THE EMBODIED SPIRAL OF MEANING: REIMAGINING LEADERSHIP THROUGH SYMBOLIC, REFLECTIVE, AND SOMATIC INTEGRATION

Abstract

Contemporary organizations face a paradox: symbolic communication, digital information, and narrative complexity are rapidly increasing, while the lived experience of meaning, coherence, and embodied presence is diminishing. This paper introduces The Embodied Spiral of Meaning as a philosophical–organizational framework that reimagines leadership through the integration of symbolic, reflective, and somatic dimensions. Building on Cassirer’s Homo Symbolicus and extending it through Homo Cognoscens (reflective awareness) and Homo Somaticus (embodied presence), the paper develops the Symbolic Spiral of Leadership as an evolving field of meaning-making rather than a fixed competency set. Drawing on phenomenology, developmental theory, and contemporary leadership scholarship, it traces the shift from heroic, control-based models toward relational and embodied forms of leadership. The paper argues that leadership effectiveness depends on aligning symbolic coherence, reflective insight, and somatic grounding, and concludes that organizational evolution requires not more information but deeper integration of meaning and being.