cultural context, can relate to or understand this description of Mr. Duffy. Disembodiment, or
a disembodied culture, is one that perceives the body as object rather than subject. Clark (2001)
described it as:

The Western cultural discourse on the body is couched most often in terms of gaining
control over it, most prominently by physical exercise or by dieting, so that we can meet
social norms of healthiness or body size. But short of the assaults of illness and aging,
our experience of the body is usually unconscious and largely unspoken. We live much
more comfortably in our heads than in our bodies. (p. 84)

In an embodied worldview, however, the body is no longer something troublesome

that is simply there to carry the brain around (Pfeifer & Bongard, 2006, p. 18). Moreover, for
the body to truly be valued it must be embraced as me, myself, the home of my physical identity
in this world (Briers, 2015, p. 87). Prinz argued that embodiment contributes to self-

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consciousnessI am my body. If you kick my body, you are kicking me (as cited in Robbins
and Aydede, 2013, p. 430). Embodiment is therefore an understanding of the body as a subject,
not the object, of perception.

Humans are embodied creatures, who do not as much have bodies as they are bodies.
(Trinh, 1999, as cited in Kvale & Brinkmann, 2015, p. 115)

Used interchangeably with the word somatics in this research, embodiment/somatics

is the field which studies the soma: namely, the body as perceived from within by first-person
perception (Hanna, 1995, p. 341). The Greek word soma can be etymologically contrasted
with another Greek word, sarx, which refers to the body as the physical flesh, a hunk of meat
(Johnson, 1995, p, xiv as cited in Beever, 2014, p.10). This distinction is key for embodiment.
Strozzi-Heckler (1993) wrote: somatics...views the soma as a unified expression of all
that we think, feel, perceive, and express we bring to light the dimensions of gesture, stance,
attitude, emotion (p. 9). Whilst this may conjure associations with body language, components
of which include eye gaze, facial expression, gestures, posture and touch (Furnham, 1999),
body language is only one aspect of embodiment, and arguably a partial, superficial, view.
Schuyler (2013) noted: mental and cognitive functioning, emotions, and all of the deeper
structures of the self are literally embodied in the way we hold ourselves and move through
life (p. 242).
On a semantic level,
they are ideas that filter through our language in countless phrases that we have come
to assume are metaphor, and that we have forgotten are literal. Phrases such as:
describing someone as a pushover;
saying pull yourself together;
describing someone as solid and grounded;
posturing in a meeting;
getting hot under the collar;
describing someone as chinless;
stiff upper lip - usually describing the English. (Hamill, 2013, p. 108)

Others argues that these very metaphors are the basis for embodied cognition, a fuller
discussion of which can be found in Interdisciplinary underpinnings Embodied cognition.

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Philosophical underpinnings
In philosophical thought, embodiment can be traced to Merleau-Pontys
Phenomenology of Perception (1962) who, in turn, points to Husserl as a founder of
phenomenology (p. vii). A phenomenological perspective implies that reality can only be
perceived subjectively, and this perception requires a body in space. Thus, reality can only ever
be phenomena (the perception of the thing) rather than noumena (the thing itself which exists
independent of perception). In the words of Ladkin (2010), phenomenology tells us that the
perceiver is completely implicated in what is perceived (p. 185). This is arguably the
epistemological shift away from positivism and empiricism required for the notion of
embodiment to have meaning, and directly challenges other theories, such as behaviourism and
cognitivism.
Embodiment, therefore, is a departure from a Cartesian worldview in which the purity
of the intellect is guaranteed through its ability to transcend the body (Bordo, 1987, as cited
in Clark, 2001, p. 84). Known as the mind body problem, the consequence of this split is that
the primary way of knowing the world in the modern era has been cognitive (Clark, 2001, p.
84), and, to use Gardners theory of multiple intelligences (1983), this limits other ways of
knowing the world. Ladkin (2010) summarised that Merleau-Pontys philosophy not only
recognizes the corporeal, material aspects of humanness; it makes it central to our very way of
being in and knowing the world (p. 59). Embodiment, therefore, offers knowing through the
body and its senses as a valid way of knowing the world which historically has been dismissed
in Western culture for being unreliable, imprecise and biased, in favour of rational, logical
cognition.
The tenaciousness of Cartesian dualism, which provided the unquestioned foundation
for modern scientific thought contributed to the fact that the direct experience of the human
body has had a difficult time gaining a hearing for its unique voice as the field of psychology
developed since the late 19th Century (Johnson, as cited in Hartley, 2004, p. ix). Furthermore,
because these innovators [teachers and practitioners] worked largely outside the university
and medical clinic, they wrote little their wisdom was transmitted primarily through craft,
direct contact, and oral transmission (Johnson, as cited in Hartley, 2004, p. ix). To some extent
this trend continues amongst practitioners of embodiment in the organisational world, and
therefore this research is a contribution to the written transmission of knowledge and
understanding of this field.

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Interdisciplinary underpinnings
Embodiment in the field of psychology has significant roots in psychotherapy, most
notably through Wilhelm Reich and his successors, and the establishment of body
psychotherapy (Totton, 2008). Embodiment has also gained attention in the social sciences,
specifically feminist and social theory (Blackman, 2008).

Anthropology

The anthropological lens to embodiment is not dissimilar to the views on embodiment

described in the context of this research. Some central premises include that our bodies are
necessary for experience of the world, and our bodies are also shaped and changed by culture
which therefore changes the way we experience the world. Embodiment is therefore a cultural
muscle memory (Herriman, 2012).

Embodied cognition

First, it is almost a certainty that psychological processes or their underlying substrates

(e.g., the ability to engage in high-level cognition), evolved. And, in the main,
evolution is driven by the dual imperatives of survival and reproduction. These
imperatives require direct interaction with the physical and social world, and that
interaction is only through the body. (Glenberg, 2010, p. 586)

The basis of embodied cognition theory, coming from recent research in the cognitive
sciences, is the notion that intelligence always requires a body and that the mind arises from
the nature of our brains, bodies, and bodily experiences (Pfeifer and Bongard, 2006, p. 18).
Therefore, it is the striking claim that the very structure of reason itself comes from the details
of our embodiment (Lakoff and Nuez, as cited in McNerney, 2011). Scholars such as Lakoff,
Johnson and Nuez argued that cognition, from linguistics to higher mathematics, has its basis
in the body and embodied metaphorical thought (Lakoff and Nuez, 2000).

