What if leadership isn't behavioral?

As traditional paradigms face modern challenges, this episode emphasizes a shift from focusing solely on learned behaviors to enhancing the overall well-being of leaders themselves. Discover how biology shapes leadership and why understanding this can be pivotal in becoming not just a better leader, but a healthier human being.

Tracy-Ann Palmer and Stacy Caster delve into the biological challenges modern leaders face in today's fast-paced environment. They argue that while traditional leadership skills are essential, the physical and mental wellness of leaders should not be overlooked. The conversation shifts the focus from merely developing leadership skills to fostering healthier lifestyles, thereby enhancing leadership abilities. Palmer explains how critical it is to align your biological systems with your leadership strategies, emphasizing that every thought and decision often begins within the brain and body.

Throughout the episode, Castor discusses how modern environments increase the demands on leaders, leading to stress and burnout. This conversation highlights that to cope with these demands, leaders must reevaluate their biology and health routines to support their professional responsibilities effectively. Discover actionable insights to preserve your energy and improve your leadership quality, such as balancing stress levels and prioritizing recovery. The podcast episode stresses that health isn't an ancillary goal but a vital leadership strategy.

Key Takeaways:

• Leadership is not just about skills and behaviors; it is deeply intertwined with biology and wellness.
• The traditional leadership environment has changed, requiring leaders to make more decisions and manage stress effectively.
• Healthy leaders build resilient teams and foster innovative, supportive workplace cultures.
• Leaders should prioritize their health as a strategic approach to sustain high performance.
• New perspectives suggest treating leadership not merely behaviorally but by focusing on biological well-being to enhance overall efficacy.

Notable Quotes:

1. "What if the biggest leadership challenge today isn't actually a leadership problem? What if it's a biology problem?" - Tracy-Ann Palmer
2. "Your team experiences your presence before they experience your words." - Tracy-Ann Palmer
3. "Leadership isn't just behavioral. It is biological." - Stacy Caster
4. "The healthiest leaders don't just build successful organizations. They build resilient teams." - Tracy-Ann Palmer

All episodes and guest requests can be found at:
www.leadershipmomentspodcast.com
Follow Stacey Caster on Instagram @staceycaster_
Follow Tracy-Ann Palmer on Instagram @tracy_ann_palmer

Transcript

Walking The Talk As Leaders

SPEAKER_01 0:01

You have to walk the talk. You have to be authentic as a leader.

SPEAKER_00 0:04

If you're not doing it, I see that.

SPEAKER_02 0:07

It is entirely universal. There's other people who are going through this.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

For me, a great leader needs to be able to marry three things: vision, systems, and people.

What Leadership Moments Is About

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Welcome to Leadership Moments. If this is your first time, and if you are returning, thank you for your support.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

This show is about leaders from all walks of life, leadership tips, and maybe even a little of what you wouldn't expect to help you in leadership.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

We would appreciate it if you tell someone else about our podcast as we strive to support all leaders that want to just be better.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Let's get on with the show.

Leadership Is Biological

SPEAKER_01 0:43

What if the biggest leadership challenge today isn't actually a leadership problem? What if it's a biology problem? So let's just think about it for a minute. You know, we've spent decades teaching leaders how to communicate more effectively, how to influence, how to build trust, how to coach, how to manage conflict, how to become more emotionally intelligent. And all of those things matter. But what if we've overlooked something even more fundamental? What if your body shaping your leadership long before you ever open your mouth?

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Yeah, I love this question, Tracy Ann, because most of us have been taught that leadership starts with what we know, our experience, our skills, our personality, our emotional intelligence. Very few of us have ever been taught that leadership begins with our biology. And yet when I think about the leaders that I worked with over the years, and you probably could think of this too, right? The ones that have struggled, who are necessary, you know, they aren't necessarily the least capable. They're often the ones that are most depleted. Yeah, that's right, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

And that's what finally made me just stop and ask a different question. You know, we've been trying to improve leadership by teaching better behaviors. But what if the real opportunity is improving the condition of the human behind the behaviors? Because here's what science is telling us today. Every conversation, every decision, every difficult meeting, every negotiation, every coaching conversation, and every strategic decision, even one of these begins inside your brain and your body before it ever becomes visible as a leader.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Yeah, it's such a profound shift because I believe that is true. You and I have talked about this a lot, which is why we're here today talking about this. Leadership isn't just behavioral, it is biological.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Exactly. Exactly. And that's why we are so excited about this season. Because we're going to explore leadership through a completely different lens. Not simply how do you become a better leader, but how do you become a healthier human who naturally leads better?

SPEAKER_02 3:20

So welcome to Leadership Moments. This is our new way. I'm Stacy Castor.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Love it. And I'm Tracy Ann Palmer. Uh, Stacey and I are going to dive deep into the healthy leader for the rest of the season. Uh, we are bringing everything that we're learning to all of you, uh, and we're going to explore the intersection of leadership, of neuroscience, of health, well-being, and performance, not because health is another leadership trend, let's be clear, but because science is showing us that your health influences almost every aspect of how you lead. So if you're leading people, managing teams, running a business, or simply trying to become the best version of yourself.

