The Biological Psychology of Leadership

What change really asks of us… 

Most leaders I work with know what they want to change.

They want to pause instead of react.
Listen instead of fix.
Hold boundaries that support their wellbeing.
Stay calm when the stakes are high.

And yet, in the moments that matter most, they don’t always behave the way they intend to.

We often explain this as a mindset problem. A motivation gap. A lack of discipline.

Biological psychology offers a different - and more humane - explanation. As a coach, I often forget that not everyone knows about this stuff. So, I thought I’d write about it here. 

Leadership is biological before it is strategic

Our behaviour is shaped by our biology: our nervous system, our brain chemistry, our patterns of stress and recovery. This doesn’t replace social psychology or meaning-making - it sits underneath them.

When we are regulated enough, the pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for planning, perspective-taking and regulation, is available. When we are under threat - real or perceived (this is important) - it is compromised. No amount of insight changes that in the moment.

This matters because leadership doesn’t happen in ideal conditions. It happens in pressure, ambiguity and uncertainty (and in front of everyone - or so it feels sometimes).

Why “knowing better” doesn’t equal “doing differently”

Under stress, our threat system activates. Attention narrows. Thinking becomes more binary (the brain dismisses nuance in favour of seeking certainty). Old habits, beliefs and patterns run the show.

If you’re anything like me, you may have noticed that the moment you step foot in your childhood home, you revert to your childhood survival instincts. Or when stress rears it’s head, you reach for sugar, in whatever form!

This isn’t a failure of character. It’s biology doing what it evolved to do.

Change, then, isn’t just about deciding to behave differently. It’s about creating the internal conditions that make different behaviour possible - repeatedly, and over time.

Which brings us to neuroplasticity.

Plastic - but not infinitely so

We often hear that the brain is plastic. That it can change. That new pathways can be formed.

All of this is true.

And it’s also incomplete.

Plasticity doesn’t mean we can rewire ourselves into anything we want. It doesn’t mean effort alone can override how our brains are organised. It doesn’t mean that difference is a defect to be corrected.

This is where questions about neurodiversity rightly enter the conversation.

Neurodiversity, diagnosis, and the question of change

If someone has a diagnosis - ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia - what does biological psychology imply?

If we say the brain is malleable, are we implying it should be “fixed”?
If we say that someone’s brain works in “x” way (through a diagnostic) then how can it also be malleable?

I don’t have answers to these questions but if you do, I’d love to hear! 

What I do know is this: every brain has constraints and capacities. Neurotypical or neurodivergent, none of us start from the same place, and none of us have unlimited flexibility.

Plasticity exists within parameters.

And difference is not dysfunction. The likelihood is that we all aspire to improve something about ourselves, no matter our starting point. 

Leading with self-understanding rather than self-improvement

In my work, I don’t coach to diagnose or change my approach based on an existing diagnosis. Not because they don’t matter (and, I’m not qualified) - but because it would feel like I was making decisions about what a person needs based on a label which doesn’t sit well with my belief that everyone is creative, resourceful and whole. 

I don’t coach two leaders the same way anyway.

Some people need more structure. Some need more space. Some thrive on novelty. Some on predictability. Some receive challenge best through humour. Some regulate through movement, others through stillness. Some are highly sensitive. 

Good leadership development - and good coaching - starts by meeting reality rather than forcing change onto it.

Not “how do I become someone else (or more like “them”)?”
But “how do I lead well, given how my physiology and my mind currently works?”

What this means for leadership change

Biological psychology doesn’t lower the bar for leadership but it does change where responsibility sits and can go some way to keeping the inner critic at bay. 

Less shame.
More awareness.
Less forcing.
More allowing.

Change becomes less about overriding ourselves and more about working with what’s already there - supporting regulation, building habits that fit (if x happens, do y, thank you James Clear), and creating environments where our best leadership has a chance to show up.

So, where does change really begin?

If there is one quiet implication of biological psychology, it’s this:

We can’t think our way out of a physiological reaction.

Going back to where we started: when our body is signalling threat - through tension, speed, shutdown, agitation - the parts of the brain we rely on for leadership are simply less available. No amount of insight, logic or self-talk can override that in the moment.

This doesn’t mean we’re powerless. It means the sequence matters.

Change starts not with thinking differently, but with settling the body enough for thinking to work again.

When the nervous system softens - even slightly - the prefrontal cortex comes back online. Perspective widens. Choice reappears. The leadership strengths we value most - curiosity, connectedness, clarity, courage, compassion - become accessible once more.

This is not about fixing ourselves or forcing calm. It’s about working with how we are built.

How we do that - through breath, movement, attention, rhythm, environment, connection - is a much bigger conversation, and one for another article.

For now, it’s enough to know this:

If leadership happens under pressure, then the body is the place to start.