Influences
Embodiment has thus far been described as theory, and it is important to note that it is
steeped in a rich and diverse tradition of practice. Amongst these, notable influences on the
field include martial arts, dance, theatre and improvisation, yoga and meditation, body therapy
and bodywork.

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 A wide range of practices comes under the general category of somatics and includes
both therapeutic and educational approaches. Their common factor is that they address
the body directly through combinations of touch, physical manipulations, movement
and sensory awareness. All aim to develop the sense of the body experienced from
within. (Hartley, 2004, p. 29).

Mindfulness and Yoga

In the discourse around embodiment, it is common to come across references to

mindfulness practices, the benefits of which have been empirically established, including
specifically for leaders (Baron and Cayer, 2011; Kabat-Zinn, 2005). However, it is important
to note that there may be pitfalls to mindfulness as an isolated practice devoid of ethical
awareness: Schuyler (2012) noted, mindfulness alone could not be sufficient for fostering
integrity in leaders (p. 88) and Walsh added is mindfulness there to make us more aware, or
just to make us more efficient, corporate psychopaths?... [Mindfulness] doesnt necessarily
make you a more ethical or kinder person (2016b). This issue is raised to highlight the fact
that mindfulness on its own does not constitute embodiment. There is also distinction between
embodied and body (or disembodied) practices:
Yoga shows the way in which mindfulness and body practices can also be used
[as] something that makes us less embodied. So yoga is a way to practice doing what
youre told, yoga is a way to be skinny and beautiful, yoga is a way to brutalise
ourselves. (Walsh, 2016b)
Therefore, a fundamental distinction between body and embodied practice is awareness and
intention.

Embodied Leadership
Why has leadership writing largely ignored bodies? (Sinclair, 2005, p. 389)

Whether leadership is defined in terms of competencies, characteristics, relationships

or personality, all of these aspects are embodied, even if research behaves as if leadership
was disembodied (Sinclair, 2005, p. 388). Leadership development is a process of
embodied learning because leadership, after all, nearly always emerges from the locale of a
body (Fisher & Robbins, 2015, p. 282) and to the extent that leadership is learned, it is
learned through experience (McCall, 2010, p. 3).

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Several assertions are made in the embodied leadership literature. Firstly, that the practice of
leadership embodiment gives us the gift of having a choice to be centered and mindful. When
we are centered and mindful, we automatically act with wisdom, compassion, and power
(Palmer & Crawford, 2013, p. 8). A full discussion of centring can be found in Hypotheses -
Centring. Palmer and Crawford also propose three competencies or creative or creative
abilities that make leaders effective:
1. Inclusiveness: the ability to use an expansive presence to send the non-verbal
message, we are all in this together;
2. Centered Listening: the ability to listen for the whole and hear what is be ing
said without taking it personally; and
3. Speaking Up: the ability to speak ones truth with clarity and precision - without
aggression or collapse. (Palmer and Crawford, 2013, p. 5)

Regardless of definition, it is taken that leadership is an embodied phenomenon, and in order

to be developed it follows that an embodied approach to learning should be taken.

Embodied Learning
Its an experience and theres a depth to that experience. (Walsh, 2016a)

In the context of personal and professional development, embodiment offers a new

approach to learning, one that involves awareness of oneself physically (Schuyler, 2012, p.
69). We are encouraged to become the source of our information by participating in our
knowing and self-discovery (Strozzi-Heckler, 1993, p. 9) and Schuyler (2013) described her
experience with a teacher, Moshe Feldenkrais, who approached the body as a physical
representation of something less tangible that we were trying to touch - perhaps the mind,
perhaps the self (p. 242). Embodied learning, therefore, is experiential learning on the premise
of the embodied worldview.
It has been found that there are
six somatic learning elements were most helpful to individuals: (1) doing some
movement, (2) modifying body posture, (3) coming back to body sensations, (4) being
attentive to what was happening, (5) letting themselves go along with what was
happening or what they were feeling, and (6) developing a quality of presence.
(Beaudoin, 1999, p.77)

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These can form the basis of experiential, embodied learning as applied to leadership
development. Furthermore, Beaudoin (1999) used the Experiential Taxonomy of Education to
describe stages in somatic learning:
1. Exposure to learning
2. Participation
3. Identification
4. Internalization
5. Dissemination. (p.78)
Integrating somatic learning into every day, or organisational, life, therefore, requires a process
of internalisation, where an individual is able to generalize the course of action suggested by
their somatic learning (Beaudoin, 1999, p. 78). However, it is possible for individuals not to
reach this stage. Practice is a useful, if not essential, aspect of embodied learning, discussed in
further detail in Hypotheses - Practice.

Method
The way in which embodiment has thus far been described lends the research to a
qualitative approach due to the subjective nature of the topic. However, that is not to say the
subject could not be studied quantitatively, as per the plethora of leadership studies which
measure the effectiveness of leadership development trainings and performance outcomes (e.g.
Collins and Holton, 2004), or embodied cognition theory which has been studied empirically
in cognitive science (e.g. Lakoff and Johnson, 1999).
The aim of this research is to generate a theoretical contribution to the field of embodied
leadership studies (as per the guidelines set out by Whetten, 1989) through understanding both
the implications and applications of embodiment for leadership development, through the
descriptions of seasoned practitioners in the field. To this end, in-depth, individual, semi-
structured interviews were conducted with six participants to gather these descriptions, and a
theoretical thematic analysis based on the principles of Braun and Clarke (2006) was conducted
based on the interview transcripts. The full procedure is outlined in Procedure. However, it is
important to first situate the research within an epistemological paradigm and make explicit
the assumptions and rationale for decisions undertaken during the process of this research.

