The Body Leads

Many of us think of power as something external.

But the power I’m interested in doesn’t exist outside us. It is foundational to who we are. It is the ground of our being, our shared home and humanity.

Ethical leaders are acutely mindful of this, not from the thinker in their heads, but from their open-hearted awareness. And it is the embodiment of this awareness—our shared humanity—that acts as a kind of tuning fork to resonate with others, allowing ethical leaders to meet people where they are, empathize with their situation, and then respond with compassion and wisdom.

You can feel when power is ethical. There’s a deep sense of connection and harmony. A quiet alignment. The body is at peace, that feeling of coming home.

And when our influence and integrity are out of alignment, you can feel that too. There’s a tension or contraction. The feeling of forcing, efforting, or scrambling to win, impress, or fix.

Let your body give you feedback.

In those moments when I’m simply present with another person, with no hidden agenda, that’s when the magic happens. I might be hiking with someone, engaged in conversation—open, curious, unhurried—and something suddenly shifts.

A story lands. A question opens space. A reflection touches something raw. Something clicks.

These moments are gold. It’s like watching a flower bloom, or a fog lift. I feel a joy that comes not from pride or superiority but from something softer—what the Buddhists call mudita, or sympathetic joy. It’s a joy that is born out of wisdom—the understanding that we are not-two, that your joy is not apart from my own.

When I am leading with love and wisdom, with a deep presence, there is no ego who takes credit for this person’s sudden realization. It is a cooperative process—it’s less about control and more about trust and congruence. There’s no need to force it or chase it. It comes not from me but through me. It is Love’s song to itself.

By John Driggs

“To love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart and to sing it to them when they have forgotten.”

– Arne Garborg