Feel First, Lead Better and Understand Why Hormones Belong in the Boardroom
- May 7, 2025
- 6 min read
Dr. Zrinka Fidermuc Maler is a recognised expert in corporate health, female leadership, and transformational change. She founded Mind & Body Empowerment Coaching, an integrative, science-backed method designed to enhance mental, physical, and emotional resilience. Her work focuses on helping women 40+, 50+, and teams thrive through hormonal transitions, stress resilience, and high-impact communication.
Leadership isn’t just about strategies, processes, or even quarterly KPIs. It’s about the inner chemistry that fuels human behavior and connects hearts in pursuit of a common purpose. Dive in as we explore the neurochemical symphony behind effective leadership, one that inspires, supports, and truly transforms lives.
The hormonal symphony of leadership
Leadership isn’t just about strategies, processes, or even quarterly KPIs. It’s about the inner chemistry that fuels human behavior and connects hearts in pursuit of a common purpose. Dive in as we explore the neurochemical symphony behind effective leadership, one that inspires, supports, and truly transforms lives.
Here’s a breakdown of some key hormones and their roles:
Testosterone: Linked with assertiveness and confidence, testosterone drives ambition and competitiveness. But an excess? That’s where aggression and impulse crash the party.
Estrogen: Often brushed aside as "the female hormone," estrogen is the unsung hero of mood, empathy, collaboration, and memory. It’s not just for women. It's the voice in your head saying, "Let’s build together," not "Let’s tear each other down."
Cortisol: Our beloved stress hormone. In small doses, it sharpens focus. In large doses? Welcome to burnout territory, your whole team is strapped in without an emergency exit.
Oxytocin: The love and trust hormone. It’s born in hugs, eye contact, and bonding. It’s why football players hug like puppies after scoring, and why leaders should, metaphorically or not, hug their team.
Dopamine: That delicious reward hit. It’s motivation in chemical form. Leaders who give feedback like a boss? Dopamine dealers.
Serotonin: The status stabilizer. When people feel seen, heard, and recognized, serotonin lights up the brain like a disco ball. Praise publicly, praise often.
Hormonal fluctuations and leadership dynamics
Hormonal levels aren’t static; they fluctuate due to age, stress, lifestyle, and yes, gender. Men experience a slow testosterone slide. Women ride the rollercoaster of cycles, pregnancy, and menopause.
These shifts affect focus, communication, empathy, energy, and decision-making. Leaders who understand this don’t just perform better. They are better. More adaptive. More compassionate. More real.
The EDSO: Circle of safety for teams
In one of my leadership seminars, I introduced the concept of EDSO: a Circle of Safety built on four neurochemical pillars:
E = Endorphins: Natural painkillers. Produced when teams work through challenges together. "We did it!" moments.
D = Dopamine: The reward hormone. Fire it up with progress, small wins, goal-setting, and recognition.
S = Serotonin: Social respect. Public praise, celebration, and rituals of inclusion keep this one flowing.
O = Oxytocin: Belonging. Created by trust, connection, human warmth— and yes, the occasional (consensual) hug.
A leader who cultivates this hormonal harmony isn’t just running meetings. They’re building emotional architecture.
Touchdowns, testosterone, and team hugs
Take a look at your favorite football team, be it the American giants or the European maestros. After an epic win or a pivotal play, these athletes don’t hesitate to celebrate with outpouring hugs, high-fives, and even those sweaty forehead smooches. It’s not just post-game theatrics; it’s a visible display of oxytocin in action. The sports arena shows us in vivid color that when people come together with shared purpose, their neurochemistry ignites positivity, energy, and a downright contagious trust.
Leaders, take note: real connection matters. Even if you’re not calling for group hugs at every meeting (though don’t knock a good fist bump), fostering genuine closeness is the secret ingredient to a resilient, high-performing team.
Create rituals of joy. Celebrate together. Make wins feel like wins.
“Don’t take it personally,” the most personal rejection of all
Now, let’s get brutally honest about one of corporate culture’s most disheartening mantras: “Don’t take it personally.”
Picture the scene: After a series of high-stakes interviews, you’re told your energy, expertise, and full-hearted presentation were exactly what they sought. Then, out of nowhere, comes the rejection with that dreaded follow-up: “Don’t take it personally.”