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Design
Qualitative researchers have a responsibility to make their epistemological position
clear, conduct their research in a manner consistent with that position, and present their
findings in a way that allows them to be evaluated appropriately. (Madill, Jordan &
Shirley, 2000, p. 17)

Philosophical Framework
Positivism versus interpretivism
The dominant philosophical paradigm in science is, and has been, positivism, a view
which holds that there is a material reality independent of the observer which can be known
through rational inquiry. A challenge with this view is that
those adhering to the positivistic paradigm acknowledge that subjects (Ss) cannot be
objective viewers of reality, but nevertheless maintaining that experimenters (Es) can
be. This essentially treats the scientists who are studying human behavior as having a
privileged epistemological status - as somehow being exempt from influence by the
very laws of human behavior that they are studying (Camic, Rhodes & Yardley,
2003, p. 34).
Interpretivism, in contrast to positivism, acknowledges that both experimenters and
subjects are implicated in the study of reality or knowledge which allows for the possibility of
multiple (versions of) reality. It is acknowledged, therefore, that both participants and
researcher are involved in a process of interpretation - participants, of their own experience in
the process of description, and researcher, in constituting the meaning of the descriptions
provided by the participants during the interviews.

Phenomenology
It is apt that the philosophical underpinnings of the research reflect the theoretical
underpinnings of the topic. Embodiment, as has been noted, is grounded in phenomenology,
one of several theoretical perspectives rooted in interpretivism (King & Horrocks, 2010, p.
11). A phenomenological approach seeks to set aside any assumptions about the object of
inquiry, and build up a thorough and comprehensive description of the thing itself (McLeod,
2001, p. 56, as cited in Beever, 2014, p. 16). Therefore, this research is conducted and
interpreted through a phenomenological lens.

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Researcher subjectivity
Whilst research may be designed and conducted with an aim to give voice (Fine,
2002, as cited in Braun and Clarke, 2006, p. 80) to participants, the role of the researcher in
collecting, interpreting and analysing these voices as data must be acknowledged.
Furthermore the context, including the extent to which researcher and participant share basic
cultural assumptions (Madill, Jordan & Shirley, 2000, p. 10) is significant for the research
process and its effect on the data. Interviews, therefore, are taken to be an inter-subjective
construction of material (Madill, Jordan & Shirley, 2000, p. 10) based on shared contextual
experiences and understanding of the content discussed between researcher and participant.
Specifically, it is noted that the researcher has studied, practiced and/or experienced
embodiment as a field or teaching methodology with four of the six participants. The remain ing
two participants have, in turn, studied, practiced and/or experienced embodiment with at least
one of the other participants, or their teachers, generating the assumption that there are shared,
experiential understandings of the content at hand. In this view, knowledge is mediated by the
context within which it is studied.

Contextualism
The researcher and subject of research are both conscious beings interpreting and acting
on the world around them within networks of cultural meaning. (Madill, Jordan &
Shirley, 2000 p. 9)

As such, a contextualist approach is taken: one which acknowledge[s] the ways

individuals make meaning of their experience, and, in turn, the ways the broader social context
impinges on those meanings, while retaining focus on the material and other limits of reality
(Braun and Clarke, 2006, p. 81). A pragmatic approach is emphasised: whilst it is no longer
assumed that there is one reality that can be revealed through the utilization of correct
methodology (Madill, Jordan & Shirley, 2000 p. 9), contextualism maintains the possibility
of grounding research in, for example, participants accounts (Madill, Jordan & Shirley, 2000
p. 12). This grounding in and careful analysis of the data allows for the possibility of generating
meaningful theory. At the same time Silverman (1989) warned, researchers must avoid
treating the actors point of view as an explanation (p.218) as it may, for example, be shaped
by unreflective, conventionalized understandings (Madill, Jordan & Shirley, 2000 p. 15).
Therefore, whilst contextualism maintains that, although an analysis is always partial and

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subjective, results can be justified to the extent that they are grounded in the data (Madill,
Jordan & Shirley, 2000 p. 15). It is also important to note, however, that the data itself is not
necessarily truth as much as interpretation of it. Nevertheless, these limitations do not remove
value from the data entirely. It is also noted that
contextualist analysis accepts the inevitability of bringing ones personal and cultural
perspectives to bear on research projects. In fact, the empathy provided by a shared
humanity and common cultural understanding can be an important bridge between
researcher and participant and a valuable analytic resource. (Madill, Jordan and Shirley,
2000, p. 10).
This is taken to be true in the context of this research, with the acknowledgment of the existing
shared (cultural) understandings between researcher and participants. Ultimately, whilst the
subjective, contextual and interpretive theoretical paradigm is noted, this striving for
sensitivity about ones prejudices, ones subjectivity, involves a reflexive objectivity (Kvale
& Brinkmann, 2015, p. 278). Within these constraints, the researcher therefore aims to be as
objective as possible.

Hypotheses
Following the theoretical approach to thematic analysis, hypotheses are drawn at the
outset of the research to inform the process of analysis. The hypotheses drawn for this research
project stem from the researchers own experience working with embodiment and
development, as well as theoretical contributions made by others in similar and related fields.
To reflect the research question, hypotheses are divided into two areas: implications and
applications of embodiment for leadership development.

Implications
Epistemological shift leads to a change in leadership development (LD) practice
We need to ask ourselves why we arent applying the latest research, and why we, as
managers and leaders, are not pushing ourselves in everything we do. In answering that
question we see that our whole way of understanding what it is to be human and to be
a leader is held back by some ideas that are very deeply held within our cultural
thinking we spend time and money with people sitting in classrooms looking at
intellectual models that they then know about, but that they are completely unable to

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 implement when they return to the workplace and are placed into the heat of a difficult
moment. And we call this leadership development. (Hamill, 2013, pp. 2-3)

Certain implications of embodiment have already been postulated. To adopt an

embodied worldview is to reject traditional notions of Cartesian dualism and logical
empiricism in favour of a phenomenological understanding and interpretation of reality.
Therefore, focusing and using embodiment is arguably both an epistemological and
experiential shift for an individual situated within a Western epistemological paradigm. This
extends to the practice of leadership development: not only do we cognitively, culturally and
experientially change our understanding of embodiment and leadership development, but we
must also then change our practice of it.

