Leadership superpower: navigating state and brainwaves, on demand

Thank you for the warm response to my first newsletter last week <3

I have an amazing client. Actually, all of them are, however today I'll mention one in particular. She's gone from a victim of circumstances to a creator of opportunities. She's connected with her own innate power & strengths, becoming more confident in her own skin as we enjoy this journey.

At the same time, she's more relaxed, creative, having more fun and making a way bigger impact. All at once, I might add (yes, being relaxed AND making a bigger impact is a thing).

And it's not only from her I hear these stories. Nope - I read it from the Internet, her team tells me, and I obviously see the results of the business. People say she's charismatic, everyone wants to work with her, and 'she simply does things with such ease'.

She's clearly onto something.

What is it?

I trust at some point in our development we arrive at a point where we realise we simply cannot do more - faster, harder, higher just doesn't do it for us anymore.

This is when a new door opens. If we perceive it.

Many of us don't, unfortunately. If we're stuck on a perpetual cycle of high intensity, habituated behaviour, we have actually created an obstacle that's standing right in front of that door.

And that obstacle is called...stress.

Indeed, stress - aside the negative impacts it has on our wellbeing - has a significant effect on the quality of our leadership.

Stress is experienced internally, a delicate chemical mix with high cortisol in our body, and as high beta wave frequency in our brain. When we are in this state, two things happen:

1. We become narrowly and externally focused, only to what is right in front of us
2. We therefore lose connection 'internally' and cannot tap into our vast resources and potential

Now, this also means that when we are stressed, we are more likely to fall prey to our programming: we automatically go to the known, and repeat the same familiar patterns and habits, which naturally lead to the same results.

However, this cycle can be reversed, changed, or even upgraded.

But get ready because this change comes with discomfort. (I often say to my clients: if it feels uncomfortable, great. It means something new is happening. The feeling of familiarity doesn't automatically imply it's good.)

Gift of expanded awareness and presence

When we understand how much of our attention (and subsequently, energy) has been invested outwards, in a state of stress, we can then intentionally start placing that energy somewhere else.

And if we choose to place some of that energy inward, we're handed a key to the door. This key reads Presence.

When we become present and tune into ourselves, the quality of our awareness naturally improves. More information becomes available, our perception widens, our creativity and intuition unlocks, and we can tap way beyond our analytical mind.

For leaders, this depth, this capacity, this skill, lends itself to the next step, the elegant solution, the simple suggestion, the thriving in the chaos - emerging more naturally, without extra effort.

When we start leading with presence and high levels of awareness, we realise the 'answers' always emerge within. Not without.

And by the way, these are not the old, same, known repeat answers but creative, simple, and elegant new, unknown, even innovative responses to each situation.

It is only through the connection to the self this infinite intelligence can be evoked. Interestingly, by the way, as a leader portrays higher levels of awareness, this automatically elevates the awareness of people around them. This is the notion of entrainment.

Your superpower: navigating brainwaves, on demand

Us humans display five brainwave frequencies. Today we're curious about alpha and beta. As mentioned, (high) beta is that state of stress, whereas alpha, with longer wavelength, is the frequency of creativity and intuition, a relaxed state. The easiest way to think of these two brainwaves is to imagine the moment you wake up in the morning; you move to alpha and then swiftly to beta. Beta is our typical waking state, and again in the evening, you go through alpha before you drift off.

What's interesting here, is the move to low-beta / alpha brainwave frequency, which allows us to become more available to our inner resources. New information arises and, if we're aware and present, we can take in this information and intentionally choose to do something else and not repeat our habituated, known behaviours. Intuition and creativity come to play.

The invitation therefore is:

• To learn how to relax & become present, through managing state and brainwave frequency
• To invest some attention & energy inwards, and so inviting more potential and newness

Imagine if you could do this on-demand?

What would be possible for you?

Indeed, the leaders who can intentionally navigate their state and their brain waves, automatically become available for more. For more information. For situational intelligence. For new solutions. Rather than operating from the known, they can approach situations with a 'fresh pair of eyes' and serve the situation in a way it deserves to be served. Another positive 'side-effect' is that as our entire beings become more coherent through higher levels of awareness and presence, we operate more coherently overall.

While it's been fun trying to articulate this, it's best experienced. Therefore I created this short guided centering practise for you, so you can have your own experience. Click below to watch. (And if you're thinking you don't have time for this - you definitely need to watch this!)

This is a very exciting topic and I'm discovering more and more in the works with my clients, like the superstar I mentioned earlier. Doing this work take a lot of consistency, focus and effort, yet the results I'm see from this work are encouraging: the best way to describe this is that it's not just improvements to the game...it's an entirely different game board.

Before I go - if you're interested in elevating you & your business, now is a great time to get in touch. I'm working with a small number of leaders & businesses this fall to create high performance, redefined. If you'd like to explore how this could look like in your business, please get in touch.

Happy relaxing and I'll see you next week,

X Anna

Ps. When you're ready to explore your high performance (re-defined), here's how:

1. Apply for my Private Coaching services for the deepest transformation; for authenticity, confidence and quality of character into your leadership. This service is fully bespoke and high touch. By application only.
2. Join my Sparring Partner services to activate and elevate your capacity to successfully complete a challenging idea or a project. Enhance your perception, be challenged & stretched, and improve your muscle to be & do outside your comfort zone - with grace.
3. Contact me for information about my Impactful Leadership Presence program. I'm running a small number of pilot programs for leadership teams this fall. If you and/or your team would like to transform your performance, get in touch.