Epigenetic Leadership

Epigenetic Leadership is for leaders who seek a visionary, liberatory mindset in their own leadership of self first, then others. It succeeds on three principles:

  • Every human is a leader in some capacity.

  • Self-growth is an ongoing, lifelong process.

  • An understanding of self is necessary to understand your impact on others.

This theory applies to anyone who is interested in its concepts. Your impact on others may even be at the genetic level. The ripple effect you generate through words, actions, and behaviors may influence others' DNA expression – ultimately their health, wellness, and resilience.

  • Mission: Current and emerging leaders will grow to understand potential current, long-term, and intergenerational epigenetic impacts of the words, actions, and behaviors they choose in leadership.

    Vision: Build a liberatory model of self-leadership to transition people in positions of power into liberatory leaders who care about humanity now and in the future.

  • Epigenetic Leadership Theory is an advanced evidence-based leadership theory that has been developed after years of observation of, and participation in, systems, structures, and institutions that may function transactionally on behalf of an organization but often inflict harm on individuals. Organizations, teams, or groups may have distinct goals in mind, but those goals are sometimes met only at the cost of human health and wellness. A visionary, liberatory leader thinks beyond organizational goals and considers their impact into future generations.

  • There is an unmet need in leadership training and education of considering the health and longevity of people now and for generations to come. What leaders say and how they behave affect people, even at the genetic level. These epigenetic effects impact people of today but also potentially people in future generations. Epigenetic Leadership’s focus is to help you modulate yourself because of your new understanding of how your words, actions, and behaviors impact people, culture, and environment.

  • The study of epigenetics further compels us to recognize just how invasive certain stimuli, including our leadership styles, can be — even down to the genetic level. Epigenetic Leadership Theory focuses on the effects of stress on a person’s physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual health. More specifically, Epigenetic Leadership is concerned with how you, as a leader, manage stressful situations that impact others. Stress is not just a mental dilemma; there are biopsychosocial intergenerational effects of stress. What can you, as a leader, do right now to minimize epigenetic consequences of the stress experienced by your followers?

  • At the core of Epigenetic Leadership is the notion of caring. An epigenetic leader cares about someone else’s well-being, healing, attaining a positive outcome, avoiding harm to others, or prevention of further harm. You care about human autonomy, de-centering yourself, acknowledging social determinants of health, and listening to people whose lived experiences differ from your own assumptions or beliefs. You care about recognizing when your impact is not even close to what you intended. In other words, you care about a realm that transcends you.

    But to transcend self and appreciate the ripple effect you have on others, you must do the self-work that helps you deconstruct habits, patterns, and biases that may cause harm to others. Leadership of others begins with leadership of self. Leadership skills can be learned and put into practice by anyone. In fact, Epigenetic Leadership assumes that every human is a leader, regardless of position, title, or status and that anyone can embody an epigenetic mindset. Perhaps those leadership skills translate to parenthood, a corporate board room, a personal relationship, a business partnership, or your relationship with yourself. We are all leaders, in one way or another. In any case, Epigenetic Leadership will nudge you into mindful leadership through discerning, reflective discussions that cultivate self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence.

  • Absolutely not. When you attend a seminar or foundry, you’ll learn the fundamentals of the potential epigenetic effects in a way that is understandable to anyone. As you become familiar with the basic science piece, the concept of Epigenetic Leadership becomes more clear.

    Self-leadership is the most important element in understanding leadership of others. If you do not have a firm grasp of self, what you manifest may cause harm, even at the genetic level, to someone else. Workplace culture may suffer from toxic traits that ripple throughout, beginning with you. Once your desire for self-growth drives you, the ripple effect of nurturing self-leadership will become evident as you observe organic, rather than forced, changes in your environment. And the ripple effect you have on others may just be genetically imprinted for generations to come.

  • Historically, leadership has been lasered in on leading others. In doing so, some people in positions of power are there precisely for their ability to influence others to achieve organizational goals with little to no regard for collateral damage of their leadership styles. The evidence-based Epigenetic Leadership theory posits that leadership should focus on leadership of self and the ripple effect of one’s words, actions, and behaviors on other people to ultimately transition to leading others with a more expansive approach. An epigenetic leadership mindset means a leader has extraordinary self-awareness, a strong ability to self-regulate, and a transcendent regard for things greater than immediate objectives. The epigenetic leader will notice more organic, rather than imposed, goal achievement based on more intrinsic motivation, empowerment, and agency of those being led.

What People Are Saying

“Sarah was my instructor. She is so incredibly uplifting. She made me feel like I can accomplish anything. She told me the things that others had cut me down for were actually good qualities - ’super powers’ - so for that I am grateful.”

— Dennine

“She genuinely cares for others’ well-being and wants us all to succeed. She engages students, encourages with realism and enthusiasm, and respects students. She has such a graceful leadership with us. I like the way she evolves us in the class and gives a different point of view. She makes us think outside the box. The best instructor I have had to date.”

— Anonymous

“Sarah has challenged my way of thinking about clinical situations, what it means to be a great nurse, and gave real-life scenarios that can impact my critical thinking while working in the field. It was such a wonderful experience to learn alongside such an inspirational woman who has undoubtedly changed the lives of many other student nurses such as myself. Her enthusiasm and commitment to helping her students provided so much academic and emotional support, as the journey of a student nurse is no easy ride, and support is absolutely necessary to get by. I am beyond grateful to have experienced my first semester of nursing school with such an amazing instructor who has instilled so much confidence in my continued journey and has encouraged me to implement that confidence as a nurse one day in the field.”

— Brittany

“She opens people’s minds and encourages us to think about how biases affect our decisions and the impact on other people.”

— Gina

“Sarah is an amazing nurse, teacher, and leader! She patiently guided my classmates and me with kindness. What I learned from her will stick with me throughout the rest of my schooling and career.”

— Chloe

“Sarah made me think in ways that I’ve never been prompted or encouraged to do before. She has a way of making me think outside the box about things I’ve never thought about before. Even when hard topics came up, she was non-judgmental and made it easy to really talk about things that are normally taboo.”

— Elizabeth