The link between embodiment and empathy

Because he couldnt feel himself, he couldnt feel others. If he could separate himself
from his body, then he could also separate himself from other people. Without the
information from his body, he related to people as facts, figures, and abstractions. He
had a powerful mind but was without compassion and feelings. I realized how
dangerous it is to remove principles from feelings. (Strozzi-Heckler, 1993, p. 11)

There is a widespread sentiment amongst embodiment authors and practitioners that to

dissociate from oneself/ones body, is to dissociate from other people and a felt, empathic
response. There is arguably neurophysiological evidence by way of explanation: mirror
neurons which fire when an action is both performed and observed (Gallese & Goldman, 1998).
The connection to empathy, as explained by Ramachandran (as cited in Marsh, 2012) is that
if I really and truly empathize with your pain, I need to experience it myself. Thats what the
mirror neurons are doing, allowing me to empathize with your pain. Arguably, the inability to
experience this pain as an embodied phenomena removes, or at the very least drastically
reduces, the possibility of empathy.

Ethical implications
This has ethical consequences: the idea that empathy or sympathy is a major
determinant of prosocial and altruistic responding has been widely accepted among

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psychologists (Eisenberg & Miller, 1987, p. 91). Therefore, embodiment implies an ethical
dimension when applied to leadership development.

Political implications
Beyond the ethical, there are also political implications. Sinclair (2005)
comprehensively summarises the intersection between embodiment, leadership and politics:
Leadership has been constructed as an activity of brains without bodies. This
construction is not accidental. By elevating leaders as beyond the impermanent bodily
matter that constitute them, the interests of leaders and the people who study them are
advanced. (pp. 402-403)

These interests reflect the economic agenda, cultural preoccupations and insecurities of that
nation [America] with its belief in the power of individua lism and conquest (Sinclair, 2005,
p. 390). Therefore, paying attention to bodies then becomes a political act with political
consequences (Sinclair, 2005, p. 403). On a personal level, Hartley (2004) argued that
somatics helps us come to understand that what we need in order to transform our sickness
into health, and our confusion into wisdom, lies essentially within us, and not in the hands of
the doctor, therapist, priest, or healer (p. 2). Therefore, embodiment gives the possibility that
agency and choice (see Applications - Choice) are predominantly in the domain of the
individual, as opposed to being exclusively the domain of external professions and institutions.

Personal involvement
I have to wear a lot of faces. And I hate it. I wish I could be the same person at work,
at home, and with friends. I want my life to be all one piece, not a lot of fragments
working against each other. Isnt that what integrity means? (Phillips, as cited in in
Schuyler, 2012, p. 73)

As the body becomes subject of experience, it may no longer be useful or effective to

compartmentalise our lives and our selves: boundaries between personal and professional,
individual and collective become malleable. The body, our identity, and our experience of it
remains a constant regardless of external context, however. Therefore, leadership skills we
develop become applicable not only to our work, but to our whole lives. As has been noted,

17
developing ourselves as leaders through embodiment requires developing our whole selves.
Schuyler (2012) illustrated the process of embodied learning and its far-reaching outcomes:
I introduced Feldenkrais movement sequences as a means to assist the students in
bringing change to their work lives Students found the process of paying more
attention to themselves via these intricate, structured movements produced insights
about how to improve other parts of their lives. Their papers reported on changes in
areas ranging from a mothers relationship with her five-year-old daughter to the way
students approached pressure and leadership at work. (p. 252)
Therefore, it is implied that embodied leadership development demands a level of personal
involvement which is not necessarily assumed in other approaches to leadership development.

Applications
The applications of embodiment are actions, tools or techniques which can be used to
develop leadership in an organisational, or other, setting. They can also be seen as the outcomes
of embodied learning. Several of these applications are proposed below.

Embodied leadership capacities

Moving from a competency-based approach to leadership development, it is proposed
that leadership can be developed through the development of embodied leadership capacities.
Whilst some authors offer definitions for what these capacities are, it is also argued that any
embodied capacity can be developed and applied for leadership, depending on what leadership
capacity is called for in the moment and/or context.

Centring
Centring is a technique taught in the Japanese martial art of aikido (also a significant
influence on the field of embodiment) as a form of state and stress management (Hamill, 2013;
Heller & Surrenda, 1994; Leonard, 2000; Palmer & Crawford, 2013; Ridings, 2011). Centring
is about aligning the body across the three dimensions of space that we live in: length, width
and depth (Hamill, 2013, p. 119) in order to counteract the fight-or-flight response which is a
stress response that mutes our higher functioning capabilities and activate the short-term,
survival-oriented reactions of narrow focus, hyper-vigilance, and defensiveness (Palmer &
Crawford, 2013, p. 30). It involves attention, relaxation, postural balance and expansion (which
can be achieved using visualisation) and activates the parasympathetic nervous system,

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sometimes called the rest-and-digest system. The rest-and-digest system counters the fight-
or-flight response, relaxing and settling the body, and managing stress levels (Hamill, 2013,
p. 123). As the centered state is naturally balanced, open, and inclusive (Palmer & Crawford,
2013, p.28) centring, therefore, is a tool for state management to be able to engage in situations
from an optimal rather than stressed, state.