Excuse me, what?
You can’t ask someone to offer their authentic self, only to brush off their vulnerability with a generic, impersonal quip. That’s not professionalism; it’s emotional hypocrisy. If an organization wants you to bring your whole self to the table, then it owes you a response as genuine as your heart on your sleeve.
Leadership must be as human as it is strategic, and that means acknowledging the sting of rejection with empathy, not dismissiveness.
Leadership means regulating the emotional climate
Here’s a truth bomb: as a leader, you are responsible for the emotional state of your people. Not as some overbearing taskmaster, the Robocop CEO, as I like to call them, but as a mindful architect of a vibrant emotional climate. When your team is seen, heard, and valued, they naturally produce more endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin, the ingredients that fuel creativity, resilience, and loyalty. Neglect this responsibility, and you’re not just missing the human mark; you’re setting the stage for burnout and disengagement.
“Nicht geschimpft ist genug gelobt”? sorry, Bavaria. That’s leadership malpractice
This old German saying translates to: “If I didn’t yell at you, that’s praise.”
But let’s ask the real question: Are you leading with unconscious negative reinforcement? Because, according to B.F. Skinner’s well-established learning theory, positive reinforcement, doesn’t just work; it performs miracles.
People need feedback, not silence. Praise doesn’t weaken teams; it energizes them. Hand out what I call “Tiny Praise Portions.” It is like microdosing confidence and watching miracles happen.
Tiny praise portions = big leadership moves
You don’t need to throw a gala for every finished task. But you do need to acknowledge effort. Bit by bit. As your team grows, so do their doses. That’s how you build capability and courage, one nudge at a time.
When insecurity breeds catastrophe
Let’s not sugar-coat it. When people feel unsafe, unseen, and undervalued, it leads to disengagement at best, and emotional collapse at worst. We’ve seen this in sports, in workplaces, in tragic news stories.
Leaders who fail to create psychological safety are playing with fire. Those who succeed? They’re building a legacy.
The future of leadership: Why soft skills are the new power skills
As we move deeper into an era defined by artificial intelligence and automation, technical prowess alone simply won’t cut it. Sure, machines can handle redundancy, data, and logic, but they can’t replace emotional intelligence, empathy, or the kind of nuanced leadership that builds trust and cohesion.
Hard skills build the framework. But soft skills, or as I call them, power skills, infuse life into it. These are the relational, emotional, and intuitive muscles of leadership. And they’re non-negotiable.
In this next chapter of evolution, we may leave behind Descartes’ famous “Cogito, ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am) and embrace something far more relevant to our times:
„Senti, ergo sum. “ I feel, therefore I am.
Because the leaders of the future won’t just think, they’ll feel. And they’ll know how to lead others through complexity, humanity, and yes, even hormonal storms.
Conclusion: Lead with chemistry, heart, and unapologetic humanity
Great leadership is a harmonious blend of science, authenticity, and yes, vulnerability. It’s about engineering a workplace where every pulse is felt, every success celebrated, and every challenge met with the full force of human connection. Whether through the EDSO circle or by daring to reject outdated, heartless mantras, remember: real influence starts with regulating the emotional climate. Be the leader who inspires with both brain and heart and let your team’s chemistry light the way to extraordinary achievement.
In Resilience. In Elegance. In Full Hormonal Rebellion.
Dr. Zrinka
P.S. If this article struck a chord, whether you're navigating hormonal shifts, leading a team through transformation, or simply craving more emotional intelligence in leadership, there’s more.
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Read more from Dr. Zrinka K. Fidermuc Maler
Dr. Zrinka K. Fidermuc Maler, Business & Health Empowerment Strategist, Author
Dr. Zrinka is a recognised expert in corporate health, female leadership, and mind-body performance, focused on mental, physical, and emotional resilience. She spent over a decade coaching employees in the German railway sector and held a scientific fellowship at the German Aerospace Center, where her research focused on gender dynamics, service innovation, and knowledge transfer. She holds a Master’s degree in education, literature, a PhD in social sciences, multiple coaching certifications, and advanced yoga teacher training rooted in the philosophy and psychology of the eight-limbed path of Ashtanga yoga. Her mission: Empowering Lifelong Transformation.
