Leadership Best Practices in a Quaking World — A Call to Pause, Breathe, and Reimagine

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Written By: Brittany Clausen, MSW, LGSW

The world is quaking—and not just geologically. Institutions, identities, and long-standing power structures are trembling under the pressure of necessary transformation. For many of us in leadership, it feels like we’re standing on fault lines, trying to guide others through chaos while secretly seeking steady ground ourselves.

As I reflect on the shifting political, social, and economic landscapes, one truth is clear: the traditional leadership playbook is outdated. We’re being called—spiritually, emotionally, and structurally—to do leadership differently. This is not just about doing more. It’s about being more: more human, more grounded, more courageous.

One resource that has deeply influenced my thinking is Resmaa Menakem’s The Quaking of America: An Embodied Guide to Navigating Our Nation's Upheaval and Racial Reckoning (2022). This is not a conventional leadership book. It is an urgent, embodied invitation to explore how trauma lives in our bodies and shapes our leadership decisions—especially in moments of tension and transition. Menakem doesn’t just invite us to think differently; he demands we feel differently. He dares us to confront how we carry ancestral wounds, racialized stress, and societal expectations in our nervous systems—and how that impacts our capacity to lead.

Bravery Starts in the Body

Let’s be clear: burnout, detachment, and chronic anxiety are not personal failures. They are signals—that the central nervous system is dysregulated and that leaders are overextended. This moment in history demands brave leadership—but bravery doesn’t begin with a powerful speech. It begins in the body. If your nervous system is overwhelmed, your leadership will be reactive, not rooted.

Here are a few practical ways to deconstruct stress from the nervous system and build capacity for brave, human-centered leadership:

1. Orient to the Present Moment (Somatic Grounding)Practice: Look around the room and name 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell, 1 you can taste. This simple sensory exercise helps bring you back into the present and out of a trauma-induced time loop.

2. Box Breathing (Regulating Anxiety)Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds. Repeat this cycle for 2–3 minutes. It’s used by Navy SEALs and trauma therapists alike to regulate the nervous system under pressure.

3. Shake It Off (Discharge Stored Energy)Stand up and physically shake out your arms, legs, shoulders. Let yourself move freely. Trauma gets stuck when energy is frozen. Movement helps complete the stress cycle and tells your body it’s safe.

4. Name What You Feel (Normalize Emotional Literacy)Before the next leadership decision, pause and ask: What am I actually feeling? Fear? Shame? Pressure to perform? If we can’t name it, we can’t change it. Emotional literacy is a leadership skill.

5. Touch Something Real (Anchor Safety)Keep a grounding object nearby—a stone, piece of fabric, or photo that connects you to something steady. Your body remembers what feels safe.

Brave Leadership Is Not About Knowing More. It’s About Feeling More.

The leaders who will thrive in this new era are not the ones who can manage optics. They’re the ones who can sit with discomfort, name hard truths, and stay human in the process. We need leaders who can hold space for accountability and compassion, who don’t confuse urgency with importance, and who are willing to heal so they don’t unconsciously harm.

Let me be blunt: if you’re not doing your own healing work, you’re leading from an unexamined wound. And unexamined wounds often become weapons.

So here’s my invitation to fellow leaders:

• Start with your body. Leadership lives in the nervous system.

• Make space for reflection. Rest is not weakness; it is wisdom.

• Choose bravery over burnout. Brave leadership doesn't look like doing more—it looks like doing what’s right, even when it’s uncomfortable.

The world is quaking. And that’s not something to fear—it’s something to honor. Because what is shaking loose is the illusion that business-as-usual was ever sustainable.

This is a moment to lead differently. To feel. To heal. To be brave.

Read the book. Take the walk. Shake off the fear. Reimagine what’s possible.

Source:

Menakem, R. (2022). The quaking of America: An embodied guide to navigating our nation's upheaval and racial reckoning. Central Recovery Press.

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Brittany Clausen, MSW, LGSW is the CEO of Envision Greatness, a consulting firm specializing in leadership development, organizational change, and human-centered equity strategies. She is also a pre-licensed mental health therapist integrating trauma-informed care into executive coaching and workplace wellness.