Awareness
The persons who are truly unaware are dangerous to those around them. (Gilbert,
2005, p. 33)

A significant premise of embodied work is awareness - of self, bodily sensations,

behavioural habits, moods, emotions, feelings, thoughts and more.
The heart of this work seeks the cultivation of conscious awareness in the individual,
which can lead to greater health and wellbeing, creativity, choice, and responsibility.
Through developing awareness, the often hidden sources of inner knowledge,
creativity, intuitive wisdom, and healing can be contacted. (Hartley, 2004, p. 1)

With awareness as a starting point, more possibilities are open to an individual seeking to
develop their leadership: becoming familiar with our personal patterns gives us the means to
develop skilful ways of responding and when we do not have an embodied awareness of the
things that are preventing us from acting with confidence, compassion and wisdom, we will
continue to be reactive (Palmer and Crawford, 2013, p. 11). The link between mindfulness
and embodiment has already been established. Mindfulness, therefore, can be used as a tool to
develop awareness as the basis for embodied development.

Choice
Following awareness is the possibility of choice. Through embodied leadership
practices, you will build your capacity for choice, the choice to respond creatively and
resourcefully in stressful circumstances (Palmer & Crawford, 2013, p. 11). Noticing
something allows one to, theoretically, make a behavioural choice in response to the thing. It
is hypothesised that the concept of choice is linked to locus of control, a personality trait that
represents the extent to which people believe that the rewards they receive in life can be
controlled by their own personal actions (Wang, Bowling & Eschleman, 2010, p. 761). This,

19
in turn, is strongly related to life satisfaction and problem-focused coping (Wang, Bowling
& Eschleman, 2010, p. 766) and a work locus of control yields a strong relationship for global
job satisfaction, affective commitment, continuance commitment, burnout, job-induced
tension, organizational level, absenteeism, role ambiguity, social support at work, and leader
initiating structure (Wang, Bowling & Eschleman, 2010, p. 764). Therefore, it is postulated
that through embodiment, it is possible to cultivate an internal locus of control (through
awareness and choice), which is linked to various desirable outcomes in an organisational
setting.

Awareness and choice combined: ACT?

The theory of awareness and choice has parallels with acceptance and commitment
therapy (ACT), a cognitive-behaviour therapy which seeks to develop psychological flexibility
the ability to contact the present moment more fully as a conscious human being, and to
change or persist in behavior when doing so serves valued ends (Hayes, Luoma, Bond,
Masuda, Lillis, 2006, p. 7). This is achieved through six core processes of acceptance, cognitive
defusion, being present, self as context, values and committed action, which are
conceptualized as a positive psychological skill, not merely a method of avoiding
psychopathology (Hayes et al., 2006, p. 7). A model of these processes is presented below:

(Hayes et al., 2006, p. 8)

20
It is postulated that these underlying psychological processes may explain the mechanism
through which embodied learning and development works, specifically through the application
of awareness and choice.

Practice
Human beings are incapable of not practising Our patterns of behaviour, the way we
sit, walk, listen, read, write e-mails, co-ordinate with others, avoid difficult
conversations and get upset are all things that we practice. If you add up all of this
together it creates our personality. (Hamill, 2013, p.36)

Integral to an understanding of embodiment is an understanding that the body, and

therefore who we are, is shaped through practice. However, we live in a culture where we tend
to look for quick fixes As our society moves more towards quick fixes, pills and a
requirement for ongoing results, will you have the patience to develop masterful leadership?
(Hamill, 2013, p.36). Hamill (2013) also suggested that
practising is a common-sense concept in developing mastery in music, sports, public
speaking and many other domains of life. For some reason this is not the case with
regards to leadership and the cultivation of the self. In my opinion this is a piece that
is missing from our culture. (p. 37)
Practice is also crucial for embodied learning to be effective and internalised.

Procedure
Participants
A total of six participants were interviewed, selected on the criteria of five or more
years of experience working in practicing and/or researching the field of embodiment
and/or leadership development. No other inclusion or exclusion criteria were applied and
demographic descriptors were not collected on the premise that the only relevant criteria was
a participant's experience in the field.

Ethics
An ethics proposal was submitted to and approved by the Institute of Management
Studies at Goldsmiths College London in advance of data collection. The main ethical
consideration in this research project was to preserve participant anonymity in the process of

21
audio recording and transcription which was duly completed. Furthermore, research was
conducted in line with The British Psychological Society Code of Human Research Ethics
(2014), particularly with respect for the autonomy, privacy and dignity of individuals and
communities.

Recruitment
Participants were known to the researcher through personal or professional networks or
introduced to the researcher by other participants. Participants were contacted directly to
request and arrange in person or Skype interviews. All participants were given or emailed a
consent form prior to the interview and requested to sign if they agree with the content.

Interviewing
Two in-person and four Skype interviews were conducted. Interviews were recorded
on two devices, an audio recorder and smartphone as a backup. The interviews ranged in
duration from 30 minutes 53 seconds to 113 minutes 44 seconds, with a mean average of 51
minutes 8 seconds. The interviews were semi-structured and conducted using an interview
guide (Appendix A). The interview recordings were uploaded and saved to a secure Google
Drive folder and subsequently deleted from the audio recorder and smartphone used to make
the recording. The researcher transcribed the interviews from these recordings, taking care to
preserve anonymity by choosing pseudonyms for the interviewees themselves as well as for
any individuals or institutions referenced which could compromise participant anonymity.

Thematic Analysis
Thematic analysis is used to seek to describe patterns across qualitative data (Braun
and Clarke, 2006, p. 80) and was used to identify meaningful themes in response to the research
question. A template analysis (King, 2012) approach was used, whereby, following a
theoretical approach to thematic analysis, a descriptive hierarchical coding template was
generated from the hypotheses (Appendix B; C). This was subsequently visually mapped to
show the hypothesised relationships between ideas:

22
This template was applied to the data corpus using NVivo 11 Pro software; further nodes were
generated for other applications as this node generated significant data. This analysis was
conducted at the latent level, which, through a process of interpretation, examines the
underlying ideas, assumptions, and conceptualizations - and ideologies - that are theorized as
shaping or informing the semantic content of the data (Braun and Clarke, 2006, p. 85).

Findings
In this section, the findings from the thematic analysis are reported using headings from
the section Hypotheses, as well as new headings for new themes that were identified.
Quotation marks () are used to indicate participants verbatim input from the transcript.

Leadership development (LD) practice: the reality

Why are we still running workshops?

