Leadership coach and former Army Lieutenant Colonel Croft Edwards explains why psychological safety isn't built with words, it's built with your nervous system. Your body broadcasts signals long before you speak, and your team reads every one of them. Croft and host Roger Kastner cover the moment his military training collided with a room full of dancing people, why somatic leadership starts with regulating yourself before you can co-regulate anyone else, and why he calls the body "the Holy Grail in coaching and leadership."

Key Takeaways
• Psychological safety isn't just about what you say, it's about what your body is already communicating before you open your mouth
• You cannot co-regulate someone else if you haven't learned to regulate yourself first
• The body receives roughly 11 million data signals per second, but the conscious mind is only aware of about 50 of them
• The most difficult person you will ever lead is yourself
• Somatics means how you show up in your body as a living, breathing entity, not just a metaphor for "gut feeling"

Questions This Episode Answers
• How to create psychological safety? Show up in an open body rather than a guarded one. Your team reads your nervous system before they hear your words, so safety starts with what you're physically communicating, not what you're saying.

• How to regulate my nervous system? Notice the roughly 11 million signals your body takes in per second (even though you're only consciously aware of about 50), and use small physical shifts, like changing posture or opening your hands, to change your state before trying to think your way out of it.

• What is embodied leadership? Leadership that operates through the body, not just the intellect. Somatics is how you show up in your body's full living, breathing capacity, since the body holds intelligence that most leadership development leaves untapped.

• How can I be more authentic as a leader? Recognize that the hardest person you'll ever lead is yourself, and stay honest about your own reactivity, like arrogance or defensiveness, rather than performing confidence you haven't actually built.

Chapters
0:00 The Body-Armor Moment
1:04 From Military Command to Ontological Coaching
8:30 Going Native: How Embodied Leadership Builds Trust
15:00 Self-Leadership: The Hardest Person You'll Ever Lead
20:00 The 10,000-Hour Permission Slip
24:30 The Body Is the Holy Grail in Coaching
29:30 Nervous System Regulation: 11 Million Signals Per Second
35:00 How Your Body Creates Psychological Safety
40:00 One Practice That Changes Everything

Full transcript: https://whatdoyouknowtobetrue.com/video/psychological-safety-your-body-is-the-key-to-unlocking-connections-croft-edwards

Resources Mentioned
• Croft's company: https://croftandcompany.com/
• Croft's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/croftedwards/

Watch Next
• Why You Overreact Then Regret It Instantly | Nervous System Regulation with Ashley Douglas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yim5d8FO7Oo&list=PLbWfh34FP_dUcAaCrI31z00_fLdphi6b7&index=13&t=677s

• Is Your Workplace Actually Safe? Nervous System Regulation | Sharon Podobnik Peterson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX6Hs-CQp4c&list=PLbWfh34FP_dUcAaCrI31z00_fLdphi6b7&index=3&t=1522s

• Your Voice Always Tells the Truth, Even If Your Words Don't | Barbara McAfee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CPwnUdqKwU&list=PLbWfh34FP_dUcAaCrI31z00_fLdphi6b7&index=1&t=1021s

Music in this episode by Amplify Music.

What Do You Know To Be True? is a personal development and leadership podcast capturing insights and experiences with people who’ve navigated their own reinvention, to be more aligned with their purpose and possibilities. Each conversation offers new perspectives and inspiration for your next move.

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