Burnout Despite Leadership Spending

SPEAKER_02 4:11

Tracy, and I want to start with something that I think I it bothers me and I know it probably bothers you too. And that is that every organization that I work with, they're investing in leadership development, which is beautiful and wonderful. And they're investing millions in coaching and leadership programs and executive education and communication and emotional intelligence. Name the list, right? But burnout still continues to rise. And stress continues to rise, and disengagement continues to rise, which makes me wonder: are we really solving the right thing? Or do we have the wrong problem here?

SPEAKER_01 4:53

I think that's one of the most important leadership questions that we can ask today. Because maybe leadership isn't getting harder because people suddenly become less capable. Maybe leadership is getting harder because the environment we lead in has fundamentally changed. I mean, let's just think about the average executive day. You're making hundreds of decisions. I know, and I don't know about you, but when I get home, I'm like, I don't want to make another decision. I can't even, I don't even want to decide what to do for dinner, never mind, right? So you're responding to emails before breakfast, you're managing hybrid streams across multiple time zones, you're navigating the complexity of AI, you're leading through uncertainty, you're handling constant interruptions, you're processing more information in a single day than leaders were expected to process even a decade ago. And that's not just emotionally demanding, it's biologically demanding.

SPEAKER_02 6:03

Yeah, I love that distinction because when leaders tell me that they're exhausted, they feel guilty and they're almost embarrassed to be able to say it. It's really hard.

Capacity Beats Willpower

SPEAKER_02 6:15

They say things like, I should be able to handle this. I used to have more energy, I just need to be more disciplined. And I find myself asking them, what if this isn't a character issue, right? What if it's a capacity issue?

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Yeah, exactly. You know, and one of the biggest misconceptions is leadership is that more effort always creates better performance. But you know, biologically, it doesn't work that way. Think about elite athletes. You know, no Olympic athlete trains a maximum intensity every single day. Recovery is built into the program because the body doesn't grow during training, it grows during recovery. So here's my question: why do we expect leaders to perform at Olympic levels while we're ignoring the biological principles that every elite performer understands?

SPEAKER_02 7:13

Yeah, it's such a powerful comparison because we would never expect an Olympic sprinter to complete seven days a week without recovery. And we wouldn't expect a Formula One car driver to race without sleep. Yet somehow we've normalized that leaders running from meeting to meeting for 10 to 12 hours a day, straight, eating lunch in front of their laptop, in a meeting many times, right? Sleeping five hours a night. And then we wonder why decision making, creativity, and patience begin to disappear.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Exactly.

Your Brain Runs On Energy

SPEAKER_01 7:52

And you know, neuroscience helps explain why. So your brain represents only about 2% of your body weight, yet it's consuming roughly 20% of your body's resting energy. I mean, just think about that for a second. The organ that is actually responsible for leadership is one of the most energy-demanding organs you have. Every difficult conversation costs energy. Every decision costs energy, every interaction costs energy, every context switch costs energy. So leadership isn't just happening in your calendar, it's happening inside your biology.

SPEAKER_02 8:40

I love how you talk about that. And I'll just give a quick example. I was talking to a doctor the other day that does a lot with neuroscience, and this is what he said to me. He said, when you're working your brain, if you're standing on one leg while you're, I'm just gonna make it up. Let's say you're spelling a word backwards, right? And since you're doing those two things at once, when you do that, when you do two or three things at once with your body using your mind, you actually are like running a marathon. You are doing extreme exercise. So compare it to that type of exercise. So he he said it's great to do it, but don't do those things for extended periods of time because you need to rest your brain, but you need to activate your brain. So when you think of, okay, I'm eating lunch, I'm walking and talking with someone in between meetings, I'm thinking about that next meeting at the same time. I have my phone figuring out where I need to be. Like, think about all those movements and all those things that are going through your mind. You are wearing your brain out. And that completely changes how we think about our productivity because we've been asking, how do I fit more into my day? And maybe the better question is how do I protect the energy that allows me to make my best decisions?

SPEAKER_01 10:01

You know, it's really interesting. You say that I can't remember the executive, but years ago I'd read an article that someone, you know, that we all know that's very famous, said, Listen, in the morning, I just I just have black in my cupboard. Because I don't have to make a decision. I have to make decisions all day that are really, really important, but I don't have to make another decision about what clothes I'm gonna wear. And it's so funny that that he said that because I have found myself doing that too. I'm like, I've got like, I'm just I'm not gonna have to make a clothes decision. Like, here's the items I'm gonna wear every single week. Because at some point, like you think about that, that's just fatigue setting in, right? So, you know, I just share that example with you because I I do think it's funny. You don't think about it that way, but everything costs energy, right? And the quality of your decisions will never consistently exceed the quality of the brain making that. And that's why we believe healthy leadership isn't about green smoothies or standing desks, right? It's about creating the biological conditions that allow you to think clearly, lead calmly, recover intentionally, and perform consistently.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

Yeah, you know, Tracy and I have to call out we are both wearing black today, and it's not normal for us. Normally, we have lots of colors that we wear. We love our colorful outfits, but today we happen to both be wearing black. So if anyone's watching the video version, I just want to call that out because I'm sure you noticed it too. We did not plan on that.