One participant summarises their view on current leadership development: What

they're enabling is good knowledge transfer but it's of diminishing competitive advantage
because the relevant knowledge is changing faster than ever before doing knowledge transfer
more efficiently it's like chasing a dying competitive advantage. This is usually achieved
through training programmes and workshops, which fail to embed or sustain long-term change:

23
 youre wanting the learning to be resilient, youre wanting to engender, or embed,
new behaviours, new ways of doing things, new ways of thinking, new ways of seeing
the world, new attitudes, new ways of relating to each other. All of which is all too
often well created on the workshop but insufficiently sustained when you leave the
workshop.

This reflects Hamills (2013) view that the current practice of leadership development is
unsatisfactory and stems from some ideas that are very deeply held within our cultural
thinking (p.3).
There is a commercial reality which organisations face: business often, like most of
the modern world, wants quick fixes; most of that is being driven by cost. At the same time,
effective development is achieved through practice: what business wants is results and... it
wants it immediately. But what I've learned from, all my trainings is actually that doesn't
happen immediately, it happens through practice. Therefore, organisations are faced with a
need to change how leadership development is conducted in light of the fact that current
practice is not as effective as it could be; however there is also resistance to this change, and
reasons for this.

Implications
Epistemological shift
that clash between the subjective and the objective

The view that to understand embodiment requires an epistemological shift is reflected

in some of the participants responses. Referencing Hannas Bodies in Revolt (1970), a seminal
work in the field of somatics, one participant offers that Hanna wasnt talking about the body.
He was talking about how we perceive ourselves as human beings in the world, implying that
embodiment is not as much a reference to the corporeal body, as it is a philosophical
perspective. This is neatly summarised by another participant: the body as I not as it.
However, the last several thousand years of Western cultural history including
industrialisation, lead to the view of the view the body as a machine being the dominant
paradigm still. This is reflected in organisations, who are coming out of the general Western
educational paradigm which is learning about things is what matters, and theyre really just
discovering that learning to do things is what matters.

24
 This epistemological shift gives rise to communication issues: for some people its a
little weird, a little out there! But I think thats changing. Another participant reflects on their
role as practitioner: I know what embodiment is, but other people of course dont... I forget
that people dont know. Perhaps the confusion is because embodiment as a viewpoint is really
just a giant cluster of things that are inherently vague, in addition to the epistemological shift
implicit in an embodied worldview. However, there is also an implication that embodiment is
not a helpful word because it reinforces the notion of the mind-body split in a way that is
counterproductive to the goals and practice of leadership development. From this point of view,
there is no mind-body split to begin with, as we have never not been embodied; [the body]
has never been missing. Therefore, there is no split to be healed its a linguistic problem.
It is not a real problem.
From this difficulty in communication, a desire was expressed for embodiment to be
normalised: I'd like for it to be a completely normal part of the educational paradigm; that
embodiment is an absolutely essential part of the curriculum for all children and its part of
school, its part of university, it's part of business education, you know, a dojo in every school,
a dojo in every business; a practice system spread throughout a culture.

The link between embodiment and empathy

Participants views reflect a prevailing sentiment amongst practitioners and scholars of
embodiment that there is a direct link between being embodied being able to feel and
empathy:
I think the cost of disembodiment is the lack of empathy
theres no possibility of relationship if youre disembodied. Youre essentially
psychopathic and your ability to empathise and connect is completely destroyed

This is elaborated further by one participant, who makes an explicit link between the
epistemological shift of embodiment and its implication for empathy:
when we cut ourselves off and we put ourselves into that place of objectivity of
splitting the mind and the body, the Cartesian split... I think it's actually quite
dangerous for us as human beings I think that step back into objectivity is required
for a human to do harm to another person. For me to do harm to you, requires me to
disconnect from you and your emotions and it requires me then to disconnect from

25
 myself and my own emotions. And my own emotional experience. So my own
capacity for empathy, so that I can do that.
This links directly to ethical implications.

Ethical implications
The same participant continues:
when we separate ourselves we also take a step of separating ourselves from the wider
ecology and ecosystem within which we live and when we do that it is much easier
for us to cause harm to our planet and harm to the environment we live in because
we're separate from it.
Therefore, there are ethical implications of embodiment as it
starts to re-connect people with their felt sense of what it is for them to be human and
their felt sense of their empathy for another human being and their felt sense of
connection into a wider system and a wider ecosystem and a wider world.
This creates new possibilities:
that we could have more human, more humane organisations that work. That still get
good results, but that also work for the human side of just spending all your time inside
that place, and do you wanna be half-dead when youre there or be fully alive?

Political implications
Some participants drew direct political links to the practice of embodiment: it's a
political challenge. I mean embodiment presupposes that we have access to our own wisdom.
Now that's a massive political challenge to anyone whos a King, a priest or an advertiser. On
a broad scale the cost of disembodiment is violence, war, inhumane policy making by
governments, the lack of empathy, addiction. Finally, we can start to have a look at how the
systems work and how we're influencing policy and... listening to people that aren't just the
people with all the power.

Personal involvement
Cut off from what is below the chin

Because leadership development is a subset of self-development (Schedlitzki & Edwards,

2014) it involves the whole person and their whole lives, as opposed to solely their professional

26
selves. Therefore, leadership development may have effects on not only on leadership, but
other aspects of life, too:
suddenly it affects how someone talks to their wife or how they react in a crisis
situation or how they deal with redundancy, or something, you know, and that's real
change
once you get started on that path, you can just keep it confined to your professional
self. It starts to influence your personal life as well. Usually for the better. But it can
bring changes and it can bring conflicts or it can bring conflicts to light that were kind
of dormant.
This effect is not entirely positive or negative: the effect embodiment can be beautiful and
empowering and very worth it, and usually it also has some immediate good, lovely effects but
it can also... bring up difficult things. For many, there is resistance because of this. One
explanation for this is fear: everyone says they want change. No one really wants change. They
don't want the consequences of change... Because the consequences of that are disruption.
Embodiment implies self-development, which opens the possibility of challenges in the
process. One of these challenges, is that
theres a whole group of people for whom that cutting off has happened, and
therefore, getting them back in contact is a slow step by step process. And sometimes
they dont have the patience and see the benefit of engaging in that process when
they don't get an immediate kind of payoff.
It seems that, in a similar way to organisations, individuals resist change, too.

