155: Somatic Leadership Thomas Rosenberg

Guest biography

Thomas Rosenberg is an executive and team coach whose work aligns deeply with regenerative entrepreneurship principles. With over 20 years of global experience, an MBA in Global Management, and training as an Ecology of Leadership facilitator, he applies living systems wisdom to human organizations.

As a Certified Integral Coach with advanced somatic coaching training from the Strozzi Institute, Thomas transcends traditional leadership development. He helps executives and teams resolve internal friction and create alignment between values, words, and actions. His embodiment-focused approach guides leaders to build trust within themselves and their teams, creating genuine "people-first" cultures.

Thomas's methodology especially benefits entrepreneurs committed to regenerative practices. By addressing the human ecosystem within businesses, he builds organizations that are more resilient, adaptive, and sustainable. His work yields measurable outcomes—eliminating burnout, reducing staff turnover, and enhancing business continuity—proving that prioritizing human well-being drives long-term success. His distinctive combination of somatic practice and business expertise offers a clear pathway for leaders developing thriving, "leaderful" teams that excel under pressure. 

Episode Description:

In this powerful episode, we sit down with somatic coach and leadership development professional, Thomas Rosenberg. We dive deep into the often-overlooked connection between our bodies, our leadership, and our ability to create truly regenerative outcomes. Thomas shares his personal journey from a linear-thinking family and a career in global climate policy to his current work helping leaders reconnect with their inner wisdom after a near-fatal accident forced him to re-evaluate everything.

Join us as we explore how to move beyond "heady" solutions and learn to trust the intelligence of our bodies. Thomas explains how understanding our ingrained patterns can help us show up as more effective, resilient, and authentic leaders. This conversation is an essential listen for any "regenpreneur" who has felt the burnout of the hustle culture and is ready to learn how to lead from a place of centeredness, purpose, and wholeness.

Highlighted Promotion:

Are you a regenerative entrepreneur feeling the burnout from the "hustle and grind" culture? You're not alone. Building a regenerative enterprise requires us to be regenerative ourselves, yet we often neglect our own well-being. If you're ready to build a business and a life that is truly aligned and resilient, we invite you to check out the United Learning Lab. It's our ecosystem for regenerative entrepreneurs, offering courses, live office hours, and a global network of peers to support you on your journey. Learn to lead from a place of wholeness, not burnout. Visit https://www.seedsoftao.com/united-learning-lab to learn more and become a member.

Show Notes:

• [01:51] - Noam and Joshua introduce the episode and guest, Thomas Rosenberg, a growth professional focused on leadership development.
• [02:31] - Noam shares his personal story of burnout from the "move fast and break things" digital marketing world and the physical toll it took on him.
• [04:34] - Joshua relates his own experience with the "grow baby, grow" culture and how neglecting himself in his branding agency led to ulcers.
• [08:43] - Thomas Rosenberg joins the conversation, calling in from Ohlone land in Oakland, California.
• [11:16] - Thomas shares the ethos of his work as a somatic coach: "Reconnect to yourself so we can more easily connect to each other so we can reconnect to the planet."
• [15:31] - How does being in tune with our bodies help us make better decisions? Thomas discusses the neuroscience of decision-making and how our gut is constantly scanning for safety or threat.
• [19:34] - A case study: How Thomas helped a client shift from a "see me, see me" mindset to one of grounded, trustworthy leadership by asking better questions.
• [27:56] - Thomas begins his story: growing up in a linear-thinking medical family and feeling like he wasn't "enough."
• [29:07] - His career path into the policy side of energy, climate, and sustainability, where he worked in 20 countries helping people get comfortable with change.
• [32:22] - The turning point: A near-fatal bicycle accident with a traumatic brain injury that forced him to re-evaluate his life and work.
• [33:29] - Thomas connects his work to regenerative principles like biomimicry and social permaculture, asking "how can we make conditions conducive to life?"
• [41:05] - Thomas relates social permaculture to his coaching, explaining how he looks at the "whole human" and the "nutrients" they need to thrive.
• [01:00:08] - Thomas's key takeaway for entrepreneurs: "Where are you sourcing the energy for your work?" He challenges leaders to move beyond anger and exhaustion and to practice resilience.
• [01:10:47] - How to connect with Thomas and his work at regenerate.coach.

Resources Mentioned:

• Thomas Rosenberg's Website: Learn more about Thomas's somatic coaching for individuals and teams at regenerate.coach. You can also email him at [email protected].
• Connect with Thomas on Social Media: Find him as Thomas Loxley Rosenberg on LinkedIn and Regenerate Coaching on Facebook.
• Books Mentioned:
  • Relational Reality by Charlene Spretnak
• Concepts Mentioned:
  • Biomimicry: The practice of learning from and emulating nature's strategies to solve human design challenges.
  • Cradle to Cradle: A design framework that models human industry on nature's processes.
  • Social Permaculture: Applying the principles of permaculture design to social structures and relationships.
• Seeds of Tao Community: Join the conversation at the Regenerative Business Economies Ecosystem (RegenBEE)

Blog Post:

The Body as a Compass: Why True Regenerative Leadership Starts from Within

In the world of regenerative entrepreneurship, we talk a lot about systems. We analyze ecosystems, design circular economies, and map out social permaculture frameworks. But in our latest podcast episode with somatic coach Thomas Rosenberg, we were powerfully reminded of the most fundamental system of all: ourselves. "The ethos of my work," Thomas shared, "is reconnect to yourself so we can more easily connect to each other so we can reconnect to the planet."

