Elesa Zehndorfer PhD

I am a leadership academic, researcher, consultant, TEDx speaker & writer.

A little background: I first qualified as a personal trainer thirty years ago, and I have subsequently developed a deep appreciation for the role of physiology in driving self-leadership and team performance. Having subsequently earned a leadership-focused PhD from the Institute of Sport & Leisure Policy at Loughborough University, I went on to lecture in sports & business faculties (with a principle focus on leadership) for two decades. I now combine a deep love of leadership theory with a granular, empirically-informed application of physiology theory to fields as diverse as politics (how we vote), finance (how we trade & invest) and team performance (the corporate world).

Consider, for example, that we humans are primates (great apes, in fact), vulnerable to even small changes in our environment. If we breathe more polluted air, we are more likely to develop anxiety & depression. If we see fake news that upsets us, the limbic area of our brain takes over, and we become less able to be critical in our response. If our local sports team wins, the incumbent political party is more likely to win elections in the days that follow. Every one of those examples relates to performance and our self-leadership capabilities and I've written books covering all of these concepts for a globally leading academic publisher. Combining a knowledge of our evolutionary physiological design with leadership theory can be incredibly powerful!

Interested specifically in politics & finance? If so, check out my Psychology Today blog titled Political Animals & Animal Spirits and forthcoming book Post-Truth Politics: A Brave New World? Alternatively, click on the icons below to find out more about my work.

Self-Leadership: Health is Wealth

Health is wealth. But what does that really mean?

The corporate world is facing a historic burnout risk. In general, we are getting sicker than we have ever been. How do we remain resilient, strong, and competitive?

The answer is to understand that health is wealth: health means maximising cognitive performance, energy, sleep quality, drive, mental resilience, emotional balance, a lower likelihood of anxiety and less burnout risk. I work with executives & teams at the exact intersection of exercise physiology and management theory to understand how the two can be used to safeguard optimised performance.

As an eMBA leadership lecturer, formerly general secretary of a global 70-nation sport federation, and co-founder of Lakeside Partners GmbH, I remain well versed in the practical challenges of senior leadership.

Burnout

As an expert in burnout & wellness, I approach burnout from the multiple perspectives of exercise physiology, fitness, organisational behaviour and leadership/management theory.

Having recently consulted to a major private equity owned healthcare firm, and to individuals seeking help with burnout, my goal is to help corporations & individuals improve their wellness & burnout strategies to eradicate this widespread and debilitating phenomenon.

Using the Maslach Burnout Inventory I assess burnout risk, explain how to improve wellness across the board, and explain the many factors that both contribute to, and alleviate poor wellness and high burnout risk.

Wellness & Fitness

My first passion is fitness: I first qualified as a fitness pro & personal trainer thirty years ago. I am still active as a Personal Trainer, offering Pilates coaching, personal training, health screening and (a particular passion) burnout specialised personal training to executives & corporations.

With a PhD from Loughborough University, recent fitness qualifications including a Harvard Medical School HMX Online Physiology certification, and Michael King Pilates Matwork certification.

I am currently studying for the ACSM Personal Trainer certification and First Aid certification with the Red Cross.

Writing & Storytelling

I am a multi-award winning writer. Six of my (leadership-themed) books have been published by global publisher Taylor & Francis, with my debut political novel released in 2022 by Blackheath Publishing. I have also written book chapters and academic journal articles. Two of my books were Amazon Hot New Releases.

My new book, Post-Truth Politics: A Brave New World? is scheduled for release by Taylor & Francis in Feb 2025.

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I also specialise in the science of storytelling, and write for clients across the globe in the fields of medical & science writing, sport, finance & business.