Applications
Awareness
The premise that embodiment cultivates self-awareness is supported by some of the
participants. It begins with self-care and self-investigation and self-awareness and in my
opinion the world is crying out for leaders that are able to work in that way first. However,
cultivating awareness also links to the challenges presented by the level of personal
involvement assumed in embodiment, often creating resistance to engaging in development:
even though it sounds really nice to be in the now and here in the now there's also
part of us who doesn't like it there because you know, we have all these skeletons in
the closets, in our bodies and we keep running for a reason it really ties into some
basic human fears. So we need to be brave and it will go in, in small steps I think.

27
 However, if one is looking for
awareness to crack open... one of the quickest ways for that to happen, in my
experience, is through embodiment. It's like direct and it's experiential and people can
feel it happening. It's not wifty wafty and it's not conceptual. It's real and it's happening
now.
Therefore, awareness is linked to certain implications in embodied leadership development.

Embodied leadership capacities

Everybody has got a body, everybody is a body whichever way you want to look at.
So, if were going to help you develop any qualities, you have to develop that quality
more globally. Cant just be something you say, it has to be something you can do
thats an endless project.

All six participants offered a variety of leadership capacities which can be developed
through embodiment, subsequently categorised by the researcher in a table below:

Vision Direction Action Communication/relationship Misc.

inspiration our capacity to action communication style type

vision give direction to not just cross-cultural understanding charisma
creativity ourselves and direction.. you empathy presence
innovation others need to communication change
awareness give clear actually get communicating across difference management
direction some results as
bluffing staying calm
alignment well leadership relationship under pressure
coordination movement... emotional intelligence manage
direction towards relationship style themselves
commitment achieving or being seen and being heard under pressure
which is about creating conflict
the willingness something motivate people
to sub serve risk taking impact
our individual adaptation influence
needs to a group influencing people
need influencing someones state, for example can
say yes or no to you make someone laugh, can you turn someone
things on, can you inspire someone... can you trust
making choices someone
trust
authority

28
This diverse list reflects the diversity of definitions within leadership studies and supports the
idea that embodiment is versatile to work with many, if not all, leadership capacities. However,
some capacities were given greater emphasis than others. State management was identified as
a key leadership capacity:
being able to manage your state is probably a more important and more fundamental
skill, capacity, for a leader than pretty much anything else
theres a reality that most leadership teams at some point will hit a period of challenge
and usually the first thing that they lose sight of, and the most important thing for them
to manage, is how they are, not what theyre doing
self-regulation
being able to state manage. So work with, acknowledge what is and yet be able to be
present in spite of fear and anxiety and uncertainty
to my mind it [state] kind of underpins everything else, because not only, not only does
that significantly dictate [a leader's] capacity to do the things they need to do
effectively, it is also one of the primary ways in which they are either positively
managing, the rest of the organisation or failing to.

Centring
The way of managing your physiology

Centring is a form of state management which means that whatever happens inside or
outside of you, you're able to re-find your balance. This is a useful capacity in a leadership
context and it also means it is possible to avoid functioning from reactive or stress patterns.
One participant suggests that leaders practice that centring muscle a lot so that they can
actually make a wonderful contribution and not make it worse for the people they're trying to
lead.
In addition, centring links to the theme of choice because it is how you create a base
from which you can make a choice. One participant explains: doesn't matter what your
circumstances are, youve always got choices you can only do that if you can manage your
physiology or otherwise you'll be robbed of those choices over and over again. Therefore,
there is an important link between centring and choice.

29
State
There are changes in our in our biology when we're in different states; state happens
in the body. It's not just a brain thing. As much as it is individual, there is collective state,
culture, which is set by state... by action beyond anything you consciously do or design or
systems you put in place.

Stage
What different stages do people go through and how does that affect their
leadership?

Several participants referenced vertical development and its application for leadership
and intersection with embodiment: creating developmental change. So actually maturing
people, creating individual, social, cultural maturing; the key thing is most people are not
acting their age. There is therefore a relationship between stage and state, as state management
means you can actually be at your actual stage of development not a more primitive one,
because the fact is if you get a highly developed leader, if you put them under
enough pressure their state will interrupt that development and effectively strip them
back in levels of development. They'll start to become aggressive, competitive,
dogmatic. They'll start to adopt all sorts of behaviours that are lower, from lower levels
development because they're under duress, and that can just be physiologically.
Therefore stage is important for leadership development, and can be supported with state
management.

Practice
When problems arise, we do not rise to the level of our expectations we fall to the
level of our training. (Lee, as cited in Warneka, 2006, p. 215)

Several participants identified or defined embodiment as being a result of practices:

if you spend ten years as a police officer youll become a different person as a result
of that. Youll see the world in a different way, because of that. If you spend ten years
as a.. a healthcare worker.. or if you spend ten years as a salesman any of those roles
will shape who you become.

30
Another participant notes, a great number of people are using the word embodiment to simply
replace the world habit. Therefore, the entirety of who we are is an embodied phenomenon.
And it is held in place through the the world of practices; seeing people, seeing teams, seeing
organisations, seeing cultures as collections of practices that we embody over time is very
fundamental. Therefore, change or development can be created through new practices.
Practices can also create choice:
how do I start to develop a different set of practices that allows me to engage in conflict
in a different way? That allows me to be in conflict in a more productive way rather
than a destructive way?
how do you develop some new practices that will allow you a different range of
freedom and movement and choice in the world rather than being driven by your
history?
Furthermore, as practices are an important aspect of embodied learning, one participant
noted the importance of including transitions in the process of embodied learning, also.
Transitions blend two functions which is, one of which is reflecting on how far you've come
and the other is preparing you for the next stage. Workshops can serve the function of a
transition, and combined with practices, the two things do serve a function but they have to
interact with each other and I think that... [is] whats often missing in leadership development.

