The human brain is simply a stunning organ. It is the product of hundreds of thousands of years of evolution and is one of our species’ greatest distinctions. Our brain allows us to do so many things that no other species can do. But in the uptake of our intellectual prowess, many humans leave their more ancient intelligences behind.
Compassionate leaders understand the importance of emotional intelligence and body intelligence, in addition to that of head-based intelligence. In recognizing these other forms of knowing, we simultaneously broaden our powers of understanding and responding to the world, and we deepen our capacity to use our miraculous thinking brain.
Head knowledge.
This is our newest form of intelligence. It is our most evolved form and has delivered incredible advances for humanity. From the control and use of fire through the creation of extensive spoken and written language, through scientific learning that has helped us understand the cosmos and travel to the moon and find ways to control many dangerous diseases, the human brain is awe inducing. Much of what we do with our brains is what separates us from other species.
Because of its unique power, we value it highly – sometimes to the point that people will value this form of intelligence exclusively. How many times have you heard someone say, “If there isn’t evidence for it, then I don’t believe it”? At the Center for Compassionate Leadership, we are strongly committed to evidence-based principles and practices. We couple this commitment, however, with an appreciation of ancient ways of knowing that have arisen from contemplative and indigenous traditions. Ignoring other forms of knowledge limits our ability to perceive the world as it is and make thoughtful (yes, thoughtful) decisions. These other forms of knowledge complement and strengthen our head knowledge.
Heart knowledge.
There has been growing attention to the power of our heart knowledge, or emotional intelligence, over the last three decades, as science has significantly deepened our understanding of emotions and their impact on our own actions and on others. Our heart knowledge has always been very important in helping us build and keep connections to others. We are strongest in community. The deepened scientific knowledge about this form of intelligence, and its applicability in organizations, has made discussion of emotions, including love, more and more acceptable in organizational settings.
Compassionate leaders who are able to connect to their team on a heart level are more effective leaders. But yet, even with growing evidence showing the value of emotional intelligence, there is still resistance to embedding love and compassion in organizations. The fear behind the myth of traditional power that still prevails in so many organizations is that heart-based leadership is weak or soft. The fact that this is often considered to be a more feminine intelligence is likely partially behind this resistance in an organizational world still dominated by masculine values. We should note that masculine and feminine qualities reside in all of us, and are not gender specific.
Dacher Keltner shows in his book, The Power Paradox, how this heart knowledge is very valuable for leaders as they are rising. Ironically, however, as successful leaders reach the higher levels of organizational control, their emotional intelligence atrophies. Effective compassionate leaders, with their awareness of the needs of their teams, stay focused on maintaining their emotional intelligence even after they reach the top.
Body knowledge.
We share a remarkable amount of this body intelligence and knowledge with our mammalian and even our reptilian relatives. Just as animals don’t have to “think” in order to act, we have an entire aspect of our biology which functions without us needing to think at all. Our heart pumps blood, our lungs breathe, and our stomach digests, with no needed input from our conscious, thinking brain. Our cells know what to do all on their own, whether maintaining homeostasis or mobilizing against an infection. Our autonomic nervous system keeps the body alive moment to moment. Yet, this miraculous operation rarely gets any attention from us, unless part of our body stops doing what we expect it to do.
In addition to simply allowing our body intelligence to operate in the background, we have the power to pay attention to it, to allow it to inform our thinking brain decisions, and even to self-regulate in ways that influences how our automatic systems operate.
When we are threatened, the oldest parts of our survival mechanisms kick in for protection, overriding our newer, thinking brain. Instead of responding thoughtfully, we react. In service to survival, our hyper-aroused nervous system reduces the number of options available; our field of vision literally contracts, and blood rushes to the parts of the body (heart, large muscles) that enable us to fight or flee. Freezing is an even older evolutionary response to the threat of death, and here our nervous system is hypo-aroused, meaning it slows or shuts down…think about a turtle pulling its head into its shell.
While this is a critical sequence of events when we are truly in danger, as our ancestors were regularly, the hijacking of our thoughts and behaviors is less helpful today when our sense of threat may be coming from something less lethal, such as criticism from a colleague or boss, feeling the pressure of not enough time, or facing an overflowing email inbox.
While many ancient traditions developed body knowledge and practices to self-regulate the nervous system, we now have an abundance of scientific research to help us understand what happens in the body to override or mitigate the hyper or hypo-aroused nervous system. These are trainable skills that can be practiced regularly. Simple breathing techniques, movement practices, and tools to guide awareness are but a few of the many options to explore. If you would like to try a simple breathing practice, you may do so here.
The goal is to be aware of your body knowledge, and allow it to ensure your survival, while opening possibilities of response with a wise, expansive view of your options.
In closing…
Imagine if we had a healthy balance among all three ways of knowing. We would allow our body’s threat detection mechanism to keep us alert to danger, and we would keep our emotional and intellectual states calm in order to fully assess our options. When we do this, we think clearly about how we want to act, and we use our emotional intelligence to recognize how our actions will affect everyone involved. This allows for even richer decisions, with a clearer path to effectiveness.
Compassionate leaders create environments of safety, connection, and belonging for everyone. All of these different intelligences – head, heart, and body – are needed to connect to others, to ensure a sense of belonging, and to create safety for ourselves and everyone around us.