There was a time when I believed leadership lived in the head.
In slide decks.
In calendar invites and carefully crafted messages.
In having the right answer, the clearest roadmap, the strongest plan.

For a long time, I wore that version of leadership like a tailored jacket: Sharp, functional, and just a little too tight.

These days, I am led by something quieter. Not the voice in my head, but the pulse in my body. Not the performance, but the presence. Not the doing, but the being.

In other words: I’ve come to understand leadership as energy. A transmission.
A field we create through our nervous system.

People don’t follow words, they follow frequency, and coherence. They follow the feeling of safety, expansion, and resonance.

I’ve led remote teams across time zones, and I loved every second of it. In this current season of life I find myself leading with my baby in my arms, in the space I hold for women’s circles, breathwork, mentoring, and community.

In all these spaces, the same truth echoes:
Leadership is not about being in control.
It’s about being in integrity with your energy.

I’ve watched how a room shifts when someone grounds. How a conversation deepens when one person drops into their body. How expansion happens not through force, but through the quality of the space held. How cohesion is created through truth.

And to be a leader means to go first.
To set the tone.
To bring the ground to the room.
To show up as a clear channel of possibility.

At its heart, good leadership is the ephemeral quest of bringing clarity, joy, and love to all kinds of moments, even the messy ones

This is a new paradigm of leadership in some spaces. Relational, not hierarchical.
Felt, not forced. Rooted in presence, not performance.

If you are someone who is called to lead, in business, in family, in community, I invite you to pause.

Before the strategy.
Before the task list.
Before the words.

Ask yourself:
What am I leading with?
What am I radiating?
What energy do I bring to this space?

Because in the end, we don’t remember the ones who had all the answers, or the ones who did the most. We remember the ones whose presence made us feel more like ourselves.

We don’t just lead with what we know. We lead with what we embody.

But what does energetic leadership actually look like?

Ok, I hear you. Let's bring some ground to this idea.

Energetic leadership isn’t a concept, it’s a practice. A way of being that ripples into the way we speak, move, create, parent, serve.

Here are some of the pillars I’ve come to trust:

Presence over performance
When we are present ~ fully here in our body, not reaching ahead or grasping behind ourselves, we create space for others to be present too. Presence is safety. It signals: you don’t need to impress me. You can just be.

Attunement over authority
True leadership isn’t about control. It’s about connection. Attunement means listening to the subtle, sensing what’s needed beneath what’s being said, and responding with care.

Capacity over charisma
The magnetic leader isn’t the loudest in the room. They’re the one with the most capacity for nuance, emotion, and discomfort. Capacity is built slowly, through embodied practice. It’s what allows us to hold space when things get real.

Resonance over results
Results matter. But how we get there matters more. Resonance is the felt sense of alignment between intention, energy, and action. When something resonates, it lands and lingers. It leads.

Regulation as leadership
Whether guiding a team or holding a child, our nervous system sets the tone. A regulated leader co-regulates the space. In parenting, facilitation, or relationship, the calmest system leads the way.

Putting it into practice

Energetic leadership starts as an inside job.

It starts in those small, invisible moments where we choose to pause, to soften, to listen inward before we speak outward. When we start with our bodies instead of our minds, things around us start to shift.

Here are a few practices that can be helpful to stay grounded:

🌀 Before a call, breathe. Even if only for 60 seconds, eyes closed, hand on heart. Feel into what you are bringing to the space.

🌀 Before speaking, scan. A quick body check: Am I tense? Holding my breath? Can I feel my feet on the floor?

🌀 Let silence lead. Presence doesn’t rush to fill space. Silence speaks too. Empty space invites possibility.

🌀 Check your channel. When things feel off, ask: Am I clear? What energy am I acting from? What needs to move through me, before I try to lead anyone else?

If you have resistance to any/all of these practices, maybe you feel like there's no time for this, or perhaps you don't believe that the reward will be worth the effort ~ give it a try for a week or two & let me know how it goes. ᨒ

Perhaps you feel the current in our collective: Leadership is evolving. It’s not about titles or ten-steps. It’s about energy, embodiment, and integrity.

We are all leaders of something ~ ourselves, a business, a community, a family, a vision, a future. The question is not if you lead, but how.

So I leave you with this invitation:

Before your next meeting…
Before your next hard conversation…
Before your next post, pitch, or parenting moment…

Pause.
Breathe.
Feel the ground beneath you.

Ask yourself:
What energy am I bringing to this space?

And if you’re walking this path, or ready to deepen in it, I offer 1:1 mentorship for leaders, space holders, and sensitive visionaries who are ready to lead from the inside out. To become the kind of leader the world needs ~ resourced, regulated, and resonant.

If that’s you reach out here or come say hi. I’d love to hear what you’re leading ~ and who you’re becoming in the process.

With love,
Kym 💜