December 15, 2022

Noble, Awesome, Shiny

Posted at 14:52h in Blog by

By Ken Giglio, Principal of Mindful Leadership

Wendy Palmer, author, aikido master, and teacher to leaders and coaches worldwide, passed last week. She is now an ancestor to her community and all those who will discover her legacy of Leadership Embodiment. Through her books, particularly Leadership Embodiment, and leadership courses, Wendy’s pioneering work of bringing presence, confidence, and compassion into corporations changed how we think about leadership. Leveraging her practice of aikido and mindfulness, she taught us to live and lead from an embodied place of unified life energy.

I was fortunate to meet with Wendy virtually this past August to explore running a Leadership Embodiment Course on the East Coast. She spoke with excitement about reuniting with her students from Boston to Washington DC. I was struck by her energy, passion, and caring attention to my learning needs around embodied coaching and leadership. That training never came together; however, I was able to experience her teachings and wisdom by one of her long-time certified teachers, Paul Ciske.

In my time with Wendy, it was clear that she lived her principles and teachings of how to be a noble, awesome, and shiny human being. Here is the link to a video of one of her presentations, A Touch of Grace.

Here is what I learned from Wendy and Paul:

  • it’s important to be conscious and fully awake in our bodies – leadership is not simply a thinking activity, it’s full embodiment
  • our leadership presence is intimately connected to our embodied energy
  • we can intentionally expand our presence through mindful, embodied practices
  • we build our confidence by being fully present and conscious in our bodies
  • effective leaders combine strength and intention with warmth and compassion

 

Wendy’s embodiment practices include “think of something or someone that makes you smile.” Thank you, Wendy. I’m smiling thinking of you.

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