SPEAKER_01 11:39

We didn't plan on that, but I will say I didn't want to make a decision today, so I just went to the black. So just HYI.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

Well, you

Stress Changes Team Behavior

SPEAKER_02 11:50

know, what you talk about, that reminds me of something that I see all the time with executive teams as well. And that's when leaders are under chronic stress, the conversation changes. People become more reactive, they're less curious because they're exhausted, they're more defensive because they want to move forward and they don't want to make those decisions, right? Innovation slows down, conflict increases, and not because people suddenly become difficult, it's because their stressed brains solve problems differently than regulated brains.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

That's right. It's such an important point. You know, we often blame behavior uh without asking what biology might be driving it. And I think that's one of the biggest leadership opportunities of the next decade. It's the leaders who understand human performance won't just outperform because they work harder. They're gonna outperform because they understand how the human operating system works. And that's exactly what we want to go into for the rest of the season, because this is so critical for all of us is to become self-aware and understand our own biology and how that's impacting us as leaders.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

Yeah, we all know about exercise, we all know those things, and we say, Yep, I know, I know, I know. But we're gonna go deeper and give you guys tips and tricks that help you get throughout your day, you know, to be able to go faster and be able to feel better that doesn't take more time out of your day because we know everyone is busy.

Health As A Leadership Strategy

SPEAKER_02 13:24

So, you know, Tracy and there's there's one thing for our listeners to take away from today's conversation. And it's this we've spent so much of our careers trying to become better leaders, better communicators, better decision makers, better coaches, right? But maybe the first question we should be asking isn't how do I become a better leader? Maybe it's how do I become a healthier human? And the rest domino effects as that. Because leadership is an extension of who we are every single day.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

That's right. And I I couldn't agree more, Stacy. You know, science is teaching us something we've overlooked for a really long time. Your body isn't separate from your leadership, your brain isn't separate from your leadership, your nervous system, okay, which is where your stress exists, isn't separate from your leadership. Your sleep, your stress, your nutrition, your movement, your recovery, your relationships, every one of those show up in the way you lead, whether you realize it or not.

SPEAKER_02 14:40

Right. We we talk about work-life balance, and many people try to split that. Like my personal life is my personal life, my professional life is my professional life, but it's all who we are as a human. And we need to start looking at just our life, right? And how we handle our life. And maybe that's why leadership feels harder today sometimes, because it's not because leaders become weaker, right? It's because the demands on leaders have changed. And so we're asking human beings to process more information, to make more decisions, to navigate more uncertainty and remain calm under constant pressure than at any other time in history that we've had. And that's why taking care of yourself, it isn't selfish. It is not selfish, people. It is leadership. It is true leadership to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

That is right. And how many don't? I know there's been many, many times throughout my career that I haven't. And it hasn't been good, by the way. Has not been good for me, right? And that's the message we hope that you'll all take with you today. Don't think of health as an eye, another item on your to-do list. Think of it as your leadership strategy. Because the healthiest leaders don't just build successful organizations, they build resilient teams, they make better decisions, they create healthier cultures, and perhaps most importantly, they stay healthy enough to enjoy the success they've worked so hard to achieve.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

Yeah, right.

The Healthy Leader Weekly Challenge

SPEAKER_02 16:17

Okay, so here's your healthy leader challenge for this week. Don't try to change everything. Please don't. Just choose one habit that helps you show up as a healthier leader. Now, that could be getting an extra 30 minutes of sleep. It could be taking a walk in between meetings. It can be eating lunch away from your desk, but please eat sitting down. There is science that you absorb those nutrients better when you're sitting down than standing up. Putting your phone away for an hour, right? Practicing a few minutes of intentional breathing before a difficult conversation. These are seconds out of your day that can help you. Just one habit, try it for one week. When you miss a day, don't give yourself a hard time. Just say, I'm gonna try again tomorrow. It is very normal to have those things that you fall back on when you're doing it that you don't do it or you don't do well at it. That is normal. Just keep trying and keep trying that one thing and make it work for you and see what changes.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Yeah. And before you begin your next meeting, ask yourself one question. Not what do I need to accomplish, but what condition am I bringing into this room? Because your team experiences your presence before they experience your words. And remember, healthy leaders build healthy teams, and healthy teams build extraordinary organizations. So we want to leave you with that thought today. Thank you

Subscribe And Stay Connected

SPEAKER_01 17:56

for being with Stacey and I, Leadership Moments Podcast. And please subscribe. Please let us know what you want to talk about, what you want to hear about, uh, and we will bring that into the season. Thanks everyone. If you enjoyed the show, please go to LeadershipMoments Podcast.com to subscribe to the podcast or on your favorite player, as well as follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

You can also send us a message on what you like and don't like or what guest you want us to have on the show.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

So until next time.

SPEAKER_02 18:30

This is Stacy Castor, and what does it challenge you won't change you.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

And I'm Tracy Ann Palmer. Be the change you wish to see in the world.