This simple, profound statement gets to the heart of a paradox many of us in this space live with. As co-host Noam Murphy-Kindon shared from his own experience, we often leave the "hustle and grind" culture of the mainstream economy, seeking a more aligned way of working, only to find ourselves replicating the same patterns of burnout and self-neglect in our mission-driven enterprises. We want to create regenerative outcomes, but we forget that we must first be regenerative ourselves.

Thomas’s story is a testament to the transformative power of this realization. His journey is a perfect embodiment of our Explorer archetype—one who ventures into the unknown to find a truer path. It's also a story that highlights our Designer archetype, as he had to redesign his entire approach to life and leadership after a crisis forced him to confront his own limitations.

From the Head to the Heart

Thomas grew up in a "medical and scientific family" where linear, logical thinking was the currency of approval. As a non-linear, systems thinker, he carried a persistent feeling of "I'm not enough" and felt compelled to follow a technically challenging career path to prove his worth. This led him to a successful international career in the policy side of energy and climate, working in 20 countries to help people get comfortable with change.

On the surface, he was doing the work—fighting the good fight for sustainability. But underneath, he was operating from a "really cerebral leadership style," disconnected from his body and his deeper intuition. Then, a near-fatal bicycle accident and a traumatic brain injury changed everything. The accident was a brutal, life-altering catalyst that forced him out of his head and into his body. "I nearly just died," he recounted. "So how do I want to spend that energy? What is going to give me... what is really important?"

This profound question shifted his focus from technological fixes to human relationships. "It's not about technology," he realized. "Technology gets you 15 to 20% of the way there on a good day... What it comes down to is our relationship to ourself, to each other." This realization was his entry point into the deeper meaning of regeneration, connecting him to concepts like biomimicry and social permaculture, which ask the fundamental question: How do we create conditions conducive to life?

The Wisdom of the Body

The core of Thomas's work now is somatic coaching, a practice grounded in the understanding that our bodies hold immense wisdom. In our Western culture, we have a fallacy that we make decisions from our rational minds. But as Thomas reminds us, "Every marketer will tell you, you make decisions emotionally." Our bodies, particularly our guts, are constantly scanning our environment for safety and threat, processing information far faster than our conscious minds can.

When we're disconnected from this bodily intelligence, we're operating with incomplete data. We get stuck in old, habituated patterns that we developed as children to protect ourselves from overwhelm but no longer serve us as adult leaders. We show up as the "little kid going, 'Oh, me, what me?'" seeking approval instead of standing in our own dignity and trust.

Somatic coaching is the practice of coming back to center. It's about learning to notice the stories our bodies are telling us—the tightness in our chest, the clenching in our gut—and using that awareness to make more conscious, aligned choices. It's about moving from a reactive state to a responsive one. As Thomas's client discovered, when you truly find your center, "the brain was quiet... she could feel her feet in a different way." She could feel supported. From this place of groundedness, we can lead not from a need to be seen, but from a place of deep trust in ourselves.

Sourcing Your Energy and Cultivating Resilience

This brings us to the most critical question Thomas posed for all regenerative entrepreneurs: "Where are you sourcing the energy for your work?"

He observed early in his career that many activists and change-makers were sourcing their energy from anger—a "rage against the machine" mentality. While this can be a powerful motivator, it's not a sustainable fuel source. It leads to burnout, exhaustion, and, as Thomas noted, looking "ancient at 40." A truly regenerative leader must learn to source their energy from a different well—from a place of purpose, connection, and joy.

This requires us to do the inner work, to "compost" the old stories and inherited traumas that no longer serve us. It requires us to cultivate resilience. "We hear a lot of stories around, 'I'm a really resilient person,' but that's requiring you to use resilience," Thomas clarified. The key is to practice resilience, to engage in activities that replenish our reserves so we are not constantly running on empty.

This is where Thomas’s work aligns so beautifully with our Best Friend archetype. He helps leaders befriend themselves, to listen with kindness to the signals their bodies are sending. This self-connection is the foundation for everything else. It allows us to set boundaries, to show up authentically, and to lead in a way that is effective, not just efficient. "Nature is not inherently efficient," he reminded us, "but it is about effectiveness."

You are the Polyculture

Thomas’s analogy of social permaculture is a powerful one for any organization. An organization, like a plot of land, is a polyculture. To make it flourish, we must ask the same questions a permaculturist would: How does energy flow? What wants to grow where? How do we nurture the "understory"—the emerging leaders, the new ideas—so they can grow strong enough to stand in the full sun?

This work starts with us. We are the soil. If our inner soil is depleted, compacted, and lacking in life, our leadership will be a monoculture of stress and reactivity. But if we do the work to cultivate our own inner resilience, to compost our old patterns, and to nurture our connection to what truly matters, we become a rich, diverse, and life-giving foundation from which a healthy organization can grow.

Thomas Rosenberg's journey is a powerful call to action for every one of us in the regenerative movement. It's an invitation to bring our whole selves to our work, to trust the wisdom of our bodies as much as the brilliance of our minds, and to remember that the most profound system we can ever hope to regenerate is the one we carry with us every single day. Let us be leaders who model the change we want to see, not just in our business plans, but in the very way we inhabit our own lives.