Discussion
Overall, there were some hypotheses which were supported by the data (to different
degrees) and some for which there was no relevant data generated. The data also showed new
relationships between themes, or omitted others. The level of complexity appears to be slightly
higher in the themes coded from the data as opposed to the initial template code, especially
when mapped visually:

31
 The most significant absence in the data relates to the hypothesis postulated that
awareness and choice could be explained by the principles of ACT. Whilst awareness and
choice were identified as themes in the data, no relationship between them was identified.
Instead, choice was identified to be created by practice and centring. Awareness, on the other
hand, was linked to personal involvement.

Two significant themes were identified as applications of embodiment which had not
been considered in the hypotheses: state and stage. State, as acknowledged by one of the
participants is most of the times not even in the conversation. At the same time, it is shown
that the capacity to manage state is probably a more important and more fundamental skill
for a leader than pretty much anything else. Stage, however, is is progressively part of the
conversation; it is well understood that that should be part of the work yet I don't think it is
necessarily well done or consistently done. Therefore, following the view of this participant,
it stands to reason that more research is called for in the area of stage, or vertical development.
This links to the work of Rooke and Torbert (1998; 2005) who proposed that there are seven
ways of leading based on different internal action logic (2005, p. 1), and that the ego
development stage of CEOs is a critical variable in successful organizational transformation
(1998, p. 11). Similarly, integral leadership theory will deconstruct and challenge the

32
assumptions of modern industrial leadership theories (Prewitt, 2004, p. 328). It would be
fruitful, therefore, to conduct further research into the relationship between embodiment and
vertical, or stage, development.

The most significant theme in response to the original research question what are the
implications and applications of embodiment for leadership development? is that of practice.
Practice is demonstrated to be crucial to embodiment and also to embodied leadership
development. At the same time, it goes against cultural norms and desires for quick fixes.
Several of the participants, alongside Hamill (2013), expressed dissatisfaction for the way
leadership development is currently conducted. The solution is to integrate practice; however,
there is resistance to this for cultural and commercial reasons. However, as practices also create
choice, it is possible to argue that this could be a significant incentive for engaging with
practices. Therefore, it seems that to make embodied leadership development effective would
require utilising practices, and whilst there is resistance to the idea, there is also anecdotal
evidence to demonstrate the long-term benefits.

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time. (Eliot, 1942)

Finally, perhaps fittingly, is a return to the epistemological basis from which this
research was spawned. The idea of an epistemological shift was identified as a key theme,
alongside the idea that this presents both communication issues as well as for a desire by the
embodiment practitioners interviewed for the field of embodiment to be normalised. The
perspective that we have never not been embodied and we just need to stop what it is that
stopped us from noticing the obvious to some extent normalises the notion of embodiment,
which, from that point of view, may no longer even be a useful term. One participant, aware of
these tensions, offered the notion that there is no split to be healed, because, whilst
embodiment, on one hand, is positioned in opposition to the mind body split, this very
positioning perpetuates the existence of the split. Instead, it may be useful to acknowledge that

33
embodiment encompasses various aspects, most significantly physiology and philosophy. The
philosophical point of view has been made clear; physiology refers to specific applications
such as centring as a form of state management which have beneficial effects for leadership.

The researcher, having experienced and witnessed these benefits, became interested in
understanding the mechanisms through which they work further. However, having delved into
the philosophical underpinnings of the topic, now comes to question the value of embodiment
as a label. At the same time, the philosophical underpinnings, specifically the aforementioned
epistemological shift, were shown in the data to have implications for both empathy and ethics,
qualities which would not go amiss in todays (organisational) world. The field, therefore,
remains somewhat enigmatic; however, it is hoped that this research can be a contribution to
the understanding and practice of embodied leadership development, and it is hoped that this
can become a more widely understood and accepted phenomenon in both research and practice.
It is hoped this research can contribute to a future one of the participants dreams of:

I guess I'd like it to not be a thing.

34
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Appendix A

Interview guide.

Topics to cover:
Brief personal/professional background.
Definitions of leadership and embodiment.
Applications.

Implications.
Challenges.
Desired future.

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Appendix B

Initial hierarchical node template.

application
ACT framework
awareness
mindfulness
centring
choice
leadership capacity
other application
practice
implication
empathy
epistemological shift
ethics
LD practice change
other implication
personal involvement
politics

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Appendix C

Descriptive nodes.

Node Description
Application Application of embodiment for leadership development
ACT framework Awareness and choice combined to develop psychological
flexibility
Awareness Awareness as a starting point
Mindfulness Specific form of awareness training
Centring A technique taught as a form of state and stress management
Choice Internal locus of control
Leadership capacity Leadership can be developed through the development of
embodied leadership capacities
Practice common-sense concept in developing mastery
Implication Implication of embodiment for leadership development
Empathy Experiencing pain as an embodied phenomena
Epistemological shift Reject Cartesian dualism in favour of a phenomenological
interpretation of reality
Ethics prosocial and altruistic responding
LD practice change 'not only do we cognitively, culturally and experientially change
our understanding of embodiment and leadership development
(LD), but we must also change our practice of it'
Personal involvement 'boundaries between personal and professional, individual and
collective become malleable'
Politics paying attention to bodies then becomes a political act with
political consequences

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Appendix D

Final hierarchical node structure and code frequencies.

Name Sources References

application 0 0
ACT framework 0 0
awareness 4 6
mindfulness 3 3
centring 2 12
choice 3 3
leadership capacity 6 23
other application 6 24
stage 3 16
state 3 18
practice 4 10
implication 0 0
empathy 3 3
epistemological shift 6 31
ethics 3 3
LD practice change 4 13
other implication 2 4
personal involvement 6 16
politics 3 6

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Appendix E

Nodes compared by number of coding references (generated in NVivo 